Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 29, 2010 8:33 am Hi folks! New to the forum, onto my third investment property in Vic! The first we had built in Point Cook by Serenity Projects. Not a bad house. Pretty good builder too, minimal dramas. Good follow up. Second is just a unit in Footscray, near Vic Uni. Third is currently under build in Truganina by Simonds. So far so good! But the time has come for a final inspection of the builders work and I need to (obvously) have an inspector go and make sure the builder's been a good boy! With Point Cook we used Kevin from New Home Inspections. We did, however, had an odd experience, so I thought I'd search on here for others' experiences with New Home Inspections. Here's what happened: Initial report was great! Kevin took the time to go through the issues and it was quite detailed. Sent the report to the builder to rectify the issues and then contacted Kevin to re-inspect. A dozen phone calls and emails later, no reply. I actually thought he was laid up in hospital, or something really bad had happened to him, as I could not work out why he had not responded and feared the worst had happened and he wasn't working anymore. So I left it and dealt with the builder directly and hope all was remedied. Since then, one of my friends had a report done by Kevin and showed it to me. Naturally I tried contacting Kevin again to discuss my original property. But no response. So I cc'd him in on the email I sent to my friend warning them of his poor follow up. Now I have found not only has he not attempted to get back in touch but he then bad mouthed me to another inspector, Darren Love! And now Darren won't do a report for me as he 'works closely' with Kevin! Has anyone else found Kevin to be an emotional mess and inclined to lie so he doesn't have to do (cheaper) follow up inspections??????? I mean if I had been rude, or even slightly abusive, I could understand his behaviour. But I was very impressed (well, not now) at the original job, so I have no idea why he's turned to ****** to colleagues? To clarify; he has told Darren Love that I refused to pay for a follow up inspection. But as I never had a return telephone call or email from him I can't work out when I had the chance to refuse to pay? I can't even work out why he has this odd idea, as if you wouldn't pay for a follow up inspection?? So after this experience, I am looking for other inspectors as I don't think it would do me any favours to deal with folks like that! So I've since found Final Inspect and also noticed the ad on here for Urban. Does anyone have any first hand experience with inspectors happy to do: * A detailed and quality report * Discuss issues with the builder * Happy to do a follow up report after builder rectification My friends and I have group bought 5 houses in Truganina. We need reports done on only four (as Kevin did one). Although I hope my friend doesn't need a follow up inspection............. Experience has proven this to be, shall we say, unrewarding! Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 3Jan 31, 2010 10:57 am We were relatively happy with http://www.aplusinspections.com.au/ Kevin was equally unresponsive for me. Hard to say where he gets the good reputation from because I found him pretty bad. Trying this building gig one more time. Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 4Jan 31, 2010 11:13 am Wow, that's terrible service. Hopefully the elusive Kevin reads your review in this forum, and takes it like a kick in the pants to better improve the way he treats clients. I'm shocked, I've only read reports in here praising him. Good on your for speaking up and telling us about your experience. Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 5Jan 31, 2010 9:03 pm Ive used Aplus, As well as darren. Similarly have a few investment properties. Darren was happy to do the new ones and was great However, I had some issues with a build from 3 years ago. That the builder won't contact me or make any attempts to come and repair and planned to take them to VCAT. Got APLUS to come out to give me a report I could take to VCAT. Showed them the issues I believed where wrong with the house. Got the report back and to say it was simple was an under statement. Most of the problems I showed him where mentioned, However even then one was missing. However there was no indication of what would be required to fix them. Or any reference to any building codes as to why these things where not done correctly . Futhermore there where no photos anywhere in the report. But a reference down the bottom that photos where taken and could be obtained at additional cost to the almost 500 bucks I had already paid. So they basically took what I said put it on a bit of paper and signed it. So its pretty much useless for the purpose I need and not what I asked for initally. I will now have to pay someone else to come out and do another report for me. They did agree to fix it up. However It never happened and after a follow up email still nothing. I am an electrician and can tell you as a tradesman these guys charge A lot for what they do. It seems they are just keen to get people in churn out the jobs and not to interested in whether people are happy or not. My builder who just built my new house claims that he knows at least one building inspector make about 650K a year. Total Breeze Air Conditioning and Electrical - Based in Melbourne http://www.totalbreeze.com.au Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 6Feb 01, 2010 11:49 am Thanks A&E, it's a pity to have to actually go anywhere and mention that kind of (eceptionally) poor service. I'd much rather put on a post of praise and happiness........ Wow, sounds like the players in this game are very ordinary and are uninterested in following up as there's less money in it than the main report. Which sucks, as that's where you actually need them. Hell, I'd rather not know there's anything wrong with the house if no-one's going to check it's been fixed! Most are quite thorough (even Kevin's report was good, it was just the follow up that failed) and would really only be able to do 2-3 reports per day. Given they're at it for 48 weeks a year, that's 240 days. Take off 20 days for 'unproductive' (sick, family, VCAT) ones, leaves 220 days of 3 inspections per day. 220 x 3 = 660 annual inspections x $500 = $330,000 gross fees. So $650,000pa would be a maniac. No wonder the follow up reports are not a priority. What a pity they can't be held accountable for anything other than the original report. Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 7Feb 01, 2010 12:04 pm I was all set to get Kevin in for the work as I have only heard good things. Might have to shop around some more, can anyone recommend an inspector who is willing to follow up? after all, that is the main point Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 9Feb 01, 2010 12:53 pm Lunchtime I was all set to get Kevin in for the work as I have only heard good things. Might have to shop around some more, can anyone recommend an inspector who is willing to follow up? after all, that is the main point Unfortunately, it seems the good things refer only to the initial report. Which I am happy to say (in my case) was good. But you're right, it's the follow up inspection that counts. So far I am looking at Final Inspect. I have never used them, but seems good so far. I will query the follow up side of things and come back. Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 10Feb 01, 2010 5:24 pm My experience with APlus was certainly more positive than octain's - I had loads of extra things that I didn't point out. The report contained detailed suggestions for corrections. But my experience with Kevin was really bad. Seems as if it is all luck of the draw. These inspectors are worse than builders! Trying this building gig one more time. Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 11May 07, 2010 12:06 pm Now we're at handover stage, I can state that the money spent on Final Inspect (Peter Limburg) saved me mountains of follow up dramas with the builder. His strict adherance to the applicable quality of work and the relevant building codes has meant that all the houses built are going to be truly 'turnkey' with no need to do any post final payment mucking around, with the exception of applicance fittings. When Final Inspects reports, service and follow up are 'compared' to New Home Inspections..... Well, there is no comparison and I would not hestitate to recommend Final Inspect to anyone who wants to make 100% sure their builder does a 100% job. Remember, you're not an expert in the building game, so don't scrimp on the building inspection to save a couple of dollars, it isn't worth it in the long run. Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 12May 08, 2010 8:54 am Hey thanks for the reccomendation. I spoke to Peter direct yesterday. Although his company charges about $200 more for the final inspection compared to NHI, he seems to offer a better and more thorough service. He was lovely to talk to and answered a few queries I had that the NHI office couldn't answer for me a few weeks ago. I think we'll use Peter. Thanks again! Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 13Aug 16, 2010 12:01 am After a similar experience with Darren from QAI Reporting, I gave up with no response to my initial request by phone or requests quote of single handover inspection, or the 5 x inspections from slab stage by email. Kevin came highly recommended, but after no reply to my emails and calls I chose FINAL INSPECT http://www.finalinspect.com.au, who is also licenced with the Housing Industry Association (HIA). They did an excellent job, delivered detailed reports, picked up a number of issues with my Point Cook House build by Henley, and the reports price was bit higher than I hoped but I received friendly service and quick delivery and saved me heaps of issues with house build. I will be using them again when I build an investment property in Hoppers Crossing in the near future. I was saddened by initial experience and lack of communications with Darren & Kevin and cannot recommend them. But if you want a dependable group try Final Inspect - they will deliver. Also make sure your inspector is registered/licenced with HIA so you know they are honest and have a background or history in the building/construction trade - not like some eh... Best of luck to you all with building and I hope you get delivery of beautiful home soon. Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 14Aug 16, 2010 9:42 am I used an inspector who is a friend of mine, for a frame inspection. He lives out in the east in Croydon. He's been recommended by many people who use him, including someone from the local council there. I'm happy with his work, though I've only once ever hired an inspector so I don't have anything to compare with. I can provide details via PM. I would be amazed if a good inspector could do more than 2 reports a day. A thorough inspection should take at least 2 hours, then they have to drive to the site and back and type up a report. They would need to cut corners to fit 3 reports in. Metricon Riva 33 - http://herlihy-riva.blogspot.com Site start 15/03/2010 - Handover 23/12/2010 9 months and 8 days (284 calendar days) from site start to handover Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 15Oct 08, 2012 2:29 pm I'm glad I come across this thread. I intended to use NHI but probably not after reading this ... Only one thing is this was in 2010 .. wondering any changes to these reviews and recommendations ... Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 16Oct 08, 2012 7:35 pm Hey guys, I highly recommend Sam from inspect direct. We have used him at three different stages and at all stages, he has been professional, quick and detail orientated. I can't say anything about his service. We always received a full detail report from the most minute defect to the ones we didn't know we're defects. His discounted Multiple booking costs around $400 for a three hour inspection. He can be contacted via email: inspectdirect@optusnet.com.au Or 0413-954-947 Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 17Oct 08, 2012 8:15 pm I have operated A Plus Building Advice since 2003 and the business was rebranded in January this year as Building Expert to better reflect the range of service and the depth of advice given to my clients. Unlike some other inspectors we have well trained team members to receive calls understand what you need, give service, and take bookings, and we do follow up customer calls and emails. Another inspection company I can recommend is Budget Reports Pty.Ltd. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 18Oct 08, 2012 11:00 pm PADAMS2012 Hey guys, I highly recommend Sam from inspect direct. We have used him at three different stages and at all stages, he has been professional, quick and detail orientated. I can't say anything about his service. We always received a full detail report from the most minute defect to the ones we didn't know we're defects. His discounted Multiple booking costs around $400 for a three hour inspection. He can be contacted via email: inspectdirect@optusnet.com.au Or 0413-954-947 We are going to use Sam for our inspections too. Good to hear some +ve feedback. Ta. Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 19Oct 10, 2012 6:55 am JagSRK, you won't regret it! Re: New Home Inspections, and any other inspectors in Vic? 20Oct 10, 2012 8:31 am I have used New Home Inspections for two stage inspections this year and one last year. I also used them in 2008 for my previous build. To date I have had no problems with them at all. They were willing to inspect my house which is out of their standard coverage area (for an additional travel fee). I found them very flexible allowing me to book appointments ahead of time so that I could be the first inspection of the day due to the travel distance. They were also willing to move inspections when the builder was delayed (I kept then informed). All the reports I received the following day and have also been able to contact them for follow up and advice. I have one more reinspection at some stage to ensure builder has fixed everything in the report. I would have been lost without them and had no idea that some things were not as per standards. House - Lockup completed 23rd December 2011 - Painters are in!!! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=37261&start=0&hilit=Blaxland If you are in Victoria you have a statutory right to your own building inspector regardless of builder's consent. No negotiations are required. However the builder will… 1 2943 I recently went through a similar renovation and move scenario when updating our family home. We also swapped some rooms around and tackled a major… 2 10049 That is a really good attitude Akin to you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. I do enjoy watching that tik tok inspector from Victoria but he does go a little… 12 81896 |