Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 13, 2008 2:59 pm I just got our contract today. It is a standard HIA one, with changes, of course. Is it necessary to get a solicitor to check it out? (Some of the stuff on the plans is wrong, so that's one strike.)
If so, does anyone know of one in northern Sydney that they'd recommend? Thanks. Judie Re: Did you get a solicitor to look over your building contract? 2Oct 13, 2008 8:50 pm I used to be PA to a very wealthy businessman (think BRW rich list). His personal lawyer, who had previously been the Partner of property law for a big solicitor's firm (on around $1 million salary, so VERY competent) looked over our standard HIA contract 7 years ago when we built with H3nley.
She said that those standard HIA building contracts were used by most builders and that there wasn't anything in it that was controversial, so all pretty standard stuff. She said that the most important thing was to ensure that our plans and specifications/colour selection documentation was 100% accurate and to detail every bit of correspondence to them in writing. She also said to get a professional building inspector to inspect every stage of the build process (slab, frame, fixing and so on). We couldn't afford this so we only did it at handover. Re: Did you get a solicitor to look over your building contract? 3Oct 13, 2008 9:35 pm Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and if in doubt yes.
The contracts don't have Warning: Seek Independent Legal Advice for the sake of it. You have the right to seek independent legal advice, use it and don't go with the solicitor that the seller recommends because they will NOT be independent. Re: Did you get a solicitor to look over your building contract? 4Oct 13, 2008 9:41 pm I didn't get a solicitor to look over ours as I felt it looked pretty standard. However I did get Kevin to have a quick look when he was doing our pre-plaster inspection (even though I had already signed!), as I have heard some builders try to leave stuff out of the standard contract - as an industry outsider I would not know what is normal to have in there so would not have any idea if anything was left out. So for that reason I would say yes - have it looked over. Re: Did you get a solicitor to look over your building contract? 5Oct 13, 2008 9:58 pm Thanks for the advice. I am getting a solicitor to look over it tomorrow. I asked the boss of a local real estate agency (he is also a family friend) who he uses and got in touch with his suggestion. I already don't like the liquidated claim at only $45 per day. Even though they've said the plans aren't final, I don't really want to sign until they are. I've noticed a few things wrong, and will wait for them to be fixed.
Judie Re: Did you get a solicitor to look over your building contract? 7Oct 14, 2008 7:35 am Quote: She said that the most important thing was to ensure that our plans and specifications/colour selection documentation was 100% accurate and to detail every bit of correspondence to them in writing. Yes, I second this. Our only real gripe with our house is the window frames and unfortunately we have ourselves to blame: we wanted primrose frames, even had the sample swatch in our sample pack (with sample of each tile, bench top swatch etc) but somehow in the contract it says merino and we didn't pick it up. The security doors do say primrose, perhaps we just saw that. They came in merino too but the back sliding doors would of looked really silly if they really were primrose in a merino window frame , am toying with the idea of changing the front security door myself after handover. Anyway moral of the story: check and recheck every specification and variation and colour selection, as well as the actual terms of the contract. Re: Did you get a solicitor to look over your building contract? 8Oct 14, 2008 7:59 am Helyn Anyway moral of the story: check and recheck every specification and variation and colour selection, as well as the actual terms of the contract. This is very true... For mine, i have added door stops thoughout the house, the word 'throughout' is on the contract, but when you look closely, you will see that they also indicated "7no" at the end of the specification, I have 11 doors in total in my house, why only 7no is indicated.. just like that.. you have to be careful and check and recheck... Blog - http://clageonewhouse.blogspot.com/ Building Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=10886&hilit=milan I am in, with my husband and my beautiful bunny Re: Did you get a solicitor to look over your building contract? 9Oct 14, 2008 8:18 am Judie,
Don't be fooled when builders say its a standard HIA contract. When i actually paid the $10 or so to buy the 'standard' contract from HIA and sat it down and compared it word for word with mine and you will notice a lot of differences. (generally in the favour of the builder) Little things i found are :- - Where HIA specify the number of days you have to pay when a claim is made is different, my ******* builder only allowed a very low number of days so if you need to get the money from the bank to pay then it would be difficult - Look at the ways they calculate 'working days' and how they specify what is a raining day and using what source - Look at who is is liable for the electricity and water during the build time as they need to pay for it not you. - Other timing differences to their favour. - There was a whole section left out and i can't remember for hte life of me... Will post more if it comes to me. Cheers Smeags. ---->Some say that a recession is when your neighbour loses his/her job while a depression is when you lose yours!<----- Re: Did you get a solicitor to look over your building contract? 10Oct 14, 2008 8:50 am Our builder is good. They gave us a copy of the standard HIA contract, so we didn't have to go get one ourselves. We will use it to compare of course:)
The document number on mine is H-NHC - Nov 2004. Is there a later version? Greg Re: Did you get a solicitor to look over your building contract? 11Oct 14, 2008 9:02 am We signed our contract about 4 months ago.
After that came all the detailed stuff. Also, all the PCVs. Plans, elevations, colour selections, electrical plans, kitchen plans, etc... we signed off just before construction last week. We had no issues with this process. Anything included in the signed contract, which we decided to exclude, was credited. Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: Did you get a solicitor to look over your building contract? 12Oct 14, 2008 11:31 am Southies We signed our contract about 4 months ago. After that came all the detailed stuff. Also, all the PCVs. Plans, elevations, colour selections, electrical plans, kitchen plans, etc... we signed off just before construction last week. We had no issues with this process. Anything included in the signed contract, which we decided to exclude, was credited. How can someone sign a contract, which I assume has a price, and then work out all the detailed stuff (which would affect price)? Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 No the fireplace doesn’t work. It’s been enclosed. I’m not sure what was removed, as it was done quite some time ago - well before what I can see with photos online… 2 11584 You talk about deletions, are they variations or PS and PC adjustments? pleas list them 1 16557 The worst thing you can do is sign a building contract without a pre contract review. Over the years many people have come to me with disputes where they just signed… 0 8339 |