Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Dec 13, 2015 11:15 am Hi all, I thought I would post on here on the off chance somebody might be able to offer some advice for our situation. My partner and I are building a house in Victoria with one of the famous builder. We have had a lot of issues during the admin process mostly from lack of communication, experience and carelessness from our pre-consultant . We signed the HIA contract a couple of months ago and have had few contract variations since then that can all be traced back to the pre-consultant. Anyway, this Firday I got an E-mail from our pre-consultant, saying that they have found a mistake on our contact," the bushfire levy elements($5000) had to be removed as they were previously omitted from the HIA contract to show they were not a charge to you any longer. In turn, the item was removed twice. This was obviously an error. Revised Variation 1 now attached with reference to the HIA contract instead of the Preliminary works contract." As we have already proceeded with finance, this would need to come out of our own pocket. My question is – can we refuse to pay/sign this variation? Looking through the HIA contract I can see the builder can charge extra if the plans have changed, or unforeseen issues arise, but the only item I can tell that refers to a mistake in the contract states; "The Builder is not entitled to claim for extra costs for errors in Plans and/or Specifications that the Builder has prepared" see HIA contract pages http://imgur.com/a/t22Gp Do I have grounds to refuse payment/signing the variation, or will I inevitably have to pay this? Any help would be much appreciated! Re: HIA Contract variations - builders mistake 2Dec 13, 2015 12:15 pm Hmm, I'm not sure from a legal point of view, but personally... they signed the contract.. you can bet if you had made a mistake they'd make you pay for it!!!! On the other hand, you make them angry and they make sure your build is subpar... Re: HIA Contract variations - builders mistake 3Dec 14, 2015 4:12 am I would just dig in and refuse to pay, see how far you get with it. Custom knockdown rebuild Newcastle NSW viewtopic.php?t=78271 Re: HIA Contract variations - builders mistake 4Dec 14, 2015 6:30 am Leksie5000 I would just dig in and refuse to pay, see how far you get with it. Custom knockdown rebuild Newcastle NSW viewtopic.php?t=78271 +1 Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog You talk about deletions, are they variations or PS and PC adjustments? pleas list them 1 16542 It seems very clear to me that your contract states that a security account does NOT need to be established so the answer to the builder is NO. If in doubt find a contract… 1 8501 So AFAIk the outcomes of the BAL ratings form part of a clause that allows them to pass these costs on to you. However the more relevant detail is how did it go from 19… 1 9142 |