Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 05, 2014 9:24 am Do I need to ask some laywer to look at the contract? I think most builder use standard HIA contract. What kind of loopholes could be? Builder wants to use his building surveyor. Some friends told me I'd better find some independent building surveyor. Is that really needed? If so, does anyone have any recommendations in melbourne southeast? Ps, I am not with big building companies, like metricon. I am using a small company which does custom design. Re: Questions before signing contract: laywer, building surv 2Sep 05, 2014 9:55 am Not quite sure about loop holes but consider asking about the following: 1. Interest on late payments - some builders will set their own interest rate but the local court or supreme court rates are more "fair". The interest rate can be applied even if its not your fault, say if the bank loses your progress payment claim or doesn't process it fast enough so if something happens you don't want to be paying a fortune. 2. Liquidated damages (for when a build takes longer than expected) - make sure its an amount will be a real deterrent to avoid delays and keep the builder honest - maybe consider your rent and remember that towards the end of a build (when things tend to drag on) you would have already drawn down a lot on your loan so you will be paying a substantial amount of interest on what has been done thus far. 3. Public Liability - the contract may have a lower amount (normally in clause 25.1(b)) than what their insurance covers, ask that these match up. EG if they have insurance for $20M the contract should have the same amount listed. 4. An extension to the defects liability period (normally 3 months) but you may prefer to have it longer so issues actually have time to present. 5. Current insurance certificates for PL and Workers Comp that form part of the contract may expire prior to the end of your contract build time - request that a copy of the new insurance policy certificate be provided 2 weeks prior to the end of the current ones. Our builder uses their own surveyor etc but we used a private inspector to double check their work and they have been great in addressing the issues our inspector has found. Best of luck with it. http://camdenbuild.blogspot.com.au/ by invite only please pm me Re: Questions before signing contract: laywer, building surv 3Sep 05, 2014 10:14 am So you didn't actually find a laywer to take a look at your contract? How much to find a private inspector? Still have the contact of the one you used? Cheers, robbie55 Not quite sure about loop holes but consider asking about the following: 1. Interest on late payments - some builders will set their own interest rate but the local court or supreme court rates are more "fair". The interest rate can be applied even if its not your fault, say if the bank loses your progress payment claim or doesn't process it fast enough so if something happens you don't want to be paying a fortune. 2. Liquidated damages (for when a build takes longer than expected) - make sure its an amount will be a real deterrent to avoid delays and keep the builder honest - maybe consider your rent and remember that towards the end of a build (when things tend to drag on) you would have already drawn down a lot on your loan so you will be paying a substantial amount of interest on what has been done thus far. 3. Public Liability - the contract may have a lower amount (normally in clause 25.1(b)) than what their insurance covers, ask that these match up. EG if they have insurance for $20M the contract should have the same amount listed. 4. An extension to the defects liability period (normally 3 months) but you may prefer to have it longer so issues actually have time to present. 5. Current insurance certificates for PL and Workers Comp that form part of the contract may expire prior to the end of your contract build time - request that a copy of the new insurance policy certificate be provided 2 weeks prior to the end of the current ones. Our builder uses their own surveyor etc but we used a private inspector to double check their work and they have been great in addressing the issues our inspector has found. Best of luck with it. Re: Questions before signing contract: laywer, building surv 4Sep 05, 2014 11:10 am bigniqiu So you didn't actually find a laywer to take a look at your contract? How much to find a private inspector? Still have the contact of the one you used? Cheers, Yes we had our solicitor have a look at it but they basically just told us what to negotiate on or clarify. Even though it is an HIA contract there can be different items amended or extra items/documents added that can affect the reading or actually be in conflict with what is in the main body of the contract so even if you can find a blank copy (or provide you with parts of mine) its not really all that useful. The builder will often give you a blank copy if you ask nicely but again the $ amounts, items and attachments will mean you still need to get advice once you have the complete document. Building Expert is a user name of an inspector on these forums - look him up and maybe see if he can do the inspection for you or provide a referral as I understand he is in Vic. Our inspector charged $595 per report - we had one at lock up and another will be done soon at PCI. Both the cost of the solicitor to look over the contract and the cost of an inspector can seem expensive but when you consider the overall cost of the build and the things that can go wrong, paying this amount for the advice you receive is a drop in the ocean. Even if nothing is wrong with the contract or the build you will have peace of mind. http://camdenbuild.blogspot.com.au/ by invite only please pm me Re: Questions before signing contract: laywer, building surv 5Sep 05, 2014 11:26 am My experience of having a small custom builder is that you are no more protected from error and bad workmanship than if you went with a volume builder. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that it is harder to get redress afterwards because you can't openly complain about them without risking defamation suits and they don't have the resources to make good their "mistakes". Get a lawyer to look over your contract or at least a reliable building professonal like Building Expert and make sure you keep control of the project by hiring an inspector at every stage. It is the only way to avoid disappointment. You should check your detail drawings, it may show downpipe within brick pier. 14 14099 Ardo That is so funny! I wonder how many people know who Larry Haun is these days. I have a couple of young guys we call Mo 1 & Mo 2 who run a crew of 6 boys and… 9 15514 You talk about deletions, are they variations or PS and PC adjustments? pleas list them 1 16556 |