Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jun 24, 2008 2:37 pm we are in the very early stages of building (slab is down and fram going up ATM). A friend of the family is a project manager and building inspector and has offered to come to inspections with us.
Our site supervisor indicated that the only inspection we have is quite late in the piece, but the friend has told me I should get him to inspect the house/progress before every progress payment to check that what they are invoicing for has been done and is within acceptable guidelines. Is this normal? Are the builders going to be peeved that we are doing it? I've never built before so its all quite new. Re: q. regarding inspections 2Jun 24, 2008 7:11 pm Razzle, welcome to the forum.
You've got a nice friend if they have offered to do this for you. And if its at no cost to you, then take advantage of their offer. You should have every right to have an inspection undertaken at any stage of the build process. If your Site Supervisor has issues with that, then elevate it to the Construction Manager or whoever you need to. There is nothing to stop this occuring apart from the fact that some builders dont like it....but hey.....TOUGH!!! At minimum i'd recommend a slab, pre-plaster and pre-handover inspection. Its amazing what some builders will try to palm off as acceptable workmanship. Good Luck with your build, keep us all informed of how it's going? Re: q. regarding inspections 3Jun 24, 2008 10:00 pm Welcome razzle!
You're lucky to have a family friend who could accompany you during inspections... On our part, we hire an independent inspector to do it for us... Good luck and keep us posted! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Built the Nevada 42 Next project - landscaping! Re: q. regarding inspections 4Jun 25, 2008 4:19 pm Thanks.
I spoke with the SS (is it normal for them to be not long out of nappies, BTW? I couldnt get over how young he was) to find out whether my friend would have to organise it through him, given that the temporary fencing will be up etc. He was somewhat taken aback and I think less than impressed that we wanted to have someone look at it but, didnt raise any objection. it was more in his tone I guess. I guess we'll see what happens when he goes to look Re: q. regarding inspections 5Jun 25, 2008 10:23 pm Hi Razzle,
Your builder cannot prevent you from entering your site (or a person authorised by you). The fencing is an OHS requirement that discharges the builders 'vicarious liability' if someone wanders onto the site and breaks their leg. If you are building in Victoria, then you are covered under Section 19 of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (Victorian Legislation). Section 19 - Access to Building Site: (1) A builder must permit the building owner (or a person authorised by the building owner) to have reasonable access to the building site and to view any part of the building works. Penalty: 20 penalty units ($2000 fine). Link: http://www.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/PubLawToday.nsf/a12f6f60fbd56800ca256de500201e54/DB49F5327E2948AFCA2573EC000EACD0/$FILE/95-91a065.pdf In short, you can take your inspector on site any time you want to AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT IMPEDE THE BUILDING WORKS. That is, get in the way of a tradie doing his job. So, it's best to go in the afternoon when the tradies are off site. Always keep the SS informed and invite them along. Izzys Re: q. regarding inspections 7Jun 26, 2008 8:21 am Izzys123 Your builder cannot prevent you from entering your site (or a person authorised by you). The fencing is an OHS requirement that discharges the builders 'vicarious liability' if someone wanders onto the site and breaks their leg. If you are building in Victoria, then you are covered under Section 19 of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (Victorian Legislation). Section 19 - Access to Building Site: (1) A builder must permit the building owner (or a person authorised by the building owner) to have reasonable access to the building site and to view any part of the building works. Penalty: 20 penalty units ($2000 fine). Link: http://www.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/PubLawToday.nsf/a12f6f60fbd56800ca256de500201e54/DB49F5327E2948AFCA2573EC000EACD0/$FILE/95-91a065.pdf In short, you can take your inspector on site any time you want to AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT IMPEDE THE BUILDING WORKS. That is, get in the way of a tradie doing his job. So, it's best to go in the afternoon when the tradies are off site. Always keep the SS informed and invite them along. Excellent post Izzy.....another one for the HomeOne Definitive House Building for Dummies Guide. Seriously some of these pearls of wisdone which are based on fact/law rather than best intentions/guesses should be collated so that fellow forumites can quote chapter and verse. mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: q. regarding inspections 8Jun 26, 2008 8:37 am to_do_list Izzys123 Your builder cannot prevent you from entering your site (or a person authorised by you). The fencing is an OHS requirement that discharges the builders 'vicarious liability' if someone wanders onto the site and breaks their leg. If you are building in Victoria, then you are covered under Section 19 of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (Victorian Legislation). Section 19 - Access to Building Site: (1) A builder must permit the building owner (or a person authorised by the building owner) to have reasonable access to the building site and to view any part of the building works. Penalty: 20 penalty units ($2000 fine). Link: http://www.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/PubLawToday.nsf/a12f6f60fbd56800ca256de500201e54/DB49F5327E2948AFCA2573EC000EACD0/$FILE/95-91a065.pdf In short, you can take your inspector on site any time you want to AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT IMPEDE THE BUILDING WORKS. That is, get in the way of a tradie doing his job. So, it's best to go in the afternoon when the tradies are off site. Always keep the SS informed and invite them along. Excellent post Izzy.....another one for the HomeOne Definitive House Building for Dummies Guide. Seriously some of these pearls of wisdone which are based on fact/law rather than best intentions/guesses should be collated so that fellow forumites can quote chapter and verse. Yes a home owner has the right to go on site, however they taught my partner during his course to have a clause where the builder is to be notified 24 hours prior of going on site. This is all for OH&S reasons. No builder in his right mind will refuse you, however they may refuse you if you just rock up on site without notification. There is a huge emphasis on builders re: OH&S, and the insurance they pay for liability is quite significant therefore their priority is to reduce incidences of injury occurring, especially to those that have not had construction oh&s training (basically everyone other than tradies). i would not be signing anything on the day read your contract about when builder submits final invoice generally, have to meet builder within 7 days of receiving final… 1 4735 Hi All, Recently we have signed a contract with Burbank and we are not aware that they have just DORSET, SURREY, HAMPSHIRE, KENT, PILBARA and REDGUM bricks from PGH are… 0 3152 Thank you @. Tried to play with the facade models but the exact colour is not matching up. 2 3258 |