Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 23, 2010 9:04 am Hi, Recently the builder had came and cleaned up the site, and removed 9 pallets of perfectly good bricks (there were 3 jobs). We previously instructed them to leave any leftover bricks behind for us, so got quite annoyed. They were citing OH&S and the fact the bricks weren't 'ours' even though we paid for them. Is this true? My understanding was that to build a house you need x amount of bricks. The bricks come in pallets of say 250 each. So the estimators then say the job needs x/250 = y pallets (plus some extra) and that's how much we are charged. Thanks Re: leftover bricks 2Nov 23, 2010 9:18 am They are right, they own all materials on site even though effective you paid for them. I requested to keep the left over bricks on site, they said I had to move the bricks to the back yard if I want to keep them. I started work last weekend, will finishing moving these bricks this weekend. I will use them to build retaining walls. Re: leftover bricks 3Nov 23, 2010 9:21 am Did you move them or were they where the brickies had left them? We got all our leftover bricks but we had to move them to the back of the block out of the way. They generally do a site clean as soon as the brickies have finished and usually will take anything (including bricks) that are around the block. We were told if we wanted them we had to move them to make sure they weren't taken. I'm surprised your SS didn't mention it to you when you said you wanted them. Edit.... same as kel! I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: leftover bricks 4Nov 23, 2010 9:52 am That was another thing. We did start moving some of the bricks to the corner, but they came and bulldozed them along with everything else. So all manual labour for nothing. I guess the downfall was that we informed the SS that we wanted to keep the bricks, to which he said no problems, but during the whole clean up it got removed and that's where my frustration is coming from. If you can't honour your agreement then let me know beforehand. Re: leftover bricks 5Nov 23, 2010 10:12 am I was told indirectly (my dad spoe to the SS) that if I wanted any brick that I had to remove them from the site. Had 2 days notice. I managed to save just over 400 bricks! Not looking forwards to moving them back to the site, it was about 5 hours work! Some people don't have time to do the job right the first time, but seem to have plenty of time to fix their mistakes. Build Thread Re: leftover bricks 6Nov 24, 2010 7:30 pm when i built the SS told me i could have left overs but had to move to back corner of block and to put a sign on them "Owner to Keep, Do Not Remove" and they didnt remove them. We even asked the next door neighbours supervisor (and the neighnour of course) if we could have the left over internals from that house and was told the same deal. Building "DOMAYNE" through COMMODORE HOMES in Pearsall WA Slab down 15-01-2010 Handover 16-06-2010 viewtopic.php?f=31&t=29049 Re: leftover bricks 7Nov 24, 2010 9:25 pm Zeropoint, they would have taken them back to the brick place and got a refund for them so technically you should have got some $ refunded. We only have a few left and I've taken enough to ensure we can do a letterbox. Like others have said, will need to move the remaining few away from the house so that they don't get dumped in the skip at the end. I already had to fish out 10 or more perfectly good blocks out of the skip that they were too lazy to move away :\ Re: leftover bricks 8Nov 25, 2010 10:47 am We spoke to our SS about keeping the bricks. He was fine with it. There were 3 half empty pallets of bricks left, so we stacked them all onto one mega pallet down the back corner of our block. This was fine until we saw our plasterers loading up their van with the bricks I made them unload their van and restack the bricks (they broke a heap). Not impressed with the little thieves. Re: leftover bricks 9Nov 25, 2010 12:28 pm We've still got 3/4 a pallet of bricks. Worst part about it is we don't really want them, and they're sitting on our back neighbours property, so we will have to move them 1m to put them on our land @zeropoint: The contractors that they got to do the clear may not have been told of the deal. Just grabbed / cleared everything. Sorry to hear that Re: leftover bricks 10Dec 24, 2010 8:55 pm kineso Zeropoint, they would have taken them back to the brick place and got a refund for them so technically you should have got some $ refunded. Sorry to burst your bubble but brick companies do not do refunds for over-ordered brick quantities and the building industry does not operate like Kmart or Target. The builder has an obligation to build your house to contractual and industry standards not to give you a couple of thousand dollars worth of materials when they get the quantities wrong. In the same way if they under-ordered they don't call the owner and ask for more money to finish the brickwork. The bricks would have been moved to another site by a brick transporting agent at a cost of about $50 - $100 per pallet. They were probably used as render bricks on another house by that builder in the area. It still cost the builder money, just not as much as tip fees. Being a builder is more than just having once held a hammer. It's about the trades you hire and ensuring that they give a result that meets the industry standard and the home owners expectations. Re: leftover bricks 11Dec 26, 2010 8:52 am abrickspecialist Sorry to burst your bubble but brick companies do not do refunds for over-ordered brick quantities and the building industry does not operate like Kmart or Target. .... Given your username I would take your word for it :) Built 3br house in Glenorchy, Tas in 2001 * * * Built 5br courtyard house in Lenah Valley, Tas in 2011 - Homeone thread / Blog Re: leftover bricks 12Dec 27, 2010 10:10 pm I beg to differ. Austral told us that if we ordered directly through them then they would pick up any extra pallets and refund us a % of what we paid. Would have been better than nothing if they hadnt have given our bricks away and then told us they dont know when they're making more when our house is 90% built Custom European Cabinets - Melbourne Kitchen Specialist PM for business details as website currently being updated! Our Crazy Owner Builder Journey! Re: leftover bricks 13Dec 28, 2010 12:34 am Bam I beg to differ. Austral told us that if we ordered directly through them then they would pick up any extra pallets and refund us a % of what we paid. Would have been better than nothing if they hadnt have given our bricks away and then told us they dont know when they're making more when our house is 90% built I'm not sure what you mean but the % they offer is the vital question! Within the delivered brick price is cartage. This can vary but usually sits at about $150/per thousand for locally made bricks. They cannot refund the original cartage [as it was done] and they generally charge a more expensive cartage rate to take things away from site, as access, mud or rubbish can hamper the bbrick pallet pickup. They then charge a restocking fee or downgrade the product to commons. Either way you get sweet bugger all back. As an owner builder you are a once off client and unless they really want the bricks they are not inclined to help you with a good refund if any at all. Re- your house. If you gave them a purchase order for a specified amount that was batched and they cannot supply it, 90% of the way through the job, I'd be asking them to pay for a Nawkaw rectification to fix any colour variations. I've seen some batch variations from brick companies that Steve Wonder wouldn't accept. Although a quick look at their Term & Conditions, in tiny writing on there website, leads me to a 32 point statement which may leave you out in the cold on No 7. http://www.australbricks.com.au/Terms-C ... n-of-Trade Good luck Being a builder is more than just having once held a hammer. It's about the trades you hire and ensuring that they give a result that meets the industry standard and the home owners expectations. Re: leftover bricks 14Dec 28, 2010 10:55 am I asked our SS if we could keep some leftover bricks. There was a pallet of them in a rear corner he said we could keep. Just put a sign on them and even laminate so it didn't get wet. Well we were left even more piled beside them, so I hope no-one pinches them in the meantime. I asked what did they do with leftover bricks and he said they went to charity. We had lots left on our block so I was happy to get some. A balanced diet is chocolate in both hands. Melbourne West Our build viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34169 Landscaping viewtopic.php?f=19&t=51147 That's a fantastic result! Happy you got it sorted out. cheers Simeon 6 8646 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair to do it properly you need to dig out the garden and waterproof the outside of the wall. There are some products you can put on the face of the bricks but the water is… 2 4629 |