Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 13, 2008 11:42 am Hi All,
I am proposing the following special conditions in my contract to mitigate the following risks: - Delays in fixing defects - Builder's contractors are not competent - Reduce the risk of disputes b/c if its out of the guides to tolerances its a defect - Building assurances for me from independent source - Ability for me to cable my own house during building process. Could anyone provide feedback on if there's anything else i missed? THANKS IN ADVANCE ----------------everything below this line should beincluded---------------------------- The following special conditions supersedes any contract clauses. -SC1 Any written defects identified by The Building Commission's (or an agreed independent building inspector) via independent domestic building inspections during the building stages must be rectified (remediated) before a stage can be considered complete. - SC2 All building works must comply with Building Code Australia (BCA) standards. Any deviation from Building Commsion Victoria's "Guides to Standards and Tolerances" will be considered as a defect. - SC3 All XXX contractors and/or subcontractors must possess appropriate and current qualification(s) or its equivalence in experience to perform the work. All XXXX contractors and/or subcontractors are licenced to perform the relevant work. - SC4 Access to site must be provided to install domestic cablings in accordance with relevant clauses in the contract. contract 2Mar 13, 2008 2:33 pm I suggest you contact your solicitor first. our solicitor was willing to call our builders directly to 'negotiate'the building contract terms and variations. Re: Contract Clauses- Feedback would be appreciated 5Mar 13, 2008 2:57 pm Hi All,
Thanks for the feedback. Our builder are giving us the HIA standard contract b/c they say its based on HIA contract but if you pay your $10 and get a sample contract you will see slight differences between your contract and what HIA is, and its always to the builder's favour. Thats why i am thinking of adding my own special conditions. If i cannot include these conditions in my contract what do people think i can do to reduce the risks i mentioned above? thanks smeags. Re: Contract Clauses- Feedback would be appreciated 6Mar 13, 2008 3:52 pm I think your first three special conditions always apply. I would aim for full site access. Get yourself a green card (general safety issues) and ask them to inducte you on site (site specific safety issues).
I've read the HIA contract and it is very one sided. My favourite is that if there is any rise in government charges they can pass them on. What about if the charges fall? Another favoruite is that you must pay the progress payment if the stage is substanitlaly complete. You can only withhold the final payment if it's not finished (handover). Of course, the progress payments are such that the builder has already got 90% of the building cost before the final payment. And finally, in NSW, if you leve the liquidated damages box empty, it reverts to $1. Yes $1. How fair is this? BTW, the liquidated damages amount is simple - it can only be one figure - the rental for the completed house that is beig built. This is your damages. If you want a fair building contract (in NSW) use the Department of Fair Trading's contract. It's middle of the road. The HIA is funded by builders and looks after builders. The governemnt contracts have no conflict of interest. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Contract Clauses- Feedback would be appreciated 7Mar 13, 2008 7:07 pm smeagol If i cannot include these conditions in my contract what do people think i can do to reduce the risks i mentioned above? thanks smeags. If your concerned Read the contract, re-read it. Then take it to a solicitor and get them to explain it to you. Even if you think you know what the clauses mean. Then once your clear on it all either sign it or walk away and deal with another builder. Dont think your being shafted if they wont change anything. Hopefully you wont have to rely on the contract because everything goes as planned. You'll never look at it again unless you have a dispute. Re: Contract Clauses- Feedback would be appreciated 8Mar 13, 2008 8:09 pm I think of it this way: if something goes even slightly wrong and you even loose 1% of the value of the build contract, it amounts to a few thousand $. Paying a few hundred $ to have your solicitor look at the contract sounds like a good idea. Re: Contract Clauses- Feedback would be appreciated 9Mar 14, 2008 8:27 am Casa2 If you want a fair building contract (in NSW) use the Department of Fair Trading's contract. It's middle of the road. The HIA is funded by builders and looks after builders. The governemnt contracts have no conflict of interest. Thanks for the info. I wish I know about this before I start. May be for the next house .... Re: Contract Clauses- Feedback would be appreciated 10Mar 14, 2008 8:28 am smeagol,
I think what you also need to aware is, most of the times, builders will cross out/change some of the standard clauses and add their owns ones at the back. Those are the ones you need to pay special attention to... Re: Contract Clauses- Feedback would be appreciated 11Mar 14, 2008 8:32 am ahuang smeagol, I think what you also need to aware is, most of the times, builders will cross out/change some of the standard clauses and add their owns ones at the back. Those are the ones you need to pay special attention to... All these changes 'should' be noted in the front of the contract so they are easy to find. Re: Contract Clauses- Feedback would be appreciated 13Mar 18, 2008 2:40 pm My experience...
Get your solicitor to read and re-read the contract, and anything that you can put in there to minimise risk then do so. As said in previous posts, the HIA contract is pretty much useless when trying to get a fair deal. We had a building contract fall through because we couldn't get finance, and we are still waiting to get our deposit back - 10 months later - and yep, you guessed it, we didn't get anyone to look at it. Don't assume that it's going to be OK!!!!! Hope for the best, but expect the worst, and make sure the contract expects the worst and gets you the best deal if something goes wrong. If the builder doesn't want to make any variations, go somewhere else. After 2 false starts, a year living overseas, two more world trips and 3 years of uncertainty we are now starting the build process again - hopefully for real this time! You talk about deletions, are they variations or PS and PC adjustments? pleas list them 1 16571 As title suggests, looking at using the interlocking Pentablock stacked stone products to replace failing timber retaining… 0 17881 |