Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Is a building inspector worth it during construction? 2May 20, 2020 9:00 pm Follow Our Clarendon - Double Gable, Hamptons Inspired Fairmont 35 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=94604 Re: Is a building inspector worth it during construction? 4May 20, 2020 10:03 pm Follow Our Clarendon - Double Gable, Hamptons Inspired Fairmont 35 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=94604 Re: Is a building inspector worth it during construction? 10May 26, 2020 11:11 am 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: Is a building inspector worth it during construction? 12May 27, 2020 3:11 pm 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: Is a building inspector worth it during construction? 14May 28, 2020 9:35 am 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 Is a building inspector worth it during construction? 15Jun 07, 2020 2:53 pm Montu12 I am told most buiding inspectors are a waste of money in many forms. I am building a 25sq home single story home in western sydney, Domaine homes is the builder. Will a building inspector help. Can someone please recommend me a good building inspector ? I am in Victoria. If you know all the standards and can read all the plans and understand all the terminology at the start of a build then might not be necessary. I would think this may be only a small % of clients who use a project builder. If you are meant to have flexible couplings to all service pipes penetrating the slab/below slab would you know what to look for? if you are having a rain water tank installed do you know what correct installation looks like? What my inspection reports provided me was additional knowledge I could use with builder to end up with a house that would meet standards. PCI inspection is probably the one I could have done alone as it is much more about quality of finishes that with enough time you will notice many of these yourself. It is at the earlier inspections that the work of making sure frame was within tolerance and met standard, and house was sound that were more technical. For instance in my frame report, consultant identified H2 hazard rated timber installed where H3 was required, frame overhang, Some rust on welded parts of structural steel, incorrect blocking, maximum frame bracing length, where double studs were required and missing..... so many things I did not know to look for and I was excited the house was moving along. Some of these defects had not been identified by the registered building surveyor and would not have been visible by PCI. I did say to my private consultant at the inspections - I am happy if you find nothing, The inspections were for peace of mind. He found many defects. Your site supervisor with a volume builder may not check much of the work of trades and will likely not be a registered builder and stated above may not visit your site more than a few times per week and if they do it will likely be a quick stop in to give directions. Find a consultant that has been a registered builder and has qualifications and experience. Any cost up front during build may reduce repairs at cost to owner in life span of house. My neighbor was building at the same time as me with another volume builder. Her son who had some knowledge and had had a house built before was keeping an eye on the build for her and he felt confident. I had PCI before she did. After a conversation she decided to use my inspector for PCI only and he identified roof defects and a missing retaining wall in the garage among other things with a well known builder. When you are purchasing such a large asset/service and don’t have all the knowledge to assess the work can you afford not to engage a consultant. Re: Is a building inspector worth it during construction? 16Sep 08, 2021 10:43 pm Norfolk @Small_Minds As a knowledgeable member and great advocate for the value of building consultants' defect inspection reports, can you please explain why some consultants cost about $250 per hour compared with an experienced craftsman carpenter with trade qualifications, detail skills, and the same knowledge of most referenced building standards and codes, who costs about $60 per hour? What are the key differences supporting such a disparity in cost? Some consultants are quoting a full suite of basic services including contract review, stage inspections defect reports, 1 x re-inspection and a final inspection at about $6,500. Additional costs are quoted for formatting reports for tribunals as well. In Victoria the unregistered (per the Building Act) building consultant has no authority over the builder or trades, and only provides defect reports (albeit comprehensive), usually leaving the home owners to address the defects identified directly with the builder or possibly later in actions at VCAT, NCAT, QBA etc. Dealing with builders alone on such issues when they dig their heels in is a daunting and potentially expensive proposition for most new home buyers, I think. I can certainly see the benefits of consultants defect reports for some stages, and I understand the HIA contract and relevant legislation. Its just the actual effectiveness and costs versus benefits of this $6,500 service that myself, and other members are questioning. I am interested in your thoughts about the $250 per hour rate of these consultants. Particularly in terms of the knowledge required, experience, equipment required, professional accreditation, licensing, registration, hours worked, administration, professional insurances etc. to produce these reports which contain a combination of original content as well as significant 'cut and paste' references and other standard content. Most of the more detailed members' comments I see about and by building consultants seems to echo emotive 'marketing speak' that seeks to leverage new home buyers' naivety and anxiety about building, and fear of defects. Some consultants appear to position themselves as the home buyers' champion 'going into battle' to provide them with 'insurance' against defects, which is potentially misleading. As well as being quite adversarial. Defect reports and home buyers' awareness can certainly help, but they don't in themselves assure building quality. Can you or other knowledgable members please offer your insights into the objective costs and benefits of building consultants' defect reports. Its true what you say about consultants positioning themselves as 'champions' and the excessing marketing out to scare new home buyers especially first home buyers. If you see the fine print, there are a lot of exclusions as well, since they only do a visual inspection. An inspection of all 5 stages in VIC works out to approx $2500 which is crazy! It feels like everyone is just out to milk the end buyer! Re: Is a building inspector worth it during construction? 18Sep 09, 2021 5:48 am strannik Would it be fair to say that the need for and the value you get out of building inspector depends on the kind of builder one is going with? Strannik You have totally hit the nail on the head with your comment. The reason you would need a building inspector with a project home builder is that your building inspector is doing the job of the builder's site supervisor. One of the key reasons that project homes are so much cheaper is that their site supervisors who are paid between $80-100k are looking after 15-20 homes each. A significant portion of the site supervisors aren't even qualified builders, but generally trades with a very limited skill set. The other way they keep costs down is by paying trades below market rates and then contractors are forced to rush work and take shortcuts so they can make a profit. I know several companies who pay framing carpenters around $40/hour ( half the market rate) so the carpenters do half a job and this gets missed. This is a terrible combination. In my experience, there is no way that a single human, no matter how good they are can adequately supervise the construction quality of so many homes and pick up on the all the defects and then chase the contractors and then reinspect to make sure the defects are fixed. Another issue is that a number of companies only pay their supervisors once each stage is finished so its in their interest to tick off a stage is finished and move onto the next as quickly as possible. On top that that, clients aren't allowed onsite to inspect work and are only given rushed inspection times when payments are due. We spend hours on frame inspections checking everything several times. In contrast, provided they are inducted and adhere to PPE our clients are welcome onto site everyday, if they have any questions or issues we talk it through and fix as needed. So yes, if you choose a project home builder due to your budget, you should allocate some money for a building inspector. Cheers Simeon Architectural Homes & Duplexes - specialising in custom designing homes to your budget Get a Free Onsite Consultation Today or send a PM for information, questions or advice. Re: Is a building inspector worth it during construction? 19Sep 09, 2021 8:50 am Yep. The step ladders on Metricon's site supervisors' utes are firmly bolted to the roof racks, they are never used onsite - just displayed as advertising props on the ute. Re: Is a building inspector worth it during construction? 20Sep 09, 2021 9:42 am Kippers01 Yep. The step ladders on Metricon's site supervisors' utes are firmly bolted to the roof racks, they are never used onsite - just displayed as advertising props on the ute. That is so funny! Thanks for the laugh Kippers Architectural Homes & Duplexes - specialising in custom designing homes to your budget Get a Free Onsite Consultation Today or send a PM for information, questions or advice. I would send it to the certifier who is technically your representative and working on your behalf not the builder's 1 2264 Can you give advice on how to get missing certificates needed for a form 21? Our bank requires us to provide one but we are missing 4 building certificates from our first… 3 71807 1 62023 |