owner builder construction guarantee

Hello,

I have a few questions about current home which I had purchased two years ago.
This house was an establish house which had some renovations done.
Within the last couple of months, where they have renovated the area - garage, I have notice that there is water leakage on the walls and from the grounds. I can see the cracks which seems to be getting slightly bigger over the months.

What I have heard was that if renovation has been done within the last 7 years, there is some sort of insurance, either from the previous Owners or company. Is this true?

Looking at the inspection that was attached to the contract, the inspection company has mentioned the defects of the garage.

Basically, is there any way of fixing the problem without the money coming from my own pocket?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

ok a few things here
1) were the renovations done legally
2) was there a permit from the council for the works done
3)yes there is a 7 yr period for structural work carried out
4) can you prove the work was done in the last 7 yrs
5) you accepted the purchase of the property after you had an inspection report done so knew of the garage problems

im not sure what leg you have to stand on i guess it depends on answers to the above points.however the fact you had a building report done and probably made this a clause in the sale contract i guess the previous owners could argue you knew of the defect yet still went ahead so im guessing its your problem now.
i know as an owner builder im liable for my house for 7 years from contstruction yet if a problem is identified and the seller agrees to buy without a clause t have the defect fixed then im sure you wear it.id loose that report quick smart and hope the previous owners dont have a copy.

Hi,

Many thanks for your reply.

To answer your questions below, yes we do have a copy of the building permit for the renovations done to the garage along with a copy of the certificate of final inspection. The date that the renovations commences was the 12th December, 2002 - so we are on the last year.

But despite that the previous Owners sold their house and I have accepted the conditions of the garage (have to re-read the clauses) wouldn't it still be the Company who completed the renovations responsibility? However by looking at the building permit, the builders were the previous Owners themselves.

Depending on your insurance policy - is it possible to claim it under insurance?

Look in your sale documents. In order to sell the owners would have had to take a\out an insurance policy on your behalf. Not too sure how that work with reno though compared to new house. I doubt the previous owners and yourself could have waived the condition. The law is in place to protect the buyer in the first place. Do you have a photo of the issue.

And usually with a new house you have 6.5 years from the day the occupency permit is issued and not when the permits are stamped so if a final inspection was needed( most likely) then it would be fromt he date of final inspection.

Under Section 32 Statement (Vendors Statement to the purchaser pursuant to section 32 of the sale of land act 1962), it states in clause 1.2

"Guarantee - Where the property includes a Residence, details of an Owner-Builder during the paste seven years under the House Contracts Guarantee Act 1987: No such Guarantee has been issued"

"1.3 Insurance - Where the property includes a Residence constructed within the preceding six years, details of the required Insurance pursuant to Section 137B of the Building Act 1993: - No such insurance has been effected"

Would the first clause indicate that the Owner/builders hold no guarantee to the work carried out on the garage?

When you mention about photo - do you mean current photo or photo from when we first moved in? We don't have a photo of the defect when we first moved in, however I can post a photo of it's current situation.

If it's the date of final inspection, the inspection was done in March, 2003

I will have a look at my sales documents tonight to see if any clauses are in place for insurance or building. At the moment I only have my section 32 and inspection documents in handy.

I am no expert in law how from my builders course, any work over 12000 need to have warrenty including renovations. When asking for permits it will say approx cost of project it would be good to find out what the project value was.

If this was the case not too sure how the house could be sold without warrenty, maybe speak to your convaniencer it terms what the legal requirements are.

Regarding photo i was interested too see what the actuall issue was maybe there is an easier way to "fix it".

Miss Lotus... What is your location? It very much depends on what state....

In Qld, if you are an ownerbuilder, you don't need insurance, however if you sell the property within the first 6 years, you must declare the works to be owner builder... This is becuase the new owners have no claim on defective works!

Where you sell your property within six years of the completion of your owner builder work you must, BEFORE signing any contract of sale, provide the prospective purchaser a written notice.

What should the notice contain?
The notice should contain the following:

Details of the domestic building work performed
The name of the person (permit holder) who performed the work
A statement confirming the work was performed under an owner builder permit
Supply the following notice - "Warning - The building work to which this notice relates is not covered by insurance under the Queensland Building Services Authority Act 1991".
Notice in duplicate
The notice must be given in duplicate and the purchaser must sign one of the copies and return it to you on, or before, signing of the contract.

Thanks for everyone's reply.

Here is the link that shows the cracks and leakage in our garage.

http://s686.photobucket.com/albums/vv22 ... =slideshow

I live in Victoria.

I have spoken to the company that did the final permit and basically said that because the renovation cost under 12k there wasn't any insurance taken out.

I guess the cost will be coming out of our pocket, it's now a question of how to fix it :S

You seem to have quite alot of differential movement in the garage, on your copy of the plans and other documentation do you have any idea what the soil classification is? I would say its likely to be a highly reactive soil such as clay and as it get wet and dry it expands and contracts expedentially.

Firstly if you do have a leaking pipe you can check for yourself very easily:
(1) Turn every tap off in your home, washing machine, toilets the works
(2) Now go and check the water meter and see if its still running, as in: are the numbers going around? if so that generally means you have a water leak somewhere.

My next step would be to employ the services of a leak detector and he will be able to tell you if there is a leak under your slab, and which way it is spraying and how deep under the ground it is.

I have used these many times and they have always been deadly accurate.

Failing this and there is no leak, employ the services of a geo tech engineer to do soil testing and possibly even a few bore holes, as there may be a water table beneath where your garage is, and due to ground pressure it may be rising to the surface, but they would be able to shed more light on that than me without seeing it first.

Good luck

Ben

Hi ms lotus i think we have two problems here abvious as they may seem

1.Some hair line cracks in verious places over the render an some in the concrete

2. Moisture coming from the ground

First problem in nothing to worry about. In fact you have photos of cracks in corners where two walls meet this is very common place for cracks to occur. You also have cracks along a pier one brick wide this is a very uncomman place for cracks to occur o i am of the belief that it is just the render cracking. This may be the case with a lot of the render cracks.
Crack on the ground - hard to see in the pics however from what can be seen are nothing to worry about.

2. Moisture from ground is more a concern for me and thats only if it is comming from a service or drainage. Chances are it is not mains water because this is not unsually run through the slab. The only thing i can forsea under the slab in the garage is drainage storm water.

However i do not know enough about your house. Perhaps you give trade link a call pay the fee and they will send you a drainage plan of your house. Secondly is the garage below ground level. ALso how many times have you seen this water in the garage. Have you tried to dry it out and see if it returns??

Please treat both issues seperately otherwise you will confuse the situation.