Browse Forums Building A New House Re: What did you do? 21Mar 27, 2008 6:24 am Hey all - FYI :
my brother completed construction of his house about 2 years ago & dealt with a large project home builder here in Sydney. Prior to signing the contract, my brother had it looked over & amended by a solicitor who specialises in building & constructon. The standard HIA (NSW) builders' contract is skewed in favour of the builder (obviously). So it is possible to have it altered/amended to include the things that you find important. The NSW Law Society can give you a list of legals who are specialists in the building game. Re: What did you do? 22Mar 27, 2008 9:31 am Colleen I don't know what is in everyone else's contracts regarding final payment but mine says (in a number of clauses) that when the builder tells me the house is finished: - we are to meet on site to inspect the house - at the end of the inspection I have to give the builder a written list of all known defects and incomplete work. - the builder is to fix the defects and incomplete work - only after the builder has fixed the defects and incomplete works are they able to present me with a final invoice and it then becomes due within 14 days (I changed my payment terms from the standard 7 days) - when I pay them they will give me the keys. My contract does not say anything about practical completion. The only thing it does say that indicates there may be a problem is that in giving the builder the list of defects, and having him sign it, it is not an admission on their part that there are actually defects - so I guess they might argue that the things I want fixed are not defects. That's a good one, how come I can't find that in mine?? Re: What did you do? 23Mar 27, 2008 9:45 am I wish I could find that in mine also Grandview 36 on Beautiful Bribie Site Start Dec 5th 2007 Projected completion May 12th 2008 NOPE Handover 24th June 2008 Moved in 11th July 2008 Wating on one final thing - Still - Oct 2009 Re: What did you do? 24Mar 27, 2008 8:13 pm mattwalker Casa2 The logical thing to do is: 1) Make sure that your liquidated damages covers the cost of rent. Never going to happen! Try and get your builder to part with more than $250 per week anywhere in Australia. The bigger builders mostly dont even offer this much! Casa2 2) Give notice of leaving the rental property once hand-over is executed. A great idea provided the builder agrees to finish the house in those 4 weeks. If they couldn't finish it in 7-9 months what makes you think they will finish it in 4 weeks?? Casa2 3) Should there be any outstanding issues, deduct the cost of getting those issues fixed (not the builder's cost, but your cost to get someone else to do it) from the final payment. Never, ever, in 1 million years going to happen. Once the builder has finished the house to a suitable standard, some issues are allowable (cracks in plaster etc) and they have 3 - 12 months to complete a warranty inspection. If you want to hold back payment they have the right to sue you for breach of contract. Casa2 4) Have an agreed period in which the builder will fix the problems after handover. Also get as part of the agreement that if the builder does not complete in the agred time that you can get someone else to come in and do the fixes. Again all these ideas are great in theory but it would never happen. No builder would allow someone else to come in and fix their work and they pay for it. Why would a builder pay extra $$$ to someone they dont know when they can pay their tradesmen less. Also they have to warrant the work for 7 years so again if they dont know the tradesman how could they warrant the construction of the house. Casa2 The builder of course would want all the money at handover, but if the only options given to the builder is fix it first or paymrnt deduction, then they will choose the payment deduction. You have to treat it like a business. Casa the ideas you have presented are great but the law as it stands favours the builder as opposed to the buyer. No builder would sign themselves up to conditions like these and if they did I would imagine they wouldn't be around for a real long time. It would be nice to be able to have some accountability on them though Well then, that all certainly puts a dampener on things - thanks Matt! Is there somewhere you can find what sort of things are covered by "practical completion" or "suitable standard" or does it vary from builder to builder? Re: What did you do? 25Jul 31, 2009 11:04 am Hello, Iam a victim of this !!! Please donot give a notice for your rental property until everything is fixed. I have understood that if they tell you JUN is settlement then it will be atleast +2 months from then. The builders will be starving for the money once they get the food (money) they will rest for ages and not fix any problems. All builders are one way or other pre-occupied( next project) etc.. It worth it if you can leave some two months rent aside for getting a house you paid for. If not its going to be night mares dealing with the builders. I gave a notice moved out of the rental proeprties and have been living with friends for over a month now. Though my issues are different I have decided to not move in till everything bit of it is fixed. Vroom No the fireplace doesn’t work. It’s been enclosed. I’m not sure what was removed, as it was done quite some time ago - well before what I can see with photos online… 2 11584 Looking to start the journey of becoming an owner builder in SA. Feeling pretty (overly) confident on the building and construction details, but really struggling to find… 0 8419 No. It's not original. Circa early to mid 90s would be my guess and maybe even as late as early 2000s 1 6632 |