What happens at completion/handover?

Hi, we are nearing the end of our build (I hope anyway) and I'm wondering what happens with the bank etc when we get close to moving in, handover, practical completion? Can anybody advise the usual process please? Many thanks!

When the house is close to being finished the builder will set a day for the PCI inspection See (http://www.anewhouse.com.au/?p=193)

Once the PCI inspection is done the builder should have a good idea of the completion/handover day.
You can arrange for the finance to pay the final payment.
Before that day you need to make sure that the power, water and gas will be on that day.
You also need to make sure your house insurance starts that day.

On the day you will meet the site supervisor who will be arranging for things like the oven, cook top, range hood, and other expensive fittings are installed.
He will hand over the keys and the guarantees for the appliances and things like termite protection.

I moved in (by myself with basic furniture) on handover so there was someone there the first night, which is the most likely time the house may get broken into. This gave me time to make sure the yard was dog proof before our dog moved

The rest of the family moved in the following week.

I think it depends on the bank

Obviously the final inspection is pretty normal. Organise a time and date and do a walk through. Discuss away and hopefully get everything fixed.

We are with the NAB and all they require is a copy of the Occupancy Cert and the final invoice, once they receive it they will go and value the house and hopefully make the final payment. We are paying for the variations ourself so we then will pay that and get the keys

Some banks will insist on an inspection to verify everything is done prior to releasing the final payment.

They will normally want a copy of certificate of occupancy and also proof of home insurance cover.

I'm looking for these kind of info about OC or IOC.

To get OC, do we need to have landscape & retaining walls done too?
Once we get OC, will council come & inspect again?

Hi bashworth. Interesting. Why do you think this is? Wouldn't the people breaking in therefore need to know which day is handover? Which you can't really tell from the outside...

I think a fair bit of theft is inside knowledge.

Any tradie who works on remedying defects will know when the handover date is.(I think most tradies are honest but there are always a few shady characters).

Even people working in the area for other builders will be able to see the appliances arriving on handover day.

You may think I'm paranoid but 14 years ago I bought the first flat in a new block, moved in and changed the locks and put on a 2nd Lock.

The next weekend (while I was away) someone broke into each of the other 11 flats and stole the dishwashers.

I was wondering how that works as well.

So if our aircon, floors etc etc are being done by other people and not the builder how does that work, does the bank pay the builder, allow us to get the keys and get the rest of the work done and the bank pays the other tradies seperately??? I am confused.com

Heidi

Banks pay as per the building contract.
Whenever I have built I always saved cash for other things that were not in my building contract (ie landscaping etc).

If there were excess funds from the amount requested to be borrowed then these were paid into a bank account of my choice at settlement/handover.

We have our full OC without retaining walls and landscaping,however our retaining walls are not part of the DA, where as your are, so you may need them for your OC.
The final inspection is done by the principle certifying authority, which may be council or a private certified, dependent on who wisdom use.

Thanks everyone. Our bank have confirmed that they don't require any documentation for final payment to be made, which is a relief as we may move in before IOC/OC paperwork is finalised.
Just got to clarify with our building manager about the PCI before handover as he has aonly been speaking of handover (but our sales contact has confirmed we will have PCI walkthrough as well) and any defects will be rectified before handover.

Thanks, gogo.
I'll need to speak to the bank then to check if they need IOC before handover.

Wilcres - FYI, Westpac don't.

Nina, you mean they don't need IOC or they don't allow us move in without OC?

They don't need IOC or OC for final payment

Oh really? That's good news.
Thanks!
Btw, it's 1am....you need to sleep, nina... good nite!

Feeding Eliza! And you can talk! I notice you are often up late....

Ha..ha... Nina, Yes, I'm an owl, I guess... I sleep late like 12am-1am...
If I sleep before 11pm, I'll awake very early too like 5am..
So trying to wake up 6.30am coz I only need 5-6hrs sleep...

Gosh, wish I only needed 5-6 hours sleep