Special conditions in your contract

Hi,

We are planning to build a new home and our builder has given us a Master Builders contract with 16 special conditions.

They say that Special Conditions are normal but we are not so sure.

Do you guys mind sharing what builder you had and what was your experience with Special Conditions in the contract?

Any details you can share on your special conditions will be great.

Thanks for sharing.

Hi there Chibidrawing. We have 8 "special conditions" listed in our contract, but when I read them, they sound pretty standard to me. Mainly around builder's responsibilities or lack there of, termites, variations and works by owners. (We are in W.A. so specific builder is probably not relevant to you, Webb and Brown-Neaves.) How did you go with the living/kitchen plan in the end?

Thanks. Amost all our special conditions start with "The Owner acknowledges ..."

We went with Layout 1. In layout 1 the living area size was closer to the size of the display home we inspected and we decided we didn't want it smaller.

I had a standard HIA contract.

The only special conditions were the ones I asked for - to allow my appointed building inspector to conduction stage inspections and also to allow my Home Theatre contractor to do some pre-wiring.

Not sure what they all are - but do some sound odd ?

Do any relate to your changes ?

Do you have a solicitor ?

I was thinking of talking to a solicitor. No, these are not related to any requests made by us. These are additional conditions as per the builder are added to everyone of their contracts.

Did you have anyone when you bought the land - or is it a package deal ? Just a conveyer might be OK - and cheaper ... They may be just simple things the builder is adding - eg - cover for the Christmas break etc.

In spite of what many people on this site think IMHO the standard contracts such as Master Builders and HIA aren't too bad.

They protect builders from bad customers and in general offer reasonable protection against bad builders.

Its always a concern however when a builder wants to include 'Special Conditions' as they will always be in favour of the builder.

Really before you decide what you want to do you need some professional advice, and if you don't like the conditions then find another builder.

What are the special conditions ?

All

After lengthy discussion with the builders we have decided to sign the contract with a small change to one of the special conditions but we will also get a property inspector to view the house at the various stages.

Thanks for your help.