Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 19, 2016 8:13 pm H Alli. We weren't going to appoint an independent building inspector but since the frame has gone up we have noticed a huge misalignment of plumbing pipes in the slab. The side of the frame also overhangs part of the slab slightly. With this in mind we thought we should get an inspector to review the builder's work on our behalf after all. We wrote to the builder to advise them that we'd like to appoint one and received an email back 2 weeks later to say that this was not in our contract (HIA based) and that they were going to charge us $450 per stage as part of a variation in liue of this!! However our contract states we can (along with agent or lending company) inspect the works with reasonable notice. It does not mention a fee for doing this and we never thought this would be a problem. They are putting in clauses about health and safety on site and needing to be there and that the contract says they do not have to act upon an independet inspectors list and threatening delays in the contract as a result of this. Never have they worried about health & safety before or actually being on site. The site is never secured and there are trip hazards and debry left on site, including the neighbouring houses they are also doing! Has anyone else ever been charged by their builder to have an independent inspector visit their new house build? Am I right in thinking this is very unreasonable. This, along with our inspector's cost would be about $1000 per inspection stage - ridiculous! Thoughts please! Re: Builder to Charge Us for Independent Site Inspections! 3Feb 19, 2016 10:32 pm Wow! I'd be asking more questions!!! Re: Builder to Charge Us for Independent Site Inspections! 4Feb 20, 2016 6:43 am The first stage would be to talk to the HIA The builder can't add clauses into an existing contract once it is signed without negotiating with you I would also be approaching consumer affairs if this was actually written as an original contract condition. In Victoria the unfair contract conditions laws would apply to such a clause (see Below) A finding that a term is unfair, and therefore void, means that the term is treated as if it never existed. However, the contract will continue to bind the affected parties to the extent that the contract is capable of operating without the unfair term. A term of a consumer contract is unfair if: > it would cause a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations arising under the contract and > it is not reasonably necessary to protect the legitimate interests of the party who would be advantaged by the term and > it would cause detriment (whether financial or otherwise) to a party if it were to be applied or relied on. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. If you already have a contract, is the inspection cost stated in there? If not they would be forced to issue you a variation which you could of course object to. 12 25846 It is true that a builder can ignore your independent inspection report as it is not part of the contractual arrangement but that is stupid because he cannot avoid fixing… 9 46834 You have mandatory building inspections and privately engaged building inspections. The difference between the two comes down to inspecting the building so it's safe and… 3 18058 |