Demolition question? -- Urgent

rldragon2003 · Feb 20, 2008 12:04 pm

Today my demolition will be completed, but got a call from contract that they found about 10 tones concrete with asbestos under garage. They want to charge more than $1000 extract on top of 10k to remove because they don’t know there was asbestos concrete when they summit the quota.

I am very unhappy about that the contractor has the asbestos licensed and they should know when they summit the quota.

The quota I got doesn’t have any clause specified about asbestos, only state the site should clean and ready to build after demolition.

Do they try to rip me off or is it common in demolition process?

What should I do?

Michelle · Feb 20, 2008 12:15 pm

rldragon2003….Its very hard for a demolition crew to know if your garage concrete has asbestos in it unless they rip up a part of it before they quote you.

Unfortunately these things happen; I feel this is not a deliberate ploy to rip you off.
Just something that was found, when they weren’t expecting it.

And now they have to legally dump it properly.

Rikster · Feb 20, 2008 12:26 pm

When I had my property demolished, I was told after the completion that they required a further $1,800 (over the quoted figure). This was due to the quote being written before dumping fees were hiked by the council.

Unfortunately, they can't get a quote 100% correct. I'm sure what they have found is legitimate & they are not trying to rip you off.

ausdesign · Feb 20, 2008 12:42 pm

I've never heard of concrete with asbestos in it.

rldragon2003 · Feb 20, 2008 12:42 pm

Thanks you for the replay, So I am not alone.

Why they just put on a clause so the people can prepare. Is it any change to Negation or even legal action?

rldragon2003 · Feb 20, 2008 12:46 pm

ausdesign

I've never heard of concrete with asbestos in it.

May be the concrete stick with the asbestos boad, It was found under garage. I have been to the site, but how do I know that is asbestos attach to the concrete?

ben · Feb 20, 2008 10:52 pm

We faced similar problem only a small amount though. Demo guys told us about it and took them away without additional charge.
I guess 10 tonnes is a bit much.

brittany · Feb 20, 2008 11:01 pm

I think if the demolisher genuinely couldn't know it was there then you need to cop it on the chin. Maybe you need someone who knows about asbestos to take a look and offer an opinion? So unfair when you get quotes and budget for stuff. If it were me I'd be upset :cry:

rldragon2003 · Feb 21, 2008 9:38 am

brittany

I think if the demolisher genuinely couldn't know it was there then you need to cop it on the chin. Maybe you need someone who knows about asbestos to take a look and offer an opinion? So unfair when you get quotes and budget for stuff. If it were me I'd be upset :cry:

If they don't konw, we don't know either. They do this for the living, they should know the risk before the summit the quota. We choosed them it is because their quotes was one-off, which basice on the whole demolition, not a individual items. so we don't need to worry what is in house. If they found something they should remove without extract charge.

May be I need to contact the fair trading to see advice.

brittany · Feb 21, 2008 12:47 pm

It is worth a try and I suppose if there is not provison for increasing costs you probably have a lot of ground to stand on (pardon the pun). It might take some time though to get your house fully demolished though.

Cookiemonster · Feb 21, 2008 1:03 pm

By the way, it's quote, not quota.

rldragon2003 · Feb 21, 2008 1:46 pm

brittany

It is worth a try and I suppose if there is not provison for increasing costs you probably have a lot of ground to stand on (pardon the pun). It might take some time though to get your house fully demolished though.

I just double checked with fair trading, they hold the same view as your. The demolition had finished, just waiting for the invoice.

rldragon2003 · Feb 21, 2008 1:47 pm

Cookiemonster

By the way, it's quote, not quota.

Thank you for correct me, I should just do a spelling check before posting. :roll:

Yak_Chat · Feb 21, 2008 1:53 pm

So what the result rldragon2k3

Have they cleaned up your block or have they stopped work until you pay up?

Personally I'd be inclined to push the issue if you have a quote without any disclaimers, or I'd ask them to show me their asbestos dumping permit to prove to me that they found asbestos and had to dump it.

One thought i've had.
Is it possible that the concrete was poured over the top of an old shed that was asbestos and somone just crushed it up, dug a hole, and then hid the asbestos with concrete - rather than pay dumping fees when they did the job?
Steve

lrhodes1 · Feb 21, 2008 4:44 pm

Asbestos is dangerous stuff which has to be disposed of correctly to a special landfill at an additional cost.

10 tonnes of asbestos is a lot and would cost a lot to remove and dispose of carefully.

Its unfortunate that there was hidden asbestos under your garage but there is no way they could have known this when preparing the quote.

You have to get it disposed of properly, it is an unexpected cost, but hey, we have all gotten unexpected costs during the building process! Its just one of those things...

And could be worse, I think thats a pretty good price for disposal of 10 tonn of asbestos

rldragon2003 · Feb 21, 2008 5:07 pm

Quote:

So what the result rldragon2k3

Waiting for council to do the post-demolition today.

Quote:

Have they cleaned up your block or have they stopped work until you pay up?

They said they have finished the works. I have not pay anything yet, the payment stated in their quote is after finished the whole work.

Quote:

Personally I'd be inclined to push the issue if you have a quote without any disclaimers, or I'd ask them to show me their asbestos dumping permit to prove to me that they found asbestos and had to dump it.

That is exactly what I did, I asked them to provide a separate invoice and all the supported document.

Quote:

One thought i've had.
Is it possible that the concrete was poured over the top of an old shed that was asbestos and somone just crushed it up, dug a hole, and then hid the asbestos with concrete - rather than pay dumping fees when they did the job?
Steve

I have not idea about that.

rldragon2003 · Feb 21, 2008 5:47 pm

Quote:

Asbestos is dangerous stuff which has to be disposed of correctly to a special landfill at an additional cost.

They are the license asbestos remover. They should know what to to.

Quote:

10 tonnes of asbestos is a lot and would cost a lot to remove and dispose of carefully.

When they called me they said it about 2 toners, when I was on the site they said it 10 tones, they don't even know exactly how much to disposal asbestos. They have not give the finally amount.

Quote:

Its unfortunate that there was hidden asbestos under your garage but there is no way they could have known this when preparing the quote.
You have to get it disposed of properly, it is an unexpected cost, but hey, we have all gotten unexpected costs during the building process! Its just one of those things...

They should put some clause, or variations in the quote, so when we review the quote, we can take that into account. We did call them to confirm that they were going to remove asbestos and they said "yes" .

Quote:

And could be worse, I think thats a pretty good price for disposal of 10 tonn of asbestos

it is not the final price yet.