What to do when the builder refused to rectify the defects?

Defect 1.

The top edges of the under mount kitchen sink is not covered by the bench top (i.e. sink edges and silicon under the benchtop can be visible).The site manager said that is how it is meant to be. The builder said that the kitchen benchtop has been cut out using the template which comes with the kitchen sink. The visible exposed lip around the sink is correct. The builder refused to rectify it.










Defect 2

The freestanding cooker comes with no legs so it needs the kickboard underneath. But the cooker is higher than the benchtop after installation. They should be the same height so it is a defect but the builder said they will not rectify it.











What should I do when the builder refused to rectify the defects? Please advise, thanks.

What state are you in?

i dont think they are defects
i think they dont meet your expectations
the sink has a second lip which looks correct to me
the cooker is what it is
unless you specified benchtop height to be "682mm" or whatever it is

I am in NSW

Put them on your 13 week defect list? Check your contract as to what the description of your sink and your stove says. With regards to the stove - are the benches to the height as in the contract - one of them look to be out? There is some technical issues that come with stove installations that might make it a defect...And maybe find the template for your sink - the builder could just be saying that..

All I can say is our stove does not sit proud of the benches and our under mount sink does not look like that either.

Hi Fingal77,

Thanks for your response. I absolutely agree with you. My contract only stated the model number of the stove and sink, does not mention their height.

I emailed to the Head of Construction Department. He said these are not defects and no action will be taken. It is just not your expectation. I am not happy with them.

I think you're going to struggle with this one. Unless you specified what you wanted exactly and it's written somewhere that's signed by both, then they probably wont fix it. I don't see either as being "defects" just not ideal..

your cupboards etc should have a height in your contract and the stove should meet it? And as for the sink - the template for the sink may not have existed and the builder cut to whatever they wanted?

Check the bench heights and the template and go from there...

We had builders that tried to tell us it was ok to vent rangehoods and fans into the roof space and weren’t required to be ducted out - Fair trading agreed with us. Builders will try to shortcut you wherever they can....

Thank you very much for your advice. I will check the bench heights and the template if available.

Benchtop height is 900 cm same as the plan.
Stove on the kickboard height is 910 cm, 10 cm higher than the plan.

But the builder said no take action.

Now you've added the kitchen plans to the original post, you should be able to take them to task for not having it installed as per plans.

I think with the sink, you will struggle to say its a defect, when you look online it clearly has the lip, which is likely for the drainer/chopping board accessory to fit into. Unfortunately its the ‘design’. Unfortunately it gets terrible reviews and Clark no longer sell it. Read the reviews on product review...
When you compare a standard under mount Clark sink you will see it doesn’t have the double lip, where as the Pete Evans sink has a double lip

The sink looks wrong - like it's an inset that they have undermounted, but if it is the correct model as gogo65 states then not much you can do.
Our freestanding stove in our last house was slightly higher than the surrounding benchtop and was sitting on the base carcass of the cabinets with kickboard underneath. I have to say, the rental we are currently in has the freestanding cooker on legs and I'd take the slight height difference in benchtop over the dust/fluff/dropped food getting underneath any day! The gaps either side look pretty standard - get used to crumbs or liquids falling down the sides. If it bothers you, you could caulk it with clear silicone?
I can't comment as far as legal/standards go, just experience.

A lesson I learn from here is never put a stand alone stove in between 2 benchtop because no way on earth there will be no gaps.
And food stuff, water, oil can spill into the gap..

If you silicon it, it won't look nice.

The stove looks correct. Australian standard is the benchtop a min 13mm below the Hob.

The undermount sink also looks correct. Some model sinks do show the lip. If the template says that size, that's what they would have done.

As for the gap down the side of the cooker. It does need a gap. It may be a little big, maybe 2mm to big. But I do not think it is a defect.
I believe it would be within tolerance.

The kitchen elevation shows continuous bench top with no free standing cooker.
Either the drawing is wrong or the specification, in any case it's builder's mistake if builder provided the drawings.
Mistake = defect

I think you are right to fight this, trust me the builder to always say it’s not a defeat when they know it is. They just don’t what to spend the money to fix it & with this one it’s going to cost them a new bench top.

The first thing is the oven, was this the one they showed you at selections? Or did you upgrade to the stand alone? What they have in the drawings is a built in oven & cooktop not a stand alone oven & cooktop that’s why there is a height difference.

The sink, the stone gays have cut the hole for the sink just a little bit to big 1-2mm that’s why you can see that lip.
This is a Pete Evans sink


This is my sink that is under mounted also