HIA CONTRACT

A few questions.
- what is the size of your house?
- what additional items are/have you included (carpet/timber flooring/window furnishings/landscaping etc...)
- are retaining walls included/required?

Any advise at all on any of these points guys would be great
Much appreciated
Cheers
Rowan

Hi Rowan,

I'm not sure who your builder is, but ours has:

242 days INCLUDING

1) Acceptable days for inclement weather 25 days

2) Weekends , public holidays , rostered days off etc 71 days

3) Other days that are reasonable etc Nil days

4) Agreed interest for late progress payments 15% per annum

5) Agreed damages for late completion of work $250 per week

6) Agreed damages for delays $250 per week


We were told this is the "standard" HIA terms

Ray.

According to a clause (34 apparently) the building work can be delayed due to "inclement weather or conditions resulting from inclement weather in excess of the days nominated in Schedule 1" so there are ways around it, but I suppose if it came to it, they would have to prove this in court to avoid paying penalty for going overtime. But in clause 34.1 it states that "the builder is to give the owner a written notice informing the owner of the extension of time. The written notice must state that cause and the extent of the delay." And then 34.2 the owner can dispute the claim in writing within 7 days of receiving notice... and so on and so forth.

I guess the figure has to be set at something. It does state where it is left blank $250 is the default amount. I guess it's like saying "how does Centrelink set the amount of rent vs rent assistance?" I think $250/week is fairly average for rent of a 3 bedroom house - at least it is in Melbourne's suburbs/Geelong. It's not like they are paying rent of the new house, I think it is more to cover any expenses you are having for not being in the house (as in still paying rent at the current place as well as the mortgage on the new one).

Ray.

Hi there,

I'm halfway through a build in Brisbane that's has been plagued with rain days - I'm dreading even asking them to provide an expected completion date, as my weekly updates have rarely matched what actually happened on site (e.g. told rainwater tanks were installed, only to find no rainwater tanks installed but the roof was put on instead).

From memory my HIA contracts lists 10 days for inclement weather, and 47 days for RDO's, weekends, etc.

Assuming payment is $250/wk for passing the contract date, my instincts tell me it will come down to how the builders value their reputation / customer service. In most cases if a project builder runs past their contract date, I would assume it would be only a matter of days / weeks we are talkig about, not months.

Let's say the builders run 2 weeks over and have to pay you $500. Assuming you've spent over $200K on your house, don't you think it would be petty for the builder to argue over a measley $500 claiming rain days, etc? If I was the company I'd value my reputation and simply pay the $500. I mean, they have so many buffer days that they could easily make up time on most projects - I'm halfway through my house & I'd say that on average the guys would be on site 2 to 2.5 days a week - max....

Hello everyone,

I noticed that if you build during the christmas period they add a further 4 weeks for holidays. should the 4 weeks added in your contract or did you receive a letter from the builder during the construction process advising you of an added 4 weeks.

the HIA contract which the builder provided us, in Schedule 1 (page 6) it states the following:

285 days including the following estimates for delays:

Incremental weather etc - 17 days
Weekends, public holidays, rostered days off etc - 67 days
other days that are reasonable having regard of the building work - 26 days

However, we have now received a letter from the builder seeking a further extension for the period 18/12/08-19/1/09 i.e. over 31 days extra as per Clause 34 due to "unavailability of subcontractors, closure of suppliers and this office being closed over the Christmas period".

My question is, SHouldn't the additional 31 days already be part of the 67 days specified in the HIA contract?. Have any of you received a similar contract with similar periods of days off & later receive a further request for extension from your builder similar to ours?

Many thanks in advance,

Thank you for your reply Beegers,

How many days were you allocated for Xmas . Also what is the total no of days stipulated in your contract for the building period.

We are pretty peeved about this and are grateful for any advice. It seems like a double edged sword in some ways, as we are given the option to disputer the extension (as per the HIA contract) at the same time, we do not want to cause any feelings of animosity seeing that we are still in the beginning stages of construction.

Thanks again,

Our timeframes are similar
285 days including the following estimates
12 days inclement weatehr
48 for weekends, public holidays, rostered days off
19 days other days that are reasonable having regard to the building work

Answering your PM here no we didn't have a variation like your's for Christmas - ring him up and ask him to explain. Your builder has already allowed for over sixty days..