Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Dec 16, 2014 5:20 pm Hi, in a HIA contract it specifies builders have 45 working days to commence the build once several clauses have been met. The date starts from the latest of the dates for things such as finance, building licence, water corp approvals, power and water, certificate of title etc. Our builder is telling me that receiving final signed plans are also part of this and therefore the 45 working days starts from when they recieve your final signed plans. Anyone had any experience / advice in this area? I can't see the contract mention time for internal plans, it mentions external approvals in the contract. Our builder would be outside the timeframe if didn't count final plans. Given these are soley at the process and control of the builder, does this sound right? Re: 45 working days to commence question 2Dec 16, 2014 5:32 pm Hiya I've expanded your question a bit as you maybe interested (the answer to your question is at the end), so here goes. What is the ‘building period’? This is the construction time set by the builder to carry out the building works under the contract. Item 1 Schedule 1 of the HIA contract/s sets out estimate time for completing the building works together with an estimate for any delays during the course of construction. The estimates for time delays are included in the overall building period. The following are the types of delays included in the contract: Inclement weather Weekends Public holidays Rostered days off Builder's holiday close down period; and Other foreseeable delays Note : not all of these are included in the calculation but can be. Its what writen in the contract. The one that they seem to leave out of the calculation is the "Builder's holiday close down period", if your build extends over the xmas period. You will probability find this stated in an attachment (annex) to the contract as was in my case. This adds 28 days to the end date. Mine was 7 weeks over the contracted completion date (4 weeks xmas + 1 week Inclement weather) and I was paid $500.00 for 2 weeks overdue. We ended up with 1 week to spare to move in before settlement of our old home. Some extensions require writen notification as is for Inclement weather (this is a joke), not sure about the xmas break as its a fixed period in the building industry. “Inclement weather” shall mean the existence of rain or abnormal climatic conditions (whether they be those of hail, snow, cold, high wind, severe dust storm, extreme of high temperature or the like or any combination thereof) by virtue of which it is either not reasonable or not safe for workers exposed thereto to continue working whilst the same prevail. Try get an explanation why they claim days of rain when the house is in lockup stage and all the work in done indoors.. and don't give me that access was an issue as the house is only 4mtrs from the footpath. Go Figure. Time Frame Responses from the Builder. They have to start the build within 21 days of plan approval (that is council stamped approval), the start build date is they day the surveyor has pegged out the house (not the block pegs or blocked scraped) and the completion date is the day the occupancy certificate is issued (not final payment paid). Note : this is as far as I know for victoria. Re: 45 working days to commence question 3Dec 16, 2014 6:19 pm The 45 day clause from all approvals in the H.I.A contract isn't soley the builders responsibility. You need to prove you own the block and have finance approval. If you don't provide this with the specified time then the bullder can cancel the contract and re-negotiate the contract price. The term "from all necessary approvals" usually means finance, land title, shire and water. Signing the final plans might be a technicality if you the client are causing the delay. The h.i.a have a legal dept that you can speak to who will specify exactly how the contract is intended to be implemented and who is responsible. [Edit: Advertising links removed by moderator] Re: 45 working days to commence question 4Dec 16, 2014 6:24 pm Thanks, just to clarify the client has had all their required items in place. The building licence was the latest dated item and 45 working days since then has passed. When it was brought to the builders attention we were told the 45 days starts from when the final signed plans are recieved. This is the builders process and the client returned the signed plans the day after receiving. I called HIA and they couldn't see that final plans would be a clause, but said it would need legal advice. Just wondering if anyone else had a similar situation Re: 45 working days to commence question 5Dec 16, 2014 7:05 pm Many moons ago I worked as a contracts manager for a large home builder. My interpretation was always finance, land, shire and water. I think they might be taking Liberty suggesting final plans can be part of this. I suppose the real question is what do you wish to achieve. If you wish to cancel the contract then this is definitely and out. [Edit: Advertising links removed by moderator] Re: 45 working days to commence question 6Dec 16, 2014 10:41 pm Thanks for this information it's much appreciated. We definitely don't want to cancel the contract, more see how we could use the situation to get our build on track. Signing up in May and potentially having a slab end of January doesn't give me high hopes for a May/ June handover when we are being given information regarding average 8 week delays for bricks. I'll also pm you regarding building inspections Re: 45 working days to commence question 7Dec 16, 2014 11:11 pm This provision in the contract is really to give the opportunity for the builder to review their price if you fail to provide all necessary approvals within the specified timeframe. As it is a fixed price contract if an owner fails to provide finance and land approval within the specified time and there are trade and material increases the builder may choose to cancel the contract and make you sign on a new price. In theory if the builder causes the delay then you would also be able to cancelt the contract and re-negotiate the price or terms. I say in theory as most builders will just label you too hard and let you walk. Once the home starts on site then the builder is locked into a working day contract. This means they can't increase the price unless a new law or statute takes effect immediately. Most builders aim to complete the home as quick as possible because they can't amend the price of materials or labour if costs increase. (There is no provision for rise and fall as there would be in a cost plus contract). In the last big boom a lot of builders were caught with material and labour increases and shortages meaning the contract times blew out and they ended up building the houses for no profit. They can extend the time though if there are genuine trade delays or material shortages or inclement weather. Inclement weather must be justified by bureau of meteorology statistics. Material and trade shortages must also be justifiable. [Edit: Advertising links removed by moderator] Re: 45 working days to commence question 8Dec 16, 2014 11:31 pm It doesn't sound right and if you have a standard HIA contract then I can't see how this could be inferred from the contract. That said, the HIA contract is pretty builder friendly and you will notice that those time to start clauses are littered with terms such as ' to the Builders Satisfaction'. The builder is also responsible for the submission of plans to shire so they can also manipulate the timing from this aspect. We had a large delay before start, predominantly due to site issues. I saw a number of issues in utilising the start time clause mainly due to the clause requiring the site area being adequately delineated. We were missing pegs and the builder took their time to mark the site. Perhaps this isn't an issue for your build in a new estate. I also don't know what penalties could apply to a late start. I can only assume that a court may use the time to start plus the time to build to calculate any damages at the end of a build. How many days to build are allowed in your contract? Does the total number of days to start and complete add to less days than your May/June expected complete date. If so, I see merit in pushing the issue further. If not, perhaps there is little scope to push for an earlier completion. By guide, our slab was laid at the end of November, and we've been given an expected handover date of August/September. Re: 45 working days to commence question 9Dec 17, 2014 2:44 pm Knowing your builder I would adjust your thinking anyway. Yours is a big home and I would go with around 30 weeks from slab down to handover. How many extra days does the "receiving of final plans" actually give them before they have to start? They might be correct in their interpretation of it all... you don't have a contract until the final plans are in place, so without them nothing is valid. My build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=68002 8 6147 I'll be here once a week, lets make that Mondays. If you have a question, this will be the day I will log in for a look around.. If your lucky, sooner. Ask away...… 0 6366 I had a similar issue with my fridge not too long ago. 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