Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 01, 2010 4:39 pm Dear all, We are building our Newtown 36 by Porter Davis and it is nearing completion. It is exciting and we are expecting the confirmation of the PCI date by the PD this week. We are now seeking a certified (certified building inspector) and reputable building inspector, who can help us to spot out all the potential quality issues, including those cut-corner jobs, if possible. The inspector we are looking for should present report within 2-days turnaround time, and must with full details pin-pointing the problem areas, instead of mixing large amount of standardized wordings template or large size of photos in the content in trying to inflate the document space and make it looked fluffy. We have searched in the Homeone forum and summarize what we've found here: - Kevin from New home inspection: people said he's been quite poor in follow-up service, never can be reached. (our experience showed his assistant Robyne is also hard to reach and communicate). - http://www.urbaninspectreport.com.au - sounds good but not much recommendations, no sample report. - http://www.finalinspect.com.au - sounds good but it seems this company is not yet certified as the building inspector in the industry. So can anyone here recommend any reputable building inspector, to help us sail through the 'Judgment Day'? We are aiming to start the PCI in mid March, pending PD's confirmation shortly. Many thanks in advance!! Victor Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 2Feb 01, 2010 11:34 pm Hi Victor, Look at the AIBS (Australian Institute of Building Surveyors) website for a comprehensive list of their members who are qualified building surveyors or building inspectors. Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 3Feb 02, 2010 8:37 am I'd be interested too. True Polo we can do that and will, but it's always nice to hear people's experiences. How much are inspections roughly? $400-500 per inspection or ??? Life is; then you tell yourself a story. Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 4Feb 02, 2010 8:51 am Thanks for the info Polo. However we basically went through the similar process, we visited the building commission website: http://www.buildingcommission.com.au/ww ... an-rbp.asp And found a consultant who is certified building inspector, certified building dispute mediator, we used his service in the past 4 building stages. However, his reports were consisted of: - 2% of relevant content (2-3 lines of words only) - 98% of standard wordings, template And we were asked to pay around $160 for each of his report. And this guy was hard to reach via email and not responsive. So given the not-so-good experience, we don't have too much hope in searching the inspector via the official website, we are keen to find if there is any reputable, responsible building inspector that the homeone community members would like to recommend? It seems that no one can find a good recommendation, since my post yesterday... Does it mean we really don't have any good building inspector in Victoria who can provide high quality and affordable service ? We are keen to find out if there is any inspector who works responsibly, delivers real pin-pointed results/solid report, but not fluffy, bloated report with irrelevant stuff. Any one? Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 5Feb 02, 2010 8:56 am Hi We have used Urban Property Inspections at frame and lock up. More than happy with the detail in the report and quick turn around. Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 6Feb 02, 2010 9:27 am Thanks so much for the reference for this mate. We can see from the website of Urban Property Inspection, they are the HIA member and certified building inspector. We were interested but needed the followings to back up our decisions: - the referral (now got one from you - their sample report (so we won't have any big surprises) But for now if anyone else who's got the solid experience, you are very welcome to share here. Cheers. Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 7Feb 02, 2010 9:58 am We used urban property as well he was great. We got the pre plaster inspection done and he picked up stuff we didn't know. His report was clear and included photos. The builder was able to respond to the issues as they were set out clearly. We will be using him for PCI too in a couple of weeks Forum thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22300 Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 8Feb 02, 2010 10:08 am Thanks penny77, OK, so we would like to give Alex a go for our PCI. I just rang him and he said he would send me the sample report once he gets back to office some time today. I will also update you guys of our upcoming experience with their service after mid March. Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 9Feb 02, 2010 11:32 am Hi Manafull, At the moment I'm looking for one too for pre-slab pour and have been contacting some of the qualify building inspector on the AIBS website but unfortunately the ones I wanted only work in the Eastern suburbs not northern. Are you able to tell me the inspector you used or PM me so I can shortlist. Thanks. Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 10Feb 02, 2010 11:34 am interesting to know!! Yes please keep us updated!!! Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 11Feb 02, 2010 1:50 pm Good to know. I am thinking of using Urban for our inspections. Might give them a call. Does anyone know of Melbourne Pre-Purchase Property Inspections? www.mpppi.com.au Life is; then you tell yourself a story. Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 12Feb 02, 2010 3:10 pm Hi Polo, I would not like to recommend the inspector I used in my last completed stages, simply because the reports he delivered were consisted of 3% of relevant comments + 97% of irrelevant rubbish. I had already told him to be pinpointed and be detail after I got his first report, he just didn't get it and continued in doing the similar things in the next inspection report. Even though he's spotted out the water pooling issue and other alignment related issue, but these 2 were just the only actual issues contained in his past 4 reports! And all the rest are just duplicated content. Think about you are paying over $800 for his inspection, and at the end, what you've really got were just around 5 lines words in total, with all the rest were just stuffed up with duplications, standard wording craps, and irrelevant rubbish. And importantly, he's not responsive in emails and thus avoid any things in writing... It is just like a joke that this inspector is certified and also a certified building dispute mediator... So you now see what I meant - you should focus more on the community referrals on REAL WORLD experiences, instead of religiously believing the "certified" wording... I will update everyone here on my experience in using the Urban Properties Inspection, after mid March. Till then, please stay tuned. I am looking forward to a good one this time Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 13Feb 02, 2010 3:25 pm hahahaha.. i like your comment .. i'll make sure i stay tuned.. Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 14Feb 02, 2010 4:06 pm I was a bout to employ new home inspections as well ,if the customer service is bad forget it. Urban property inspections do they do inspections in the south east of melbourne? Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 15Feb 02, 2010 4:10 pm My home inspection was done by Kevin. I was very happy with him. I got his reference from two of my colleagues who are very happy with his services too. Even my broker uses him for inspection. I will recommend him. Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 17Feb 02, 2010 8:54 pm With the building inspections (in particular, the final inspection), do they do a general inspection and assess what ever they can physically see, or do they take a copy of your plans and contracts and ensure that everything which should be included in your contract/plans are included, eg, do they count how many light bulbs have been installed, etc... Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 18Feb 02, 2010 10:34 pm Folks, I have just received the sample report from Alex, who came back to me promptly after the phone talk. I see no problem with the format and the content of the report, though the content would varies from house to house. However I would be able to comment after his service of my home inspection after mid March. So far, I appreciate his prompt reply and respectful manner to potential customers. Regarding the plan in preparing for the inspection, I think I have done my work in the preparation - here below is what I am planning to do: - I have prepared a list of documents for my inspector to read before the inspection, including: * floor plans * full tender items list (all should be installed in the new house and have to be inspected) * all the issues discovered so far in the previous inspection * electrical plans - I also asked my inspector to focus in the following high risk areas: * any corner-cutting jobs * any defects * any noncompliance of industrial standards I have sent my inspector all the above and asked him to confirm whether he could cover in the inspection service. However, I understand he would need to take time and go through the above documents before come back to me. But he may say yes or no to take the job, so lets see... At the same time, I am still waiting for the Porter Davis to confirm the PCI date, as they promised me by the end of this week, but fingers crossed. Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 19Feb 03, 2010 11:46 am Hi Manafull, What I meant was, can you tell me who the building inspector is so I can cross him out. I decided to go with Just Inspections for my pre-slab pour inspection so hopefully everything will be good. I will let you all know of the outcome and my thoughts on their service next week. Re: Seeking New Home Inspection Service in Melbourne - PCI only 20Feb 03, 2010 3:33 pm Hi Manafull, I rang Urban as well and spoke to alex . He was prompt and he did ring me 10 mins after leaving the message. He did say though ,he will not touch the tender document ,but he did say that at final inspection he will look at all the dimensions of the house which is one of requirements. He promised to send me sample reports so far nothing its 1630 now . Let me know how you go with this guy. The independant reports are crucial ,I dont take the builders surveyors reports seriously for obvious reasons. Iam hoping to get a frame stage report which covers slab and pre handover. The other thing he promised me is that the report will be emailed to me on the day of the inspection. Please read your contract regarding handover process. Generally, once final payment invoice is issued you have 7 days to meet builder on site and present a list of… 3 1280 Does anyone have a suggestion for a good hydronic in slab heating speacialist who may be able to help me with an existing system and wether or not it may need a seperator… 0 4883 My home office is hot with computer equipment running virtually 18 hours a day. When it gets unbearably warm I simply step out of my door into the living area which is… 0 5124 |