Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Knock Down Rebuild : Site survey - own or via builder? 10Oct 19, 2020 10:15 am Simeon McGovern Affordable Custom Homes, We design and build to your budget Ashington Homes www.ashingtonhomes.com.au Re: Knock Down Rebuild : Site survey - own or via builder? 13Oct 19, 2020 5:15 pm GrahamB SejaeD thehuntbegins HI Guys, We in initial phase of KDR process where we are visiting project and custom builder to get some ideas on possible options wrt to our budget and requirements. We have landsize is ~615sqm / 15.4m frontage / 40m length and land is sloping toward front side and garage is down, we have 13 steps (~2.5m) before we come inside home. A I understand we will firstly need to do site survey, soil tests to finalize the site assessment. When we goto these builders like Metricon, Masterton, King etc they say they can order a details site survey from their end for some $$$. My questions are : 1) If we get such survey completed from lets say Metricon and later we decide to go with other builder, do we get the survey report or it stays with builder or is it specific to that builder? I presume we get it but want to double check. 2) If we have to do such survey by our self (without builder engagement) how to find right surveyor? Any resource? Recommendation for finding? 3) How much we have to pay for such survey report? Does the cost vary if we do on own or via any builder? 4) Generally what do people do? do you get it through builder or do it on own? 5) How long it takes to get the survey done? Is it better idea to have such survey ready/done and carry it everywhere when we visit the builders to discuss their floor plans and options? Thanks What an exciting time! my advice is always do you own survey. if you're in Sydney PM me and I will send you a couple of names, We have a guy who will do it for $770. This way you control your own destiny. If a builder wont use your survey keep looking until you find one, The soil testing report is a bit if a scam, they dont really do anything, ( all sites should be piered as standard these days anyway) in my opinion its just a way for you to pay them a tender fee and once you have handed over your money they have you locked in their system and its harder to walk away from them. The other really important thing to ask when you are interviewing a builder is what contract do they use. In NSW there are two main ones, the HIA contract and the NSW fair trading contract. NEVER use a builder who only uses the HIA contract. This one is so one sided its not funny. There is basically very little recourse if the work isn't up to standard, if they put a progress claim in for a stage and you arent happy you still have to pay them and argue later, with the fair trading contract you have the ability to dispute. Also under the HIA contract you are responsible if the builder damages council assets but with the Fair trading one the builder is responsible. The list of differences is quite long but it is something you should definitely investigate.I know someone who's builder set the crane up incorrect and destroyed a council drainage pit and the poor owner had to pay $5000 plus dollars to fix it. In the commercial world builders are always responsible for their mistakes. The fair trading contract has been developed by fair trading to be roughly 50/50. Happy to answer any other questions you have. best of luck S SejaeD Seems like you have had a bad experience with a HIA contract, they are not as despicable as you think and if you get the right builder who is willing to bend and adjust conditions to suit both parties, then the HIA one is fine Mind you, there would be very few and far between who would want to do that Keep Smiling Hi Graham How are you? For people reading this Graham and I know each other quite well professionally outside of this forum so anything we might say to each other is just professional opinions and not personal Graham, you know I have become a bit of an advocate for consumer rights in the home building industry, and I know you also have a passion for helping people, and with your extensive building knowledge you have an enormous amount to offer consumers as well. You and I have both seen the best and worst that this industry has to offer. I have been helping a number of people over the past couple of years who have been on the wrong side of poor building work and who have had very little recourse contractually against their builders. I also build apartments and so I can see the changes being made to the industry by the new building commissioner to try and protect apartment buyers from developers who have been taking too many shortcuts. As a result I have been putting a lot of thought into what is wrong with the home building industry which I believe is actually far worse than the apartment industry, it just doesn't get any media coverage. I genuinely think that the fact that you don't need a building licence to supervise the construction of a house is a major issue. Some supervisors are responsible for 15-20 homes and they know less about building then my teenager does, and then on top of that, the HIA contract is 90% in the favour of the builder, so the customer has very little recourse against the builder. For instance, there is no right to set off payments against bad workmanship. How is that fair? I sincerely believe that reputable builders who are willing to do the right thing by their customers should have no problem using the fair trading contract. I would recommend that everyone who is thinking about building download it and read it. (its free) The other main advantage of the fair trading contract is that it is written in plain english so the everyone can understand it. There is no reason why customers should have to spend thousands of dollars on legal fees to interpret their building contract. Anyway, that's my 2 cents Cheers S Simeon McGovern Affordable Custom Homes, We design and build to your budget Ashington Homes www.ashingtonhomes.com.au 6 22796 We've had the offer of a short term tenant whilst waiting for CDC/DA home approval and demolition for our knock down rebuild. It would achieve a pretty low rent as it's… 0 9926 Hi I live in a 100yr old semi and my neighbour added an additional floor last yr and our architect has advised that we can knock down our semi and build a free-standing… 0 28984 |