Browse Forums Real Estate 1 Jan 17, 2016 8:55 pm Hey Guys, I'm writing in order to seek some advice in regards to a house I am considering to bid for at auction shortly. Basically the scenario is the following: The house has been reprocessed by the bank & is in a fairly rundown condition. Major structural work has been undertaken on the foundations of the property where that the previous owner has leveraged the fact the property is on a sloped block and has created a very large room/storage space under the house. the following things were done to achieve this - Stumps removed - Retaining walls put up on the inside of the ground level/underneath of house - Ground level dug down beyond the footings of the external perimeter walls to increase height - Large steel beams braising the underside of the house going from external walls and supported by brick peers at external walls. However they are not tied into the external walls. My concern is that this work may have been done without the appropriate compliance certificates and permits. The Real Estate agent has absolutely no idea and is only able to advise that no structural work has been undertaken on the place for the last 10 years. Also, in the section 32 the bank has provided council paperwork showing that no permits were given for the property over the last 10 years. I am very interested in the property but clearly this is a major concern to me. The property resides in the Yarra Ranges Council. Monday morning I am considering toring them to find out if any permits were actually issued for this work prior to 10 years. At this point my gut instinct tells me it wasn't. Also, no idea if the council will even tell me anything without me lodging forms to do so (Reading the council website it gives you that impression). This property is going to auction, so I cant elect to have as a condition of sale "Subject to building inspection" or any such clause to protect myself. if I win it at auction I will inherit all its problems. Some questions I would really appreciate some feedback on are: In the assumption the council has nothing in the system for this work (High probability), what would be the process to obtain the required certificates & permits? I've heard of disaster stories where there is the possibility the council could force you to undo or the work that was done without a permit as they are unable to confirm if the work undertaken meets the appropriate regulations. I have no idea here, which is why I'd really like some feedback. I have been advised by a friend who is a builder, that the work appears not finished, yet what has been done looks like it has been done reasonably well overall. If I found out that this is indeed an illegal significant structural modification to the house & I inform the Real Estate agent of this fact, is the Agent then obligated to advise other potential buyers as well? Or does all responsibility fall onto the Purchaser to undertake there own due diligence before buying? The place is a double storey dwelling. If the work done to the foundations is not done appropriately & the council becomes aware of this after i make enquiries is there any possibility they could condemn the dwelling as being not suitable to live in? Cant imagine many scenarios where the council would do this, but if there was one, something like this makes sense as the structural integrity of the whole building is in question. To avoid this happening I can simply ask if any building and/or planning permits were given over the last 20 years without giving a reason. As stated above I have had a builder look at the work & it “looks” fairly well done but NOT finished. Another possibility is to take out insurance on the title of the property such as the following IF I did win the auction: http://stewartau.com/public//ResidentialPurchaser.html Any feedback is much appreciated. If there are no permits for this work, I really just want to know what I should do next or if I should just RUN from it. Re: Major structural changes - No building permits 2Jan 17, 2016 10:17 pm If you don't find out before hand (and maybe even if you do). I'd ask the auctioneer (loudly) if all the work is engineered and approved before it starts. Might suppress people's enthusiasm. Re: Major structural changes - No building permits 3Jan 18, 2016 3:11 pm overkillxx The house has been reprocessed by the bank overkillxx Large steel beams braising the underside of the house going from external walls and supported by brick peers at external walls. lol ok jokes aside... Photos always help here... overkillxx . The Real Estate agent has absolutely no idea and is only able to advise that no structural work has been undertaken on the place for the last 10 years. overkillxx Also, no idea if the council will even tell me anything without me lodging forms to do so (Reading the council website it gives you that impression). overkillxx In the assumption the council has nothing in the system for this work (High probability), what would be the process to obtain the required certificates & permits? I've heard of disaster stories where there is the possibility the council could force you to undo or the work that was done without a permit as they are unable to confirm if the work undertaken meets the appropriate regulations. overkillxx If I found out that this is indeed an illegal significant structural modification to the house & I inform the Real Estate agent of this fact, is the Agent then obligated to advise other potential buyers as well? overkillxx Or does all responsibility fall onto the Purchaser to undertake there own due diligence before buying? overkillxx after i make enquiries is there any possibility they could condemn the dwelling as being not suitable to live in? overkillxx As stated above I have had a builder look at the work & it “looks” fairly well done but NOT finished. Just because building permits were not obtained, does not mean the work cannot be assessed and passed retrospectively. Bottom line, if you really like the property, do your due diligence, and if that works out, go for it. Assuming you've modelled the TB8, TB10, TB12, TB2 & J1 joists/LVLs there, it appears as per drawing to me. There maybe should be an additional J1 between TB10 and T12 if… 3 31780 interesting situation what happened after builder issued final invoice? did you list as defect or not does the building surveyor have any responsibility? ie. issuing… 13 46866 |