Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Dec 02, 2009 1:35 pm We are currently up to the site works with building our home.
At the beginning we were organising to build through another builder so we got our soil testing done with them through their company. We are now building through a different builder and they recently started the site works using the original soil tests. Our builder has stated that the soil test is false and incorrect and now we are having to pay more money. I now have heard that the previous building company who supplied the soil test is prone to telling customers that their soil is good to build on and then we they start that turn and add more costs plus their 20%. Is there are company I can contact to complain about this? Surely this could not be legal! Re: Incorrect Soil Testing 2Dec 02, 2009 2:00 pm The soil tests are carried out by independant licensed professionals, not the builders. Do you have a copy of the test ? I'm not sure how it could be "false", or if the new builder is trying to get a variation out of you. A soil test is a soil test, regardless of the builder. Yes sometimes the geotech companies can differ on their opinions of the site conditions, but a builder will only build to what the engineer says, and the engineer designs the building based on the soil report. Blog is now up - http://www.jbdave.blogspot.com/ Re: Incorrect Soil Testing 3Dec 02, 2009 8:25 pm jbdave The soil tests are carried out by independant licensed professionals, not the builders. Do you have a copy of the test ? I'm not sure how it could be "false", or if the new builder is trying to get a variation out of you. A soil test is a soil test, regardless of the builder. Yes sometimes the geotech companies can differ on their opinions of the site conditions, but a builder will only build to what the engineer says, and the engineer designs the building based on the soil report. Yes I know the builders don't do the soil test they use a independant company i'm not that silly . Yes we do have a copy of the soil test thats how our current builder recieved it off us. We are building on stumps, so the soil test states they found solid ground 1.8m down. Now our current builder had to dig further then 1.8m to find solid ground. I was wondering if there was a company who can help us on this matter Eg like if you want to dispute the council you contract vcat or if you have problems with you builder and contract you contact consumer affairs. Re: Incorrect Soil Testing 4Dec 02, 2009 8:43 pm 1. You could have a breach of contract claim against the engineering company who provided the report. 2. Often, however, engineering reports contain clauses that state that the report should not be used by a third party without prior written consent of the engineering company. If this is the case, and you have not obtained consent, then you would face difficulties in your breach of contract claim. Re: Incorrect Soil Testing 5Dec 02, 2009 10:40 pm There is always the other option, have an independent soil survey completed. Assuming that building works haven't started and you haven't given possession to the builder I would expect that you could enguage a seperate company yourself. Have them test bore and provide you with the results, best case they match one of your previous reports so you know exactly where you stand. Worst case, they provide a different conclusion and your still better informed. Either way your wallet will be lighter for the experience. I suppose it really depends on what value you place on knowing, vs the cost of going with your current builders report. As previously stated all the work carried out by the geotech companies should be above board and independent of the builders and that said your soil may vary significantly between the test bores, both reports could be correct based on the individual results of the bores and their locations. If possible maybe query when they were done and if possible find out where they were done one. Perhaps one might be closer to where your intended footings/stumps are to be placed? Our Build - Places Fairhaven 23+ - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=28045 Our Landscaping - Belial's Backyard - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=45375 Soil test - Building on stumps 6Dec 04, 2009 3:59 pm Thank you for all you suggestions. We have decided to just contuinue on with the building and the builder will charge us the extra needed. We don't really want to delay the building anymore. We are building on stumps and I have been told that the extra costs shouldn't be no more then $5000. We are going to have to pay extra either way. So we are pretty much paying for them having to dig deeper, longer stumps and extra concrete. Has anyone one else has experience with building on stumps? Re: Incorrect Soil Testing - All is good 8Dec 11, 2009 11:40 am Good to hear ! Blog is now up - http://www.jbdave.blogspot.com/ Constant What you have posted isn't really readable and also needs to be compared to your architectural plans. Happy to have a look if you email me at 1 869 A question. Im in Queensland and building a new home. We managed to reach practical completion 6 weeks ago but we haven't heard any date for handover yet. Who should we… 0 3052 This is one of the reasons I decided to go overseas for my double glazed windows. As the builder indicated, he's worked on many upmarket builds, these were the most well… 13 15087 |