Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 19, 2021 9:41 pm I am interested to see other people's opinion on this, as currently our builder shares a different view with me on this topic, and I do think that I could be wrong, cause I know so little about the building process. But I know that re-inspections are not uncommon😂 If you see my post, please kindly vote below/& let me know your thoughts Thank you! The builder's view: No matter what, the re-inspections fees should be covered by the owner and the builder is not responsible to reimburse the reinspection costs. The builder will also claim an extension of time if needed reasonably. My view: If the Principal Certifying Authority (PCA) identifies non-compliance due to the builder's fault and requests for a re-inspection, the owner pays the re-inspection fee to the PCA and requests the builder for reimbursement. The builder should not be entitled to claim an extension for the delays caused by rectifications and re-inspections. But the builder can claim an extension of time if a delay is caused by the owner or the PCA. Re: Pls vote -who bears the cost of re-inspections ($ and de 2Jan 19, 2021 10:51 pm I answered your questions in another thread re engaging a private building consultant as your agent to do stage inspections and your builder entering unfair contract clauses as defined by the ACCC to severely discourage you engaging an appointed agent but you are now referring to a PCA. Is this a separate issue? Also, the PCA is concerned with structural issues (if they can be bothered looking) but you have mentioned non-compliance in this thread which indicates that your issue is still with the builder trying to prevent you from engaging a private building consultant for stage inspections. Can you clarify thanks. What State are you building in? 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Pls vote -who bears the cost of re-inspections ($ and de 3Jan 20, 2021 7:17 am I am unsure of your terminology, however to answer the question in the title of the post. Where the appointed building surveyor needs to do a reinspection, my view is that the cost should be borne by the builder. In my experience, the surveyor did not approve the frame inspection initially, rectification works had to be done and they were then required to come out again and reinspect. The builder did not charge anything extra or have they added additional time. If you have appointed an independent inspector in addition to the registered surveyor, at times their reports and recommendations may exceed what has been agreed to in the contract. For these sorts of items I am grateful for the builder rectifying even though they can take the stance of not required. I have already agreed to providing the builder an extra 30 days at time the contract was signed to use an independent inspector and therefore any rectification works will be included in this time frame (where reasonable). If I then want the independent inspector to re-inspect to ensure these additional items have been rectified, I would agree that I would need to pay for this. That being said, in my experience where I have engaged the independent inspector for all stages, he has suggested that any rectification items from past inspections can usually be re-inspected at the next stage (e.g. items identified at frame can be re-looked at in the pre-plaster inspection) and therefore re-inspection not required. Re: Pls vote -who bears the cost of re-inspections ($ and de 4Jan 22, 2021 1:06 am SaveH2O I answered your questions in another thread re engaging a private building consultant as your agent to do stage inspections and your builder entering unfair contract clauses as defined by the ACCC to severely discourage you engaging an appointed agent but you are now referring to a PCA. Is this a separate issue? Also, the PCA is concerned with structural issues (if they can be bothered looking) but you have mentioned non-compliance in this thread which indicates that your issue is still with the builder trying to prevent you from engaging a private building consultant for stage inspections. Can you clarify thanks. What State are you building in? Hi SaveH2O, thanks for your response. I'm in NSW. Yes, this query is a separate issue to the one that I asked in another thread. Sorry about the confusing terminology that I used. Principal Certifying Authority (PCA) is a must to have (as a DA consent condition) whereas building inspector is optional. Below is my updated plan, adjusted from my builder's responses so far. - We don't use builder's preferred PCA. Instead we appoint our own independent PCA to carry out stage inspections during the construction and to issue the occupation certificate. - We'll review the report from our builder's engaged building inspector - We'll try to attend some PCA inspections - We request owner inspections at only critical stages, and bring along our own building inspector. We'll aim to communicate the findings on site to the SS, but of course we'll keep notes and pictures. Builder is now saying that only submitting a report would trigger the expensive admin fee... Re: Pls vote -who bears the cost of re-inspections ($ and de 5Jan 22, 2021 1:10 am sifntdaz I am unsure of your terminology, however to answer the question in the title of the post. Where the appointed building surveyor needs to do a reinspection, my view is that the cost should be borne by the builder. In my experience, the surveyor did not approve the frame inspection initially, rectification works had to be done and they were then required to come out again and reinspect. The builder did not charge anything extra or have they added additional time. If you have appointed an independent inspector in addition to the registered surveyor, at times their reports and recommendations may exceed what has been agreed to in the contract. For these sorts of items I am grateful for the builder rectifying even though they can take the stance of not required. I have already agreed to providing the builder an extra 30 days at time the contract was signed to use an independent inspector and therefore any rectification works will be included in this time frame (where reasonable). If I then want the independent inspector to re-inspect to ensure these additional items have been rectified, I would agree that I would need to pay for this. That being said, in my experience where I have engaged the independent inspector for all stages, he has suggested that any rectification items from past inspections can usually be re-inspected at the next stage (e.g. items identified at frame can be re-looked at in the pre-plaster inspection) and therefore re-inspection not required. Hi Sifntdaz, Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, experience, and tips! I totally agree:) Re: Pls vote -who bears the cost of re-inspections ($ and de 6Jan 22, 2021 8:46 am Hi Lina C. Here in Victoria, the building surveyor is required to be appointed by the new home owner, not the builder. In NSW, it is not a requirement, hence the reason I asked your location. It becomes very confusing when correct terms are not used. Building Surveyor. Are also referrred to as PCA in some regions. Sometimes some persons wrongly refer to them as "the inspector" or similar. Building Inspector. A BI works with the BS. It is a profession requiring qualifications lesser than those of a BS. Building Consultant. These people do private inspections and act as your agent. A BC IS NOT a BI and should never be referred to as such. The roles of a BI and BC are totally different. I have alerted one of the forum's best building professionals who is based in NSW to this thread and hopefully he will soon be along to help. Good luck with everything. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Pls vote -who bears the cost of re-inspections ($ and de 7Jan 22, 2021 10:43 am SaveH2O Hi Lina C. Here in Victoria, the building surveyor is required to be appointed by the new home owner, not the builder. In NSW, it is not a requirement, hence the reason I asked your location. It becomes very confusing when correct terms are not used. Building Surveyor. Are also referrred to as PCA in some regions. Sometimes some persons wrongly refer to them as "the inspector" or similar. Building Inspector. A BI works with the BS. It is a profession requiring qualifications lesser than those of a BS. Building Consultant. These people do private inspections and act as your agent. A BC IS NOT a BI and should never be referred to as such. The roles of a BI and BC are totally different. I have alerted one of the forum's best building professionals who is based in NSW to this thread and hopefully he will soon be along to help. Good luck with everything. I see now! Thanks heaps, SaveH20! You are so kind😊 Re: Pls vote -who bears the cost of re-inspections ($ and de 8Jan 29, 2021 3:50 am If the builder calls for an aspect inspect of work carried out by the builder/builders trades and it is defective and requires a reinspection then it is a cost to be builder and the delay due to non-compliant or incomplete works is not a claimable delay. If the owner as supplied, carried out works or has caused the non-compliance, incomplete works or has called the inspection then it is the owners cost to pay for a reinspection and it is a claimable delay. Unless the builder has included a crazy clause in the contract, and if he did why would you have accepted this? Ask him to provide where in the contract this is covered We are Expert Consultant's, and we are here to help. Re: Pls vote -who bears the cost of re-inspections ($ and de 9Jan 29, 2021 11:02 am BuildingandLegal If the builder calls for an aspect inspect of work carried out by the builder/builders trades and it is defective and requires a reinspection then it is a cost to be builder and the delay due to non-compliant or incomplete works is not a claimable delay. If the owner as supplied, carried out works or has caused the non-compliance, incomplete works or has called the inspection then it is the owners cost to pay for a reinspection and it is a claimable delay. Unless the builder has included a crazy clause in the contract, and if he did why would you have accepted this? Ask him to provide where in the contract this is covered Agree with your view, Building and Legal:) Thanks. Hi, My home construction is complete, and the handover is scheduled next week. However the construction has been delayed and I have raised this to the builder. The… 0 5294 1 7894 You have mandatory building inspections and privately engaged building inspections. The difference between the two comes down to inspecting the building so it's safe and… 3 18019 |