Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Dec 06, 2011 12:00 pm HI everyone,
We've got into a mess with our builder and had our final inspection a month ago. There are still a number of items we have been chasing up but it hasn't been fixed or if a fix has been attempted, it's not satisfactory (just patch work here and there). They are not responding to our emails now, even when we've put a deadline for them to respond by. What can we do now? We are also thinking of getting a private certifier to look at the building works, does anyone know of any around Sydney? Please help if you have any suggestions. Re: Builder not responding to emails - what to do? 2Dec 06, 2011 12:01 pm emi18 HI everyone, We've got into a mess with our builder and had our final inspection a month ago. There are still a number of items we have been chasing up but it hasn't been fixed or if a fix has been attempted, it's not satisfactory (just patch work here and there). They are not responding to our emails now, even when we've put a deadline for them to respond by. What can we do now? We are also thinking of getting a private certifier to look at the building works, does anyone know of any around Sydney? Please help if you have any suggestions. Perhaps try sending a letter in regeristered mail, or phone them or see them face to face in their office. Emails are never a great way to communicate, as much as it's great to have everything in writing, in this situation you probably need to meet with them in person to resolve the issues. Good luck Re: Builder not responding to emails - what to do? 3Dec 06, 2011 12:08 pm We have met with them several times at the site after the final inspection, and the issues haven't been solved. Some issues, like the variance in the roof-line had been raised months ago. We have seen the Site Supervisor, Site Manager, Construction Manager and now, the Building Manager. We want everything down in writing from this point onwards (and snail mail takes a few days), because they did bite back a few weeks ago in regards to the location of a power pole. They placed in too close to the boundary, so we can't put up a brick fence after handover. We almost had to bear the cost to move it because we didn't have in writing of our intentions to put a brick fence up in the future - and our original client services officer who we spoke to about our intentions, had left the company! They agreed to reply to our email... Re: Builder not responding to emails - what to do? 4Dec 06, 2011 1:01 pm Not sure what state you are located in but I would send a letter of demand via registered post with a copy to your builders registration/disputes board, and make sure you indicate on the letter to the builder that you are copying in the registration/disputes board. Switch 830 in Meve Commenced 20/7/2011 Completed Early april 2012 Moved in 30/4/2012 Re: Builder not responding to emails - what to do? 5Dec 07, 2011 8:18 am We are in Sydney. What would a letter of demand entail? They responded yesterday and there are several matters they won't be fixing anymore (even though we are not satisfied) because it is of building standard/Australian standard. One issue which stands out the most are the gaps above our windows of our meals room and games room (at least 8 cm). It seems like they don't want to fix it (just covered it with aluminium) and they have given us the following options: - they are willing to contribute $1500 towards shutters to cover the gaps (5 windows) - fix it internally (rip out the gyrock and may have to cut part of the timber to shift the windows up to eliminate the gap) and is considered by the building manager as "major construction work" - go to Fair Trading We do not want them to fix it internally as they have done a poor job previously in fixing defects/problems we have raised. And $1500 is hardly anything to compensate the error they have made with the line drawings. So now we are considering getting a private certifier or building consultant to look at our house. Does anyone know the difference between the two? We've only heard about these from the contractors on our site, but haven't been given much detail. Which one should we get and who will be the most helpful? Below are some of the problems we've encountered: [*]Roof tiles - variance in roof tiles, not laid straight. They have attempted to fix it by shaving off parts of the timber frame to lay it straight. Not sure if this is the acceptable way to fix it. You can still see the variance, which they are not willing to come back to fix as it is of "building standard" [*]Stormwater pipes - still leaking after being fixed the first time [*]Bricks not laid straight/properly - brick layers had to return at least 3 times. There are areas which we have pointed out but ignored because it is of "building standard" [*]Painting to rumpus room not done properly - this is minor, but painter had to return the second time [*]bathroom tiles not laid properly - wasn't aligned. Had to call tilers to come back at least twice. [*]gas connection pipe installed in the incorrect place - it was installed in the meals room (next to the kitchen) instead of where the stove is meant to be. [*]wrong skirting and architraves ordered - MDF instead of pine. As a result, all the skirting and architraves had to be stripped and replaced with pine [*]Concrete slab in the garage - had to extend the slab as there was an overhang [*]gaps to windows - in the living room, games and meals area [*]gap above the front door - a layer of bricks had to be dropped and lintel was installed incorrectly the first time power pole placed too close to boundary Hi, I contracted a Builder to do a Garage to Bedroom + ensuite conversion (Class 1a), the Builder engaged the Certifier and Engineer and received BDA from the Certifier… 0 4997 Hi, does anyone have a clue how the Brisbane Development website work in terms of how uptodate the dates on it are (developmenti.brisbane.qld.gov.au). I transfered… 0 4622 All 3 items listed are defects and are of concern. Please seek qualified independent inspector and/or legal advice for your state. 1 8203 |