Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 16, 2019 3:59 pm Hi there, I'm a first home buyer, bought a townhouse turnkey package off the plans. The garage is distached to the main house dwelling. In between there is a small courtyard. I have purchased a corner block with a 1m wide side access. They are nearly ready to for a final inspection however 2 months ago i raised concerned of the step down from the garage door to the courtyard seemed extremely high and asked if stairs were going to be built. According to my plans there is no stairs drawn. The admin office to the builders advised it will be filled, and you will have step down that meets building regulations. Weeks, months go on, near completion and the garage is complete as far as footings, brickwork however the height of it is of concern, and a retaining wall has been built across the courtyard to support the a landing and stairs from the garage back door. Again all this is not on the plans and i haven't received a variation or further paperwork explaining the change. I requested urgent meeting on site with builder to explain my concerns. He explained due to the back lane way which runs horizontal to all the townhouse garages is too high. This lane way done by whoever builds all the estates infrastructure. There for we have raised your garage to allow a fall so your garage doesn't flood. Now my question is, wouldn't a building surveyor or engineer pick up on this when designing and planning and allow in the plans to cut and fill where needed to ensure enough fall? Where do i stand as the client? This is what the admin office explained why retaining walls is there 'As per our discussion, we apologise for not advising you of the retaining walls but as you can see from your drawings your land has at least 1metre of fall. The retaining walls do not require a Building Permit as it is not on a boundary or over 1metre. This has been discussed with our Building Surveyor. The retaining wall is to support the landing to the garage door due to the slope of your land which is 800mm over the width of your garage. We need to ensure the land slopes away from your garage also.' Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: The builder has made a variation to the plans and comple 2May 16, 2019 6:53 pm Maybe hire your own building inspector so you can argue with them in technical terms. You will have to get permission for the inspector to go on site. This alone may scare them into alternative action. These companies aren’t going to do what is best but what is cheapest .Also see if you can speak to other purchases to see how their build is going. Re: The builder has made a variation to the plans and comple 3May 17, 2019 8:35 am Zorro6 Maybe hire your own building inspector so you can argue with them in technical terms. You will have to get permission for the inspector to go on site. This alone may scare them into alternative action. These companies aren’t going to do what is best but what is cheapest .Also see if you can speak to other purchases to see how their build is going. Will the building inspector be able to look what has been modified from the plans and advise me any issues may arise from making the garage higher? or do I assume that what they have done meets code? I have requested the retaining wall all the way down the boundary then filled to level it out as much as possible. With this request will they get building inspector they use to make sure it meets code obviously? I work with owner, he/she is my man on the ground and I instruct them when to visit the site and take photos and I have other tools in the bag. 4 15278 i imagine you also have another contract with an architect? and yeah, whatever other's said about special conditions and appendices 16 16012 Any advice on a builder in NSW who is demanding an extra 22000k after the house is completed and contract paid in full .Standard HIA contract. Never received a variation.… 0 20522 |