Issues with property inspection

Hi guys, I'm new here and just need some advice.

We are currently building with homebuyers centre and have Darbecca doing independent inspections.

Slab stage went smoothly with only minor issues. At the frame stage the found 30 pages of issues. I passed it on to my SS and he advised they had been fixed. I believed him and they moved forward.

Darbecca came back out for the pre-player and noted that most of the issues are still outstanding, one of the major issues was the brick wall is out of plumb and warped with a minimum of 15mm at one area, which the inspector said should be 25mm and the wall needs to be reworked. Another part is mortar joining my wall and next door neighbor's together even though the plans show to leave a clear gap. There are no weep holes in the brick, even though the plans show them. Full list is 45 pages with situations on why they are wrong.

I went off at the SS about this and the regional manager came onsite to go over the issues. They advised they won't be fixing most of the issues as they have alternate fixes in place that Darbecca won't agree with because they see things in black and white.

I thought the building code was the building code.

I've asked them to send me a written email with what they will and won't be fixing and I can forward it to Darbecca and have a follow up inspection. Which I'm going to have to pay for.

They wanted me to go onsite Monday so they could explain the reasons for why they don't need to fix it so they could move forward with plastering. I told them I don't know houses, so won't be onsite without Darbecca. They seemed very annoyed and let me know they will stop work immediately until i get the paperwork from them.

Do you think he's full of crap and I should push him to fix all recommendations from Darbecca? This stage seems pretty important to get right.

You have a right to employ a professional.

Assuming the builder is using a HIA contract they are: required to do the works in a proper and workmanlike manner.with reasonable care and skill.

Judging from what you have said it would seem these contract conditions have not been met so the builder is in breach of the contract.

Breach of Contract?... and then what Civil Court Proceedings ?
Unfortunately the Regulatory Building (dispute system) is clogged with minor defects and most builders can get away with ignoring your complaints. Their alternate fixes come from their (Builders) engineer I suggest you get copies and have them scrutinized by your engineer alternatively your engineer can provide you with acceptable solutions for non compliance
BTW..They can't get away with major structural defects..Hire an Engineer

If it was only minor things I wouldn't worry. Our inspector is basically saying that that both bricks walls along the side need to come down or we will end up with cracks all along the walls.

We have overhang along an entire side. The builders have tried to cover it up by filling in the corners so you can't see it's not filled in along the rest of the length of the house.

You do have proof of that.. ?...and that is based on experience without engineering calculations?
Unfortunately, that is not good enough for the courts
Someone will need to check AS3700 The masonry structures (codes) and provide the calculations to back up his claim
That is how it works in the courts and IMO you won't be bluffing the builder with anything less

As you said, apart from building code violations, there can't be any proof without an engineer.

What about the fact our house is on clay soil, with a waffle slab with mortar between my house and the houses next door due to sloppy workmanship. This means the houses don't have give to move after heavy rain.

They already pulled one wall down as the two houses were joined by horizontal bricks and did a poor job putting the wall back up. With mortal leaking everywhere. Engineering designs specify to avoid mortar spill as water needs to fall through freely.

Our houses are only separated by a couple of cm.

Listen, I am a structural engineer and That is nonsense, if that is your main complaint then you have wasted Time and Money
not to forget all the stress caused ...The mortar between your house and the house next door (cavity slops) is less than 8MPa strength and is incapable of transferring shear stresses, it will simply crack
And I would have told you that if I saw the photos on Homeone
Even building codes violation can be ignored for long periods of time..in the meantime you suffer.
The builder will eventually grind you into submission by offering trinket repairs.
Next stage they will ignore you.
The main issue is major structural problems that may not be identified, get ignored because the Building Inspector isn't able nor qualified to identify them, nor do they provide proofs...
Builder & Inspector says this is Compliant

This is a design and Planning Violation, parapet walls should not be connected
This isn't a structural issue and your builders know this while some inspectors beat it up..they get paid to list mistakes while not offering alternate solutions.
This appears in today's Canberra times Cowboy builders are duping ACT buyers, an industry expert says

Quote
Constructions Occupations registrar Craig Simmons has said the industry was working "effectively enough for us but there are tweaks to the system that will improve things".
"It's an industry that is incredibly dynamic with new products and new techniques coming in all the time," Mr Simmons said.
He said changes would be incremental in working their way through the system because "the building code is designed to allow for innovation".
LOL...The new technology cutting edge is "Sometimes the bleeding Edge"

As Chris said, as clients sometimes worry more than we should by what we read in inspection reports.
But for peace of mind, A site visit is a good idea with Darbecca and builder so they can explain to you with someone with more knowledge than you what their ‘performance solutions’ are and/or how they meet whatever Australian standards.

I’d also ask the registered building surveyor to attend even if you need to pay for an additional visit or have Darbecca call the building surveyor and raise their concerns or forward their key concerns in report to them. The building surveyor needs to decide if they agree with the performance solutions OR whether they will put a building notice on the builder to fix, revise engineering, have the engineer complete site visit etc

I found contacting the building surveyor myself was of little use. They spoke with me and pretended they would consult with builder, and they did but didn’t seriously act until my inspector called them. They then issued a building notice.

In Victoria the registered building surveyor signs off most performance solutions. If your Darbecca consultant really knows his stuff, surveyor will take concerns seriously as they risk their license. If it’s ok surveyor can explain that to Darbecca.

For peace of mind it may be worthwhile and it may help the rest of the build stay on track.

Best of luck. Would like to hear the outcome.

I did an onsite visit with my Site Supervisor and my Building Inspector. The inspector was less than impressed. I was told that all issues had been sorted, but once getting onsite only 3 issues were passed.

The issue the inspector was most worried about was that the brickwork was meant to go higher behind the guttering as a fire safety issue. The inspector told me that I'm probably not going to have much luck with the builders as they are ignoring the reports, and the surveyor is signing off on them. I've forwarded each report to the surveyor who said that "we will check it out on the final inspection". The inspectors advise was to go up the ladder as far as I can and if they still dont act, to contact the DBDVR to lodge an official complaint.

I've then asked them for details of their inspections as there are some things on the report that need to be focused on.

My inspector said that while it has now been covered with putty, you used to be able to see through areas of the wall to see that walls on both sides had been completely joined together by mortar (not just a few drops here and there as I had been led to believe)

I had also been advised that one wall was completely taken down and redone, but I found that they just took the bottom four rows off along the entire side to fix the bricks that were joined horizontally between the houses.

The site supervisor when we met onsite couldn't even list out any of the issues from the report without trying to find an email (which took him half an hour and couldn't find, which annoyed my inspector even more). He just said "issues are sorted as he has an email from his manager to prove it". Inspector replied "I'm in the house looking at it, I don't care about an email that says otherwise"

I'm currently waiting for the Building Manager to contact me, but they aren't back at work until tomorrow.

Moventura sorry to hear that . Very stressful.

Has the inspector passed you the information from NCC 2016 code 3.7 that states the fire separation needs to be higher in your situation? Read it yourself and try to understand the issues really well. Downloadable for free. Different standards for different class buildings, situations and materials used.

If you haven’t yet, study your contractual engineering plans very very closely detail by detail. They should show all fire separation walls and party wall details etc. you can access Australian standards online through many uni libraries if you know a uni student.

Building surveyor can sign off what they like. you can ask the building manager and later surveyor to explain to you how their performance based solution meets code etc.

If the building manager says he has okayed all the changes, can you ask to meet with him and construction manager on site. Again I wouldn’t do it without Darbecca. Or ask him to call Darbecca to explain how what they have done is ok in lieu of a site visit.

I would let building surveyor know that you are taking it to DBDRV as you don’t feel you have had performance based solution explained to you.

As client you have the right to revoke your Building surveyors capacity to speak with builder directly and then I think you have to be the intermediary. This can be tricky if you are time poor as builder might be able to use it as reason why there are delays in build. I do not know much about this. I found out about this in the months after PCI so did not go down this path. But i wish I’d known earlier. Darbecca can advise.

FYI DBDRV- may take many months (5+ )to even get some basic information from you. So worth putting in a complaint in ASAP. You can always withdraw it later if items you are lost concerned about are sorted.

Keep reading and learning.

..... If you’ve forwarded each report to surveyor, since reports are lengthy you might want to email them and inform them that you have met with SS and Darbecca and concerns with specific fire separation wall remain. That you will meet with BM and if can’t resolve will seek mediation from DBDRV.
Email them your concerns re: fire separation wall specifically if that is in top 3 concerns. There is significant pressure on surveyors with fire safety after the bushfires and cladding issues.

VBA Building Information Line - 1300 55 75 59 - may also has some helpful advice on proceeding and also to check on standards and what surveyor can accept. And if you should make a complaint about surveyor.

Did you use your builder’s recommended building surveyor.
“From 1 September 2016 it is an offence for a builder to appoint a private building surveyor in respect of domestic building work. It will also be an offence for a private building surveyor to accept such an appointment offered by a builder.”
It’s situations like these of which there are many that highlight reasons why government tried to make change to who appoints the registered building surveyor.

Thanks. I kept putting pressure on the surveyor and they are meeting onsite today to go over each item on the report in detail with the site manager.

They were contracted by the builder and contract states that if I don't use them the builder will walk away. Had no idea at the time that it was against the law.

Building Manager has apparently told them to fix a few issues, but I haven't been advised what issues they are fixing. They wanted me to meet the Regional Manager and Site Supervisor onsite, to which I told them, not without Darbecca and any "alternate fixes" I want in writing prior to meeting so I can be prepared. They advised prior that they have an "alternate fix" for the fire regulation, which Darbecca ripped them apart on as he was previously a forensic fire examiner for insurance companies and said no insurance company would pay it out if a fire ever came to my building from a neighbouring property, which is why I've requested any alternate fixes in writing.

Building Manager is going to call me today to discuss my problems with the build.

I'm hoping with the surveyor onsite, they will check it properly as they wouldn't want to risk losing their license. Will update once I hear from them.

Solution of some kind sounds like it’s on the way. Great everyone is communicating and you are following through now before it’s covered up and will cause damage to fix.

it is a difficult position as the client. We want to believe in their building expertise and judgement. Wouldn’t have signed a contract with them if had no faith in their skills.

So surveyor has passed all issues. I asked for clarification on a few and they sent me

• we have requested a performance solution from a Fire Engineer to justify the FRL issue on the boundary. No occupancy certificate will be given until this is sorted out.
• All the overhangs HAVE been grouted
• The mortar between bricks is being removed over the next few days according to supervisor Triple A truss manufacturer
• The bowed bricks have been rectified in 1 area but there was another area they couldn’t do as yet and they are looking to replace the 90x35 studs in this area with 70x35 studs, they are running this by Triple A truss manufacturer

So sounds like progress is being made. Strange they passed it with work still to be done, but it's a step in the right direction.

Contacted the Site Supervisor who said they want me onsite with the Site Manager and Site Supervisor next week to go over what they have done to rectify the issues and some "alternate solutions", which they are gathering paperwork for now.

Once I've met onsite, they will get Darbecca back onsite to do an inspection.

Another step closer to settlement. That’s good news.

Great surveyor has agreed to delay CofO until there is clarification.

I see your point. So he/she has ‘passed’ it but can’t dispute that more evidence is required.

If surveyor and engineer who are registered put their name to it as compliant then ...... at least you are protected with insurance I would imagine. Even if alternate solution is still something you question.

Met onsite and they are sending me paperwork detailing the alternate solutions as well as the document from the fire engineer giving the ok to the wall.

The areas that they haven't fixed and basically told me they won't is the bowed brick wall. The building manager is telling me that 15mm is plenty of room between the brick and wood and doesn't need to be the minimum of 25mm. Anyone with knowledge of building able to clarify of this will cause any problems?

Also the entire side wall doesn't have sisilation covering the brick. They told me that the wall doesn't require it because of how close we are to the neighbouring house and there is no to for wind flow, which is why sisilation is needed.

They want me to ok everything on Monday so they can move ahead without fixing these issues.

Ok, so I met with a friend that's a building inspector and we pushed them to install the sarking along the boundary wall. We found it was on the original plans, so we pushed the surveyor as they were also telling me it is want required.

Also, they are not fixing the bow, but we compromised with them swapping the 90mm studs with 70mm studs and having them closer together. This gives over 25mm gap while not affecting the structure of the house.

The original issue with overhang, they told me was an 'alternate solution'. When I read the alternate solution it allowed for 25mm overhang for up to 3 metres. Our overhang is 25mm for 9 metres. So they obviously don't know their own alternate solution or just can't be bothered fixing it.

I've been advised that this overhang shouldn't cause too many issues, so I'm just going to let it go and take the sarking and the increase of the gap as a win.

Sounds like you have some peace of mind and have dealt with the issues that concern you most. Good news.

If you have any doubts still you can ask for their engineer to sign off on overhang etc if doesn’t meet engineering design.
Or as Chris above said get an independent engineer to assess and liaise with builder/their engineer. Great you have had independent advice.

Before I built I would have been shocked that so much compromise was required around building standards. They are used more flexibly than I ever expected.

The 7 year builders warranty reminds me of a conversation with Samsung years back about my old tv. They said they carried parts for 7 years and then expected clients to replace. I think I have 4-5 more years in my house before I’ll move on.

God damn it. Just when I got my hopes up. They replaced the studs yesterday to give the 25mm gap (yay), but then today they installed wall wrap between each stud. Not behind. I had even advised them not to do this as it wont protect the wood from moisture, yet they did it this way as it was quick and easy. Looks like the fight isn't over.

I had compromised on so much to move forward, but this was a non negotionable.