Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Should I complain to Building Commission or not? 30Jul 12, 2008 9:27 am By the way,
Just wanted to thank you all for your attention, I got +120 visits on the blog only for yesterday. Re: Should I complain to Building Commission or not? 31Jul 12, 2008 9:33 am House-To-Be Well maybe they shouldn't have put up a frame etc until the slab was right!!! Is it due to the problems with the slab that the cornices are cracking?? You need to find out the name of the head honcho from someone, maybe Phoenix? and try and get hold of them yourself. Well I am sure in some stages Ihave even wrote in the blog. I did suggested that the do not do the plasters and the rest until they get teh slab right, and what did they say? They said if they follow this, I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DELAY ON THE HOUSE, so my response was, do what is good for you, I was only giving my humble suggestion. Off course these are also in writing to them as well. Re: Should I complain to Building Commission or not? 32Jul 12, 2008 10:01 am htarash House-To-Be Well maybe they shouldn't have put up a frame etc until the slab was right!!! Is it due to the problems with the slab that the cornices are cracking?? I did suggested that the do not do the plasters and the rest until they get teh slab right, and what did they say? They said if they follow this, I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DELAY ON THE HOUSE, so my response was, do what is good for you, I was only giving my humble suggestion. Off course these are also in writing to them as well. Grrrrrr How dare they say you'll be responsible for the delay! It is their responsibility as a builder to provide you with a home of "display home quality or better"! What a cheek. I think Peter gave some good advice posted above. Maybe you need to start knocking on some other doors. I would be really worried about taking possession of a house that has had so many cracking issues already. Re: Should I complain to Building Commission or not? 33Jul 12, 2008 11:03 am Sorry to hear about your building issues, we are having a few of our own at the moment but it's starting to get back on track. I read the forum quite a bit but this is the first time I have contributed. Feel like I may be able to help because of our own issues.
I noticed that you have had Kevin out for an inspection previously, so I suggest that firstly you call him and give him an update (if you haven't already) and see what advice he may have. We have found him to be extremely helpful with our build. The whole build thing gets really stressful if you are having problems (believe me I know) and it's great to have someone who really understands the industry and can give you advice based on first hand experience and knowledge. With the Building Commission, they have a service where you pay for an inspector to come out (costs $300) and they issue a report to the builder detailing all the defects. This is some of the information detailed on their website. Step 2 - Inspection report issued: After the inspection is concluded and the inspector has had opportunity to refer to building codes and standards, the inspector will issue the inspection report. A copy of the report will be given to the builder and the building owner as well as the Building Commissioner. If any of the items in dispute do not meet acceptable standards, the inspector will recommend what should be done to rectify the defective work. The legislation does not empower the inspector to direct the builder. Should the builder fail to comply with the inspector's recommendations, he or she may face disciplinary action from the Building Practitioners Board (BPB). The Building Commission may refer concerns to the BPB or may undertake a prosecution through the Courts when appropriate. Also, you can initiate a hearing at the BPB or request the Building Commission to act on your behalf. It's probably better if you don't advise the builder to stop work because you don't want to give them a reason to hold you responsible. In my personal opinion (based on what we have been through), get the right people in to help you. Be that Kevin, the Building Commission or a solicitor, at least that way you can show you have done everything possible from your end to rectify this situation. I really hope that your situation gets better because it is very stressful when these things happen. Re: Should I complain to Building Commission or not? 34Jul 12, 2008 11:03 am I was just visitng the house, and this time at least the doors were locked.
But I took some pictures of the big sliding door at the back with measurments on it, have a look by yourself later on and see what you think. I will update the blog by end of the day. Re: Should I complain to Building Commission or not? 35Jul 12, 2008 11:16 am Hi Photogirl,
Thanks for the detailed advise, I did already talked to Kevin and also the BACV, and your comments were exactly on the spot. The good thing is that I am lucky with my living arrangment and I can stay without any rents right now, so I can afford to last without a house. I just hate to see things like this happen to other people when they have to move out of their rental property and their house is not ready yet. Re: Should I complain to Building Commission or not? 36Jul 12, 2008 11:52 am Hi htarash
Yes that would be our situation, 16months, 2 rental homes and still no house. Second rental home very quickly coming to end of lease. There really needs to be a change in liquidated damages given the current market. The weekly amount barely covers rent and absolutely nothing if you have to move again because building is delayed. Not to mention the number of people you are up against to even secure a rental property. If we ever build again (I should just concentrate on getting this house first), we will be requiring some changes to the contract and if the builder doesn't agree, we wouldn't build with them. We have learnt our lesson. I guess you need to build a house first to learn those lessons though. Re: Should I complain to Building Commission or not? 37Jul 12, 2008 12:00 pm photogirl Hi htarash Yes that would be our situation, 16months, 2 rental homes and still no house. Second rental home very quickly coming to end of lease. There really needs to be a change in liquidated damages given the current market. The weekly amount barely covers rent and absolutely nothing if you have to move again because building is delayed. Not to mention the number of people you are up against to even secure a rental property. If we ever build again (I should just concentrate on getting this house first), we will be requiring some changes to the contract and if the builder doesn't agree, we wouldn't build with them. We have learnt our lesson. I guess you need to build a house first to learn those lessons though. Exactly, the other thing the government actually should put in the place some very hard amount, with todays interest rates you pay some much that the liquidation damages does not even cover half of the intrest nor rental peoperty (in my case 1/3), and to be realistic do you think a 3 digit number per month will make big builders to get their act together??? Re: Should I complain to Building Commission or not? 38Jul 12, 2008 1:47 pm I just added the sliding door measurments too.
For the people new to the thread, please when you read the Blog, go to the second and third last post as I have been updating the blog and the main point of this thread is the post on the 05-10 of July posts. Re: Should I complain to Building Commission or not? 40Jul 12, 2008 2:22 pm Paula Oh no!! Are you sure these builders weren't drunk?? Good question.......... The other point is I have paid through the contract for quality inspection by the builder, have I got anything back from them and saying things are wrong?????? NO Even the slab, if Kevin did not mention it, no one was going to say anything about it..... But this is a very old story now, checked it, it has been 6 month passed since Kevin's report that said the slab is out of specification completly, and since then we are waiting for it to be finalised. I've decided, after a period of confusion (my building broker told me it's probably not worth it to use a lawyer, but others have said it is a must) that I definitely will… 7 27953 i imagine you also have another contract with an architect? and yeah, whatever other's said about special conditions and appendices 16 16009 hey there! 😊 so, it’s kinda common for standard drawer depths to be around 500mm since most cabinets use this size to fit the usual runners… 3 20911 |