Browse Forums Building A New House Re: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 2Nov 09, 2013 9:36 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: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 4Nov 09, 2013 10:40 am 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: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 5Nov 09, 2013 11:00 am building-expert I fully agree with you Marto54 and it's great that you have a good inspector looking after you. Perhaps you should put up his name. As experienced property inspector myself I just want to add the benefit of my experience and that is that you should have at least four inspections during your build and also a pre contract consultation. The reasons are that he builder will be on notice from the beginning that you have someone professional looking after you and you might get a better supervisor or one motivated to care more. You won't know what to look for or the regulations and the defects may be built in or too difficult to fix at handover. How are you going fix bowed walls at handover? And it's not just about the defects but also about variation rip offs and I have seen plenty. Just last week I inspected two pools where owners were overcharged more than 10K on site works. Unfortunately they already paid so it's going to be harder to get it back. Is there a website or a governing body where I can find a good inspector. We are building in Ballarat. Decorate your home. It gives the illusion that your life is more interesting than it really is. MY BUILD THREAD https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65479&p=1035832#p1035832 Re: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 6Nov 09, 2013 11:17 am "SaveH2O wrote "It is surprising the large number of houses that are built with non compliance issues". The simple answer to that is that our building control system is criminally negligent. Why? Because it allows non compliant work to be passed. How is this possible? Simple, statutory inspections only inspect for safety, health and amenity. That means there are simply no reliable inspections for the rest of BCA compliance. Even statutory inspections for safety in my experience are unreliable because there are no mandatory pre plaster inspections . So how are you going to ensure that fire separation walls are correctly finished if no one inspects them? Or that framing damage is repaired before cover up? As far as compliance control is concerned our building control system is a "BLACK HOLE" and you are on your own. Try this http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog/f ... ol-system/ 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: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 7Nov 09, 2013 11:55 am I think it is important to visit the build, politely question things and make it clear you have high expectations too. Leaving it till the end then saying this isn't good enough is not ideal as you will have to fight harder for fixes that need a lot of work undone. If you ask for extra stuff research how it should be installed etc and ask if it has been done the way you expect as it is getting done. Re: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 8Nov 09, 2013 12:06 pm building-expert Even statutory inspections for safety in my experience are unreliable because there are no mandatory pre plaster inspections . When plumbing pipes through load bearing wall studs, the maximum size hole allowed to be drilled in the stud, as per AS1684, is calculated as depth divided by 4. A bit hard to see once the walls are plastered but I recently spotted a non compliant pre plastered load bearing wall in a blog photo. Made me wonder how often that sort of slackness happens. Noisy pipes are also a complaint that should never occur. Most homeowners who think that they can substitute for a competent building inspector simply look at the aesthetics. Without industry knowledge, they may as well be blind. 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: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 9Nov 09, 2013 1:52 pm I am going to look for one now!! Re: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 10Nov 09, 2013 2:15 pm Enough to make you lose your lunch. Inspections have moved from my "want list" to my "need list". They've got brass ones to think it's ok to hand over a house with such poor quality workmanship. 19.03.14 - Land Settlement 15.04.14 - Building Permit 28.04.14 - Earthworks 14.05.14 - Slab Stage 20.05.14 - Frame Stage 11.06.14 - Lock Up Stage 03.07.14 - Fix Stage 15.08.14 - New Home Presentation Re: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 11Nov 09, 2013 3:07 pm Timely to link the thread below... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=62496 The parliamentary report mentioned in the news report in the above link is linked below. Note that the clip system is no longer used but there are hundreds of thousands of established homes that still have this system fitted but non compliant roof drainage is still common for other reasons. http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/pdfs/ ... report.pdf Note that I do not endorse all of the findings or all of the evidence accepted in the above report. 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: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 12Nov 09, 2013 4:01 pm poohbear So what did simonds do to rectify it? was the final funds on hold until this is resolved? It's early stages but I can assure you that Simonds are going to fix every last item to my liking. They simply MUST or I will go to consumer affairs (BACV). They know I'm playing hard ball now, I'd be surprised if the finish isn't first rate. I've already told them I'll be bringing my inspector back once they rectify the errors too. By the way, if anyone is after an inspector in the Geelong area, John Nelson is the guy I used. He is simply fantastic and explains everything in detail and doesn't miss a beat. These inspectors are simply the building industry's worst nightmare. GET ONE!! They are the ace up your sleeve you may have thought you never had. Don't be bullied during inspections, these guys turn the tables in your favour BIG TIME! John Nelson - 'Built Right Condition Reports' (Geelong and district, Victoria) It makes me happy to see that more of you are considering an independent inspector, which was the purpose of my thread. All the best. Re: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 13Nov 09, 2013 8:17 pm We used an independent inspector at most stages of the build - WELL worth the money. My site supervisor was happy to work in with this inspector and fix any issue that was in the report as well as any issue in the independent inspection report organised by the builder. I think we had about 10 inspections all up. Kerith - Building an Eden Brae Newport 40 in Sydney's North http://kerithsedenbraehouse.blogspot.com.au/ Re: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 14Nov 09, 2013 8:55 pm Agreed! We have a building inspector too for the recommended four stages. It costs a few grand but nothing compared to what we are paying the builder! Our building inspector has liaised with ss regarding all problems he has found which has been great and they have all been rectified. Some such as a window being off centre would have been much more difficult and messy to fix later on. Agree that you also need to remain vigilant and check everything. Also agree that builder is much more thorough if you have an inspector. Best money I ever spent
Re: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 15Nov 09, 2013 10:31 pm Kerith We used an independent inspector at most stages of the build - WELL worth the money. My site supervisor was happy to work in with this inspector and fix any issue that was in the report as well as any issue in the independent inspection report organised by the builder. I think we had about 10 inspections all up. Hi Kerith, just wonder how much do they charge per one time inspection? Or do they charge the whole lots? Thks Re: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 17Nov 09, 2013 11:43 pm Has anyone got any recommendations/contact for an inspector? PM is you prefer. Thanks. Re: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 18Nov 10, 2013 8:42 pm SaveH2O building-expert ...and the defects may be built in... It is surprising the large number of houses that are built with non compliance issues. building-expert And it's not just about the defects but also about variation rip offs and I have seen plenty. How true. Lambs to the slaughter. I agree, I wish I had the contract reviewed before the sign off. I notice there were variation rip offs to what they called "tolerance values" which are deemed acceptable. Re: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 19Nov 10, 2013 8:43 pm Marto54 I'm building with Simonds, and while I had minor issues with my site supervisor and his boss early, the structural part of the build was fine. As I do with my builds, I brought an independent inspector in for first walkthrough (pre handover). I really never had a good chance or cared to go over the finish closely at all myself previously, I prefer to do it with an expert. Damn! It was disgusting. The workmanship in so many areas is just appalling. The timber work, paint, plastering all awful. Still dusty and dirty, upstairs floor not fixed properly, loose guttering, holes in the slab (I'm having flooring done after handover thank god!), wrong doors, errors and defects everywhere. It took me 3 hours to go over the house with my inspector. The amount of work required to get this house up to scratch is huge. Plaster voids in nearly every corner of the house, meaning fixing and likely re-painting the entire house. Re-sanding the rubbish paint work, which was done while dust was blowing in the house, brush marks, drips everywhere, etc. This is just a taste of the massive report produced by my inspector. I've rolled over on the 2 guys involved, my site supervisor and his boss, and took this to the state manager. He too is appalled and his dealing with it. I don't put this squarely on Simonds, the company. While it's certainly a bad look for them, any branch of any builder can be poor and keep their dirty laundry away from the noses of certain people. I made sure my issue isn't dealt with 'in-house'. Things to note... I'm spending nearly 300k on this house, means nothing. Simonds were prepared to handover this house as is, which is just scary. Most importantly, many wouldn't pick up on plaster voids, bad paint and all the major issues found by my inspector. You must know what to look for! Don't assume, please don't. My SS knew this was a crap job but thought he could get one over on me. He was very uneasy when I first told him I'm bringing in an independent inspector too. I'm no longer dealing with him or his boss, I refuse. I'd be satisfied to see them both fired. Bottom line... These independent inspectors are worth their weight in gold. You must know your rights and what standard your dream home should be at, and not settle for less just so these cowboys can get another build out of their hair and handed over. Consumer Affairs even has their own arm now to deal with builders (BACV). We're protected. As I said, don't assume. Please consider investing in an independent inspector, simply the best thing I've done in this experience. I'm happy to give more detail if you wish to pm me. Sorry to hear that Marto54. I hope Simonds fix it for you at the highest standard. This day, you can't trust any builders regardless of how reputable they are. Re: PLEASE USE AN INDEPENDENT BUILDING INSPECTOR! 20Nov 10, 2013 10:26 pm zierra I notice there were variation rip offs to what they called "tolerance values" which are deemed acceptable. You might find this thread interesting. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=65623 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. I would send it to the certifier who is technically your representative and working on your behalf not the builder's 1 2246 That is a really good attitude Akin to you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. I do enjoy watching that tik tok inspector from Victoria but he does go a little… 12 81767 It is true that a builder can ignore your independent inspection report as it is not part of the contractual arrangement but that is stupid because he cannot avoid fixing… 9 46818 |