Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 24, 2010 12:37 pm Hi, we are about to arrange a building inspector to go through our home as PCI is expected shortly. Our builder advised us that the inspector is not allowed to be with us at PCI. Not that we were going to do this, but I was surprised that they could tell us that. Is this legitimate? Re: Can the builder refuse building inspector at PCI? 2Mar 24, 2010 12:46 pm This is not unheard of. I have read that before. My PCI is coming up shortly too, right after Easter and if my builder has the guts to tell me I can't bring along a inspector I will stand my ground and ask them who they think they are to tell me who I can or cannot bring to my OWN house to check on their work. In any case I have no such trouble with my builder. Re: Can the builder refuse building inspector at PCI? 3Mar 24, 2010 12:56 pm I was told by my builder yesterday that we can arrange for an inspector to come in, however we are remain outside while they do thier inspection and they are not allowed to communicate or discuss anything with us on site at the time of inspection. Re: Can the builder refuse building inspector at PCI? 4Mar 24, 2010 1:04 pm I would say check your contract. Often to bring an inspector the contract will require written notification. So just send them an email and make sure you request a "read receipt" After 4 years - we're in! Re: Can the builder refuse building inspector at PCI? 5Mar 24, 2010 1:21 pm There was a lot of talk about this when we were building, we organised to have an inspector through about an hour before the PCI then we took the report from that with us into the PCI. Re: Can the builder refuse building inspector at PCI? 6Mar 24, 2010 2:37 pm As others have said, check your contract. Mine is under 17.1 relating to the final invoice. It states that the owners are to be given a final claim and written request to do a final inspection with the owner or the owner's agent. It might relate to the comment above that the owners cannot be there if they have an agent, ie. an independent inspector as it does not state and/or only or. It also states in point 17.2 that if the owner or agent are not available at the time that the builder has requested then the owner or agent are to immediately notify the builder in writing and arrange another date/time that falls within 7 days of the original date proposed by the builder. Re: Can the builder refuse building inspector at PCI? 7Mar 24, 2010 2:47 pm Our builder allowed our inspector to inspect the house one week before PCI. By the time PCI was held alot of issues on our inspectors report had already been addressed. Re: Can the builder refuse building inspector at PCI? 8Mar 24, 2010 2:57 pm owner's agent => buyer's advocate, ie someone whom buyer authorises to act on behalf of buyer to transact property purchase. An independent inspector is not owner's agent; owner's agent carries commercial and legal responsibilites. Re: Can the builder refuse building inspector at PCI? 9Mar 24, 2010 3:23 pm The definition for owners agent as per my contract is as follows : Owners Agent - means the person authorised in writing by the Owner to act as the Owner's Agent with the written consent of the Builder, in accordance with Clause 25.10 of this Contract. Clause 25.10 Owner's Agent With the written consent of the Builder, which shall not be unreasonably held, the Owner may appoint as Owner's Agent to act on the Owner's behalf in the administration of this or any part of this Contract, but must authorise the Owner's Agent to so act in writing. This then comes into play in relation to part 17 of the contract - Obligations of both parties upon completion. My build was finalised mid last year but I wouldn't think anything would have changed much since then in the basic contract issued by the Master Builders Association of Victoria. Not sure if the contracts in WA would vary much from these. Re: Can the builder refuse building inspector at PCI? 10Mar 24, 2010 3:31 pm Thank you everyone for your responses. I have just had a reply back from our builder when we questioned what part of the contract states we can't take our building inspector to PCI. It's not until issues like these arise that you realise really what is in the contract. But like I say, we are not intending for the inspector to come at PCI, but we wanted to explore the legalities of whether the builder could or couldn't deny us that option if we chose. Here is their reply; [i]"Clause 8b of your contract states “With the permission of the Builder, the Proprietor and any authorized person on behalf of the Lender shall be given access to the Site to carry out the relevant inspections, provided that such inspections are made during the Builder’s normal working hours and such inspections do not unreasonably impede with the Works”. We have found in the past when we have allowed inspectors to attend PCI the interfere with our processes which is why we no longer allow them to be present. We do still allow them to inspect the site however, just not during the PCI."[/i] I would send it to the certifier who is technically your representative and working on your behalf not the builder's 1 2267 If you already have a contract, is the inspection cost stated in there? If not they would be forced to issue you a variation which you could of course object to. 12 25866 I do enjoy the drama:-D In his latest two videos he has started bringing security guards to site, I am waiting for the punch on to begin lol 6 45549 |