Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 24, 2013 12:11 am Hi, Can someone guide me how many building inspections through independent inspector should be done and at what stage? On that note please suggest some good & reliable new home inspectors in Melbourne ( northern suburbs) ? I plan to do one at frame and other at completion stage? Will that be enough? Thanks in advance Re: Inspections during Construction( Building Inspection) 2Sep 24, 2013 6:46 am Depends on how sure you want to be. Some would say after each Construction Stage when a payment is due See http://www.anewhouse.com.au/2012/07/con ... ackground/ I can also see the advantage of having a check before the slab is laid. After all this is the ground everything else is going to be supported by. I would inspect at 'Lock Up' (before the plasterboard) in preference to 'Frame'. You can still the frame and also pick up on other stuff before it is all covered over. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Inspections during Construction( Building Inspection) 3Sep 24, 2013 9:56 am Watching this thread with interest. A well respected inspector has also suggested that only two inspections are necessary - same two as mentioned by op. By recommending two instead of five or more they are essentially turning down $1500+ of extra work. I can't imagine they would be doing that if there was some benefit that could be gained from more inspections. http://camdenbuild.blogspot.com.au/ by invite only please pm me Re: Inspections during Construction( Building Inspection) 4Sep 24, 2013 3:21 pm Hi Sunny Days I always recommend at least four inspections during construction plus a pre contract consultation. All are important and my clients who have booked all invariably get to the finish with least headache. If you skip on some or inspect at the wrong time it means you are taking a risk. It's OK it's your money and your risk so long as you are aware of it. I disagree with bashworth about inspecting frame at lockup. Whilst you can still see all of the members how will you check fixing on the blind side behind insulation and brickwork(what if external wall bracing is not fully nailed?), load compression blocks etc and how will you know some of the structural elements are not damaged by subsequent trades. If we do a frame inspection then we have opportunity at pre plaster to verify that defects were fixed. I have blogs on stage inspections with some of the issues we find during inspections and when inspections are missed. www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Inspections during Construction( Building Inspection) 6Sep 24, 2013 5:11 pm Ca6leguy Inspecting is one thing. Getting the builder to fix all the issues reported by the independent inspection and not by the certifier is another thing. Excellent point! That is what separates real McCoys from pretenders. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Inspections during Construction( Building Inspection) 7Sep 24, 2013 5:59 pm We have chosen to have five inspections which coincide before each progress payment. I would definitely recommend a building inspector. The earlier that 'problems' are identified the easier they are to fix. I also think that extra care has been taken with the work because we are having a building inspector. If I had my time again the one thing I would change is a pre apt with building inspector before signing off on plans. We custom designed a home and although we thought that we had everything covered design wise there are probably some bits and pieces that they would have picked up that we didn't. I can't recommend one but in SA they have an association of building inspectors, so I picked a member of this. They may have an association in Vic? Re: Inspections during Construction( Building Inspection) 9Sep 25, 2013 6:48 am Hey SunnyDays, all the best with the build. have you checked with metricon what happens if an independent assessor isnt happy with the work but the metricon site supervisor or assessor is? Re: Inspections during Construction( Building Inspection) 12Sep 25, 2013 8:55 pm We went with NHI (New Home Inspections), had them for frame and pre-plaster. Planning to have them for pre hand over as well, so a total of three inspections. We are building with Carlisle and they have accepted the independent report (even though though they may not fully agree to the very minor things) and rectified them as needed, without any fuss. The defects list was very small as well, so not much to be fixed up which has been good news so far. Carlisle Homes ~ Winslow 33 http://jm-winslow33.blogspot.com.au/ 04/7 - Site cut 22/8 - Base 28/8 - Frame 02/9 - Roof 15/9 Plumbing & Electrical 7/10 - Lockup November - Complete Re: Inspections during Construction( Building Inspection) 13Sep 25, 2013 8:58 pm hi all, first time builder. construction will start in few weeks. any building inspectors in newcastle/nsw location? Re: Inspections during Construction( Building Inspection) 15Oct 01, 2013 11:18 pm How far can you trust the reports provided by building inspectors hired by builder? Can we presume they would be biased as builder will be their corporate client or are trustworthy? On that account do we need to re inspect a particular stage through our own inspector? Moreover will it be right to ask for complete report from builder/building inspector hired by builder? Thanks in Advance Re: Inspections during Construction( Building Inspection) 16Oct 02, 2013 7:03 am The "building inspectors" are not hired by the builders. They can be either private or council certifiers. They are independent ad run their own business and are licensed. I do not see the benefit or them to do a ******* inspection as that can result in negligence and them loosing their license. Re: Inspections during Construction( Building Inspection) 17Oct 02, 2013 7:39 am Ca6leguy The "building inspectors" are not hired by the builders. They can be either private or council certifiers. They are independent ad run their own business and are licensed. I do not see the benefit or them to do a ******* inspection as that can result in negligence and them loosing their license. In Victoria, all building surveyors (except for municipal building surveyors) are private. Even the services provided by councils are privatised. This means that your builder has a choice of the building surveyor if he is applying for a building permit on your behalf. Even though building surveyors are supposed to be independent and to uphold building control in reality they depend on builders bringing work to them. Therefore their independence is compromised for commercial reasons. Think about it, if you are building surveyor and a large builder is bringing you the business of several hundred building permits are you going to be tough on your inspections or are you going to be a little easy? If you are too tough, builder will simply take his business to a more"understanding" surveyor. The second problem is that statutory building inspections carried out by building inspectors under building permit are only to ensure safety, health and amenity of the building control and have NOTHING TO DO WITH THE QUALITY AND COMPLIANCE of your build. So if you are not getting your your own property inspector (or don't have the skills yourself) you will be running the risk of getting a bad build complete with a brand new occupancy permit, all legit. I have seen it so many times including builds so bad you would be excused for thinking you are in some third world country. I am just freshly out out from an VCAT case of a bad build where private council inspector failed to pick up stairs that did not comply with BCA. They privately settled with my client.(that means that scrutiny by BPB is avoided) http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog/w ... em-part-1/ Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Inspections during Construction( Building Inspection) 19Oct 02, 2013 11:37 am SunnyDays Thanks Jason Vic? I heard they are bit lax for re- inspection. Whats ur experience? We have had them for two stages as mentioned. By re-inspection you mean calling them out again to see if things are done in addition to this / rechecking a stage? Our experience has been positive so far and they came with many good recommendations on this site and blogs. Office was good with calls/scheduling and they answered any follow up queries we had. Carlisle inspectors have also picked up things / in at different stages - so hopefully between both most things get picked up on. Carlisle rectified all the issues flagged by NHI, even if they were very small/minor issues (as deemed by Carlisle). Happy with the service of both at current Carlisle Homes ~ Winslow 33 http://jm-winslow33.blogspot.com.au/ 04/7 - Site cut 22/8 - Base 28/8 - Frame 02/9 - Roof 15/9 Plumbing & Electrical 7/10 - Lockup November - Complete Re: Inspections during Construction( Building Inspection) 20Oct 02, 2013 12:40 pm Our builder organised 4 inspections during construction and of course the PCI. Each inspection costs us $600. We get a letter from the insurer saying they've inspected and all is good. But I do my own inspections almost daily now, actually twice a day morning and night. Picking little things up along the way can save hassle down the line. i would suggest nothing is unreasonable for PCI. we did all sorts, including checking the hot water, checking all the GPO's had power, testing that the showers were… 9 98623 Can you give advice on how to get missing certificates needed for a form 21? Our bank requires us to provide one but we are missing 4 building certificates from our first… 3 71777 1 62015 |