Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Dec 15, 2022 9:26 am Soon our home build will reach Practical Completion Inspection stage. Our build is fairly straightforward, a 20 square, partial 2 storey house to take advantage of the slope of the land. I just have a couple questions regarding this stage of the build. 1). On the day of the inspection, I anticipate about 3 hours to carry out the inspection. Has the builder the right to reduce my anticipated time I need to carry out the inspection? 2) I am guessing that on the day of inspection the builder will hand me the final claim for payment. In order to reduce the area of dispute over the final payment, I am making a list of overpayments made to the builder so that he has the opportunity to submit the correct final claim. Overpayments, for example, we’re made for things covered in the original contract but not carried out, or substitution of cheaper products because the builder could not procure the original specified products. My question is, should I send this list now to the builder, or wait until I receive the notice of Practical Completion which is expected to be about 2 months away? Thank you for your considered advice. John Re: Practical Completion Inspection - Questions 2Dec 15, 2022 10:30 am 1 - 3 hours should be enough on a 20sq home. realistically the time should be agree beforehand and you should not be rushed. It takes as long as it takes. The builder might try to rush you, but if you've agreed on an allotted time, don't let them rush you out of that slot. If they've booked other stuff that conflicts with your allotted time, that's their problem, not yours. 2. are you on a fixed price contract? if you are, then the substitutions are going to be a point of contention because your contract will have some clauses in it around substitutions. The fact something was cheaper may not mean you are due for any refund of difference because you are on a fixed price. If you are on a cost plus contract, then you may be eligible for the difference because you will have been charged for the original item plus a margin. So your overpayment is not just the difference of the item, but the margin as well. Hope your records are watertight to evidence the differences. i.e. you have the invoices from the builder and not some screenshots from online sales you've found that you expect the builder to have been aware of at the time of the substitution. I would suggets read your contract around these items, formulate an email showing your work on wher eyou believe youve bene overcharged based on what clauses and ask them to respond. I would recommend you to do this before PCI or any final claim is issued. You have timing obligations when the final claim is issued and you don't want to be having two separate arguments. What sort of differences are we talkign about? 50 bucks, 20 grand etc? Dark matter scientist, can breathe underwater, mind reader and can freeze matter just by willing it. Trust me, its in my sig. Re: Practical Completion Inspection - Questions 3Dec 15, 2022 1:11 pm Thank you Noname. Regarding the overpayments fell under these categories: 1) Variations to the original contact for tiles and appliances which were billed in the various progress payment stages; and 2) Additional payments for things that we had forgotten was part of the original contract. These overpayments total around $8,000. You’re right about having two arguments, as we believe there will be some discussion about building defects and oversights yet to be unearthed. Serious matters that have been discovered has been brought to the notice of the builder in writing. (I wonder what is the role of the Compliance Certifier but that is a discussion for another day.) John Re: Practical Completion Inspection - Questions 4Dec 15, 2022 1:50 pm ![]() Thank you Noname. Regarding the overpayments fell under these categories: 1) Variations to the original contact for tiles and appliances which were billed in the various progress payment stages; and 2) Additional payments for things that we had forgotten was part of the original contract. These overpayments total around $8,000. You’re right about having two arguments, as we believe there will be some discussion about building defects and oversights yet to be unearthed. Serious matters that have been discovered has been brought to the notice of the builder in writing. (I wonder what is the role of the Compliance Certifier but that is a discussion for another day.) John right so these variations have the lower figure but were not reflected in the subsequent progress payments. Gotcha. if you ask for a statement of account, you'll see if they've been reflected against the total. The progress payments will often stay whatever the contractual amount was to ensure the communications with the bank stays smooth and without question, then its adjusted at the last payment. If theyre not adjusted in the statement of account, you can then put to them that they need to make the changes. It should be a simple discussion given you have the variations. Not sure i understand the second point. Dark matter scientist, can breathe underwater, mind reader and can freeze matter just by willing it. Trust me, its in my sig. Re: Practical Completion Inspection - Questions 5Dec 15, 2022 2:23 pm any payments/credits should've been reflected via a variation to the contract. if there were things that were included in a "standard" package, and then you got charged for them again in the tender as a separate line item, then once a mistake has been spotted the builder should've issued you a variation reducing the total claim amount. Re: Practical Completion Inspection - Questions 6Dec 15, 2022 9:39 pm Noname - the 2nd point arose because the builder presented an inclusions list after the contract had been signed which had some differences to the contract inclusions list which we didn’t pick on, initially. Because of the slowness of the build we had forgotten some of the original contract inclusions. For example, the original contract specified ironed mortar joints whereas the subsequent list specified flush mortar joints. We asked the builder to change the flush joints to ironed joints, and he subsequently hit us for $1,600 because this was additional work for the bricklayer. There were a couple other items. Anyway, it happens even to the most careful of us. I have cut and pasted Clause 8 which is the completion clause below. It is very easy to ready and understand which is why the NSW Fair Trading contract is so… 4 748 ![]() Like I said the Occupancy Certificate is not the tollgate that marks the completion of the house. The contract defines… 7 11382 |