Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Dec 06, 2018 3:15 pm Should I be getting a solicitor to check through my build contract? Does anyone know how much this would cost ? Thanks all Re: Build contract, legal advice? 2Dec 06, 2018 7:55 pm It really depends on the contract. If it is a basic hia contract with no or few special conditions you may not see it as necessary. If it has lots of special conditions you may want to get the reviewed. Just be aware that a lot if the volume builders will not make any changes to the contract wording even if you ask. Who are you building with? Re: Build contract, legal advice? 3Dec 07, 2018 3:04 am firstimerbuilder2018 Should I be getting a solicitor to check through my build contract? Does anyone know how much this would cost ? Thanks all We did and it cost about $300 but essentially she suggested a few changes as it is heavily geared towards the builder, but Rawson just said no they won’t change it. 🤷🏼♂️ They have you over a barrel. You either except it or don’t and don’t build with them which is 💩 Re: Build contract, legal advice? 4Dec 07, 2018 6:15 am Pre contract review is not just about the contract, its also overview of your drawings in the hope of picking up blunders before they cause problems and is also partly educational giving you explanations and confidence and what to look for during your build. Salfield is right"as it is heavily geared towards the builder, but Rawson just said no they won’t change it. 🤷🏼♂️ They have you over a barrel. You either except it or don’t and don’t build with them" but even so there is room for picking up errors. Review by a solicitors is fine but generally they won't have the experience of thousands of inspections, knowing how building age and fail and cannot apply that knowledge toward avoiding problems with your home. Also they probably won't have the knowledge of hotspots or the knowledge to measure and value variations if the need arises. A competent building consultant will have extensive building and inspection experience together with contract administration and a good knowledge of building contracts. A good solicitor will have extensive legal knowledge and perhaps good building knowledge but not to the depth and extent of a building consultant. A building consultant can follow through with stage inspections during your build and assist you during your build and after. After you have seen a solicitor you will still need a building consultant for your stage inspections. Expect to pay $600-700 for a competent pre contact review. 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 Re: Build contract, legal advice? 5Dec 07, 2018 6:45 am You need an industry professional to do a pre contract signing review, a solicitor just doesn't cut it because they don't know what to look for. There are many things to look for, double charges, poor arithmetic that rather 'strangely' invariably favour the builder, liquidated damage amounts (how would you like $1 per day?), hidden Performance Solutions (how would you like recessed DPC, a weak mortar mix, water resistant finish instead of water proofing to wet areas?) etc. Also look for things like MDF instead of wooden skirting, etc etc etc. I once stumbled across a $9,000 double charge for a forum member during a thread discussion but that pales into insignificance in the thread discussion below where one person found $17,000 of over charges and another who found $26,000 of over charges. They weren't the only ones with similar 'surprises'. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70524 Also check whether fixtures supplied are commensurate with manufacturers recommendations, as an example, a couple of years ago, thousands of Melbourne households had damage to their solar hot water services when the temperature dropped below zero Celsius because builders had cheaped out on the ones installed. They also frequently undersize solar hor water systems as they are not required to abide by the manufacturers recommendations. https://www.theage.com.au/national/vict ... x3dfd.html https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2117399 Harvested rainwater systems are also a favourite for poor equipment selection, unknowledgeable sub standard installations, massive overpricing and poor performance. Also read through threads that discuss your preferred builder to get a grasp of any problems faced by others and how to avoid them. Many cookie cutter builders are recidivists. Also, don't believe anything that the sales person says, if it isn't written, it wasn't said. This forum is littered with broken promises and assurances. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Build contract, legal advice? 6Dec 08, 2018 4:48 am Get a copy of the standard contract before you put too much money down. We had a property solicitor look over our rawson contract and in the end we walked away. By that stage we had wasted a lot of time and money preparing everything for contract signing. Re: Build contract, legal advice? 7Dec 09, 2018 10:12 pm Don't bother, a solicitor review voids your 7 day cooling off period. Just examine closely pre contract as the building expert said then go over it thoroughly post contract signing and cancel it if it stinks. Or threaten to cancel if they don't sort issue out. Re: Build contract, legal advice? 8Jul 30, 2019 9:22 am Just to add a bit of information. Recently is has been introduced a solar pannels offer in some Companies. A note in the offer says that all saving produced by the solar is credited back to the solar company (not to you) for the first 5 years, only after that you get the savings. Also check in the contract if you are forced to do maintenance to the solar panels, as you will have to pay for them. It seems to me that they are installing a solar generator in your new house for free that produce energy for 5 years, for them, and you are responsible for the maintenance, that until they are almost halfway through their life. Check the warranty as to how many years are offered. Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 17598 You talk about deletions, are they variations or PS and PC adjustments? pleas list them 1 16557 There is no reason why building contract reconciliation cannot be done prior to handover, if the builder won't do it get someone to do it for you. Why would you pay for… 3 6687 |