Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Project 360: PCI completed - 6 pages of defects 121Jun 28, 2010 9:15 pm Well still have no word from the relevant people on what is happening with our build! I know we got some time till the end of contract date but some update would be great... Visiting site I can't see a thing being fixed up! Re: Project 360: PCI completed - 6 pages of defects 122Jun 29, 2010 9:32 pm We have PCI scheduled for the 15/7/2010 . I have been preparing for this date a month ago and have done a comprehensive list thanks to this site. I basically went from room/room and checked everything from installtion to paint. I also have my extras list ,then my inclusions list ,electrical plan . Urban inspections will be going in a day before with the working drawings,articulation plan ,and Alex said he will be looking at quality of workmanship to see if the plaster is in a straight line,bricks are perpend etc.. I also going in once or twice a week and sneek around looking for faults .At the end of the day its in God's hands. Re: Project 360: PCI completed - 6 pages of defects 123Jun 29, 2010 10:23 pm andy At the end of the day its in God's hands. You may have just summed it up Some suggestions in random orders: First thing is STAY CALM... do not get angry be civil, being angry will work against you. Try some jokes during inspection it will help easy the tension of both sides and assist in politely pointing out defects. One person holds the check list, remind and take notes while the other one identify the defects and communicate with the builder. Use every excuse under the sun to assist in pointing out why things may have slightly met standard but look dam ugly, would they display your house as a display house if that remains??? We had 20 printed pages of items to check make a page for each room and order items so you can check them in a logical order as you approach the room / items. It saves time trying to find that item to tick down. Make your own notes as to what will be done and do not rely on 'will be fixed to standard(??)' line. The "It's to display home standard!" line umm none of the display home are independently inspected (as many other have experienced on here) also display home are made to 'look good' but not necessary met (non structural, paint etc) standard... Once you notice something then keep pushing the issue, the builders tend to look at things from an angle that don't show the defect as much then bluff their way out of it being an issue. You will need to let them 'win' on a few small items (paint?) so as to reduce the friction for the bigger items. Bring some light globes!!!! in fact we brought along enough light globes to do the whole house (no points for guessing why builders usually don't supply light globe prior to hand over). Lighting helps 'bring up' those hard to see defects. Leave the lights on for a while, you need to check that having all the lights on won't blow the circuit breaker... If you are able to be visit the accidentally frequently to look at things even from the outside you can spend more time looking at things you can't see for the actual inspection. Make sure to bring a copy of the standard & tolerance guide with you and make mention of the fact at the start of the inspection. They won't fluff as much with those 'in tolerance' suggestions. If in doubt ask them to measure and prove it is within tolerance. Insist that any defect are rectified prior to handover, do not leave things to the 3/6 months fixing as it can then be argue that you cause it after hand over. Make sure to look at things with the door closed and open so they are under different light. Use your hand to feel the glass panels from both side of the windows & doors as some things is hard to see scratches (we missed many which our inspector picked up).Bare feet and bare hands don't lie as much as the eye. If an item is 'agreed' as a defect watch to make sure that it is actually written down, you will forget about this item after you spot the 50th (hopefully not!) defect. From experience (6 pages of defect...) you can't remember to confirm every defect prior to signing off the defect list. Bring a step ladder or high chair, it is quicker to inspect things using them or to put the light globes on. At this time of the year it's rather muddy outside around the house so make sure to bring a few pair of suitable shoes / boot so you can go everywhere around the site. Bring some toilet paper and flush the toilets with them to check solid actually flushes. Good luck with PCI. Re: Project 360: PCI completed - 6 pages of defects 124Jun 30, 2010 8:03 am I've noticed that people are generally picky about any scratches on glass. In reality, is this really a big issue, and more importantly, do builders actually go and replace these panels?? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Project 360: PCI completed - 6 pages of defects 125Jun 30, 2010 2:19 pm They are replacing ours which I may have been ok with if the inspector didn't pick up. I am not sure if the scratches will cause issues down the track. The standard & tolerance clearly specify that any scratches are defects so there must be some reasoning behind this else the builders will save their money. Re: Project 360: Still WAITING for handover 6 weeks after PC 126Jul 15, 2010 9:50 pm Here we are 6 weeks after PCI and we still have not had hand over!!!! Driving pas the site it appears not much has been done other than some paint touch ups. Wake up and get cracking!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Re: Project 360: Still WAITING for handover 6 weeks after PC 127Jul 17, 2010 8:10 am I had Urban property inspections do a final inspection on thursday and Alex came up with 10 pages of cosmetic and structural defects/issues. Actually it was 1 structural issue ,gaps between the timber windows was not 5mm and that could cause cracking as the house settled. The rest was stuff like bricks not washed properly and still had acid on them,mortar not cleaned,couple of roof tiles not secured.bricks not cut well etc. On the inside pipes leaking in the ensuite and kitchen,seals not installed on the doors etc I am planning to use the report if push comes to shove to negotiate on what I want .Iam hoping they will agree to fix everything but I doubt it. PCI is due next week,it was postponed by the builder at the last minute Re: Project 360: Still WAITING for handover 6 weeks after PC 128Jul 17, 2010 8:44 am fruitty Here we are 6 weeks after PCI and we still have not had hand over!!!! Driving pas the site it appears not much has been done other than some paint touch ups. Wake up and get cracking!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Re: Project 360: PCI items fixing re-inspection #1 129Jul 28, 2010 11:19 pm Well after 7 weeks since PCI we had a re-inspection today. Most items have been fixed, the painting now looks like what it should have looked like We had another semi debate on whats acceptable but wasn't anything as bad as last time. Found out why it took rather so long (not that it should matter to us). Apparently both of our SS (first and second one) has left with their boss so handover SS was left to chase most things up himself. The render is still not acceptable however a little better than before. We awaits another call next week to do another inspection before signing it off! Re: Project 360: PCI items fixing re-inspection #1 131Jul 31, 2010 8:18 am At 1100 am onthe 30th SS who was resigning today rang me and said the guys who were supposed to replace 1 of the sliding mirrors replaced the wrong one. Damn that ** me off ,he said everything was done including the external conduit . I turned up shortly afterwards and most of the stuff on the outside was not completed such as mortar covering the timber windows,water in the gutters abpve the BCA standards ,mortar not cleaned etc. I made a written complaint to the CLO and requested the construction manager get back to me as to why I was stuffed around. I have the option of taking a letter of Undertaking but that in my opinion is not a good option as these are important defects and incompete work ,Iam not waiting 3 months or running around after HO to get them fixed. No date was given for the next HO ,its frustrating but I rather get these items fixed now than regret later. On the plus side on the "completion document" the builder mentioned that all items on the private builders report will be done,they could have disputed a few of the items raised ,but they didnt. Re: Project 360: PCI items fixing re-inspection #1 133Aug 18, 2010 10:39 pm Hi fruitty, great thread. good to see you taking it to the builder. someone has too. nice house btw Re: Project 360: PCI items fixing re-inspection #1 134Aug 23, 2010 10:33 pm Well after almost another month since PCI inspection #2 (2.5 months since initial one) tomorrow we will be having the 3rd one tomorrow. We have been told ours has been the longest ever the handover SS has worked on at handover stage (and I am guessing will be the one to 'beat' for a long time to come...) No one else should try to claim our record, I would not want to wish this record on anyone else's build. Re: Project 360: PCI items fixing re-inspection #1 135Aug 23, 2010 10:53 pm fruitty No one else should try to claim our record, I would not want to wish this record on anyone else's build. I won't take that record away from you, but I must be running a close second........almost 10 weeks from initial PCI meeting. Best wishes and luck for tomorrow! Re: Project 360: we have keys :) 137Aug 26, 2010 11:00 pm Well after almost 10 months since construction started not counting the 6 months it took to get tender etc done...we now have the keys finally (well most of the keys anyway, but that is another side story). The actual handover at the office was not that smooth as we had hope. I will whinge about it at another time when I feel more like it. Bamboo floor installation will be happening tomorrow and the next few days. Carpet should be in about a weeks time (was suppose to be done this week if not for the delay). We have not made a decision on what type of driveway we want to do Went to Bunning to grab some ready shaded but was told they no longer carry them and it was only a promo thing Re: Project 360: PCI items fixing re-inspection #1 138Aug 26, 2010 11:24 pm Trinity fruitty No one else should try to claim our record, I would not want to wish this record on anyone else's build. I won't take that record away from you, but I must be running a close second........almost 10 weeks from initial PCI meeting. Best wishes and luck for tomorrow! Can I have a stab at the record........ how about 11 weeks Apparently one of the longest ever with the longest list of defects and one of the worst handled jobs ever. Funny all those admissions and they still couldn't pull their finger out. Congrats Fruitty, glad you have got there in the end and hope you settle in well. Re: Project 360: we have keys :) 139Aug 27, 2010 9:09 am Congratulations fruitty on completing the Project 360!!!! Can't wait for further pics and updates ... and whinges ... whenever you feel like it !! My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Project 360: Moved in :) 140Sep 12, 2010 11:39 pm We have finally moved in last Wed Moved the last things from my parent place's today! We were surprised by how much stuff we have, it was much more than we though. All of it now scatted around the new house... Floor board install took much longer than expected, the installer did quite a good job. Carpet install went fine as we had a good installer (I have his contact if anyone is interested), we ended up paying much less than quoted as we did not require as much carpet. Soon as we started the moving in, first 'maintenance phrase' items present it self, both were plumbing issues!!! #1: Cabinet maker has managed to put a screw through one of the laundry hot water pipe so out comes a puddle of water in the garage floor. To the handover SS / maintenance SS credit he organised for a plumber straight away to fix it. Plumber had to cut 2 large section of the garage plaster before locating the leak Took handyman a few days later to come to fix the holes. Will post photos later. #2: The day we had hot water installed, that afternoon our manhole started crying!!! Next to the manhole there are many water pipes and one of them is leaked again plumber came next day to fix it, no holes this time. We are now settled in, to do list includes the driveway and fence, side & front, decking garden (back & front) to be done. We have put up recycled temp blinds from the flooring packaging foam sheet as Bunning is no longer selling readyshades and I have not managed to order them direct. Budget is very much dried up as we ended up buying more items than initially planed. Also we have not made a decision on type of blinds. I might update this thread from time to time but I guess it's very much done with building! I will be hanging around still to try to assist other where I can with their build now that we have some (rather too many bad) experiences. Joe, it depends on your certifier but we are noticing the ones we deal with are really cracking down. So i would recommend you follow your approved landscaping plans to… 4 10848 Hi Simeon, Thank you for laying it down for us. Makes sense. Appreciate it very much. Have a nice day. Cheers 2 8888 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair That laser level looks lovely! We bought one for less than a quarter of that price off eBay. It worked really well for us and it's still going now, five years later. After… 1 16664 |