Haven't been around here much since the building finished... however I have a good story to share for those that might be going through a similar thing.
Our builder went over build time by 10 weeks. He would only calculate it as 5 week which was until the certificate of occupancy was issued. We tried to resolved this but he wouldn't budge. We got good advice from the Building Commission and decided to go down the VCAT route to recover costs.
Secondly our water tank was installed very poorly. It now has a major lean as the soil wasn't compacted. The concrete tiles it is on are broken due to the weight and uneven ground.
We had our hearing today and won. The builder has to pay the additional 5 weeks damages, as well as come out, empty the water tank, compact the soil and level it own, new concrete tiles and fill the water tank up again.
Our builder did try to intimdate us by saying he'd been to VCAT before and won, and did not believe it was a legitimate claim. Head office didn't not care one bit and probably don't even know he's been to VCAT so we shall be informing them of their lack of support for their customers, especially when the builder was trying to twist the contract meaning.
The VCAT tribunal heaing judge (you know who I mean) was very fair. When the builder said "I'm just acting on the advice I get" she told him to get his advise some where else, even though he had someone from HIA there with him. She knew her way around the contract and understood construction so she was right on the ball and it wasn't like talking to (another) brick wall.
So if you aren't happy and not sure what you can do, get some solid advice from the Buidling Commission (its free and every time I got consistent advice) and dont' be afraid of the VCAT option. For the $35 application fee, we have got the result we wanted and deserved.
Cheers, Anthea