Browse Forums Building A New House Re: No inspector - on a scale of 1 to 10, how reckless is it 6Nov 28, 2018 7:46 pm brokenstick I have had 3 inspections so far and each one had picked up around 20 things, most of them minor, and things that i would never have known about, especially to do with the slab steelwork and timber framing. Cosmetics issues I can inspect myself. Do they make any difference in the long run and would I see any difference in the completed house? Probably not, but it is more for my peace of mind knowing that everything under the skin was done to standard, and that they made no major stuff-ups. Cosmetic issues can be fixed later, but if there is a problem with the slab or structure it could take 10 years to manifest itself. I think most people don't get inspections and never know the difference or have any issues, but I don't regret it. Re: No inspector - on a scale of 1 to 10, how reckless is it 7Nov 28, 2018 7:49 pm I agree go the private inspector, what is 700 dollars to a build costing hundreds of thousands. Re: No inspector - on a scale of 1 to 10, how reckless is it 8Nov 28, 2018 11:06 pm If you missed your base, frame, pre paint, fixing inspections etc don't stress too much. Probably 60 to 70 % ok, the rest either hidden defects that won't become an issue for years or just cosmetic. Most people sell after 7 years on average so you will be long gone when the house starts to have real issues. Just keep pretending everything's gonna be alright lol thedaylightamy Hi everyone, I have two colleagues who each built this year and are already moved in - neither of them ever hired an inspector at any stage of construction. Both are happy with their houses - apart from maybe one small defect each, they don't regret not getting an inspector (yet, anyway!). Our PCI is in a few days (F I N A L L Y) and due to personal circumstances we kind of HAVE TO move in as soon as we can... there is a lot riding on it unfortunately. We're obviously not going to be overlooking structural issues, but we can live with small issues that are easy to repair ourselves and do not impact the structural integrity of the house (or cause high costs in the long term) such as pain touchups or the odd wobbly doorknob. I've been speaking to inspectors in our area, all of them seem to charge around $700 minimum (for some reason I could have sworn it was $300 when I looked into the prices earlier this year) and be quite fully booked, which would delay our path to handover quite a bit. I'm considering just not getting an inspector at all unless we see something that worries us at the PCI. Considering the only 2 other people I know who have built didn't use inspectors either, this seems like a reasonable choice to me - of course it is always smarter to be more cautious, but we are in a very difficult predicament with time - and if the inspector ends up finding things that we mostly would have fixed ourselves or never even noticed at all (not even in the very long term) it will really add to the grief of the situation at this stage. I'm just trying to see how common it is to not get an inspector - or rather, how stupid it is considered, I suppose... Dreading the answers, but I know I have to ask. Amy Re: No inspector - on a scale of 1 to 10, how reckless is it 9Nov 29, 2018 6:20 am About half of my working time I spend looking after people who are building with building stage inspections, the other half looking after people who dearly wished they got them done but didn't. Check out my blogs. 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: No inspector - on a scale of 1 to 10, how reckless is it 10Nov 29, 2018 10:07 am What I would suggest is get the reports from surveyor for the stages that have already been completed. In victoria they are under statutory obilgation to provide report if you ask them in writing. This would put the Surveyor under a little pressure to ensure that the work complies with Act and Regulations. Not sure how far this would work... Re: No inspector - on a scale of 1 to 10, how reckless is it 11Nov 29, 2018 10:23 am dasarp What I would suggest is get the reports from surveyor for the stages that have already been completed. In victoria they are under statutory obilgation to provide report if you ask them in writing. This would put the Surveyor under a little pressure to ensure that the work complies with Act and Regulations. Not sure how far this would work... That's interesting, I asked my surveyor for their reports, and all they provided was a one pager saying that it had passed. I asked for the detailed report and was told that they only provide it if "inspections were not approved and the items picked have not been fixed within 7days" I didn't pursue it any further So I can insist on it?? I was interested to see how on earth they passed some of the item that Darbecca picked up afterwards Re: No inspector - on a scale of 1 to 10, how reckless is it 12Nov 29, 2018 11:43 am sweetswisssteel If you missed your base, frame, pre paint, fixing inspections etc don't stress too much. Probably 60 to 70 % ok, the rest either hidden defects that won't become an issue for years or just cosmetic. Most people sell after 7 years on average so you will be long gone when the house starts to have real issues. Just keep pretending everything's gonna be alright lol thedaylightamy Hi everyone, I have two colleagues who each built this year and are already moved in - neither of them ever hired an inspector at any stage of construction. Both are happy with their houses - apart from maybe one small defect each, they don't regret not getting an inspector (yet, anyway!). Our PCI is in a few days (F I N A L L Y) and due to personal circumstances we kind of HAVE TO move in as soon as we can... there is a lot riding on it unfortunately. We're obviously not going to be overlooking structural issues, but we can live with small issues that are easy to repair ourselves and do not impact the structural integrity of the house (or cause high costs in the long term) such as pain touchups or the odd wobbly doorknob. I've been speaking to inspectors in our area, all of them seem to charge around $700 minimum (for some reason I could have sworn it was $300 when I looked into the prices earlier this year) and be quite fully booked, which would delay our path to handover quite a bit. I'm considering just not getting an inspector at all unless we see something that worries us at the PCI. Considering the only 2 other people I know who have built didn't use inspectors either, this seems like a reasonable choice to me - of course it is always smarter to be more cautious, but we are in a very difficult predicament with time - and if the inspector ends up finding things that we mostly would have fixed ourselves or never even noticed at all (not even in the very long term) it will really add to the grief of the situation at this stage. I'm just trying to see how common it is to not get an inspector - or rather, how stupid it is considered, I suppose... Dreading the answers, but I know I have to ask. Amy These homes are passed on to, people who don't have a quality qualified housing expert and they destroy lives, lives that could be your father, mother, brothers, sisters, friends, best to get it right via lots of research, choosing the right builder, getting your new home checked, no one innocently deserves a hell home, it's just a fact of life now, we have plenty of problem new homes, it can be stopped if customers got more knowledge than just checking out display homes. Re: No inspector - on a scale of 1 to 10, how reckless is it 13Nov 29, 2018 1:02 pm The building Surveyor or his inspector should carry out inspection at mandatory stages. They need to check if the work done is complying with Building Act, Regulations and Building permit. If it is non-compliant there is some prescribed actions they should take. If they did not take these steps in case of non-compliance they are negligent and the same should be informed to VBA. If surveyor did not pick issues and the independent inspector like Darbecca picks up later, with photographs etc, then they should be in trouble. Especitally the inpector that looked at the work on behalf of Surveyor. Once you request the record of inspection from surveyor, which should include the details of dates of inspection and name of inspector, they should feel the heat. Whatever, the remaining stages, they should do it better. Or atleast you can scare them with a potential complaint to VBA on the work already inspected and issues not found. Re: No inspector - on a scale of 1 to 10, how reckless is it 14Nov 29, 2018 1:46 pm If there are structural defects, I wouldn't think that these would be able to be picked up at PCI as everything is covered up by walls and ceilings. We didn't get any inspections, but we were at the property twice a week and took lots and lots of photos of all the stages. We were very happy with the results and we ended up getting copies of all the reports. Re: No inspector - on a scale of 1 to 10, how reckless is it 15Nov 30, 2018 7:45 am Building surveyors pay building inspectors around $120/inspection, what are you going to get for that? Top qualifications? Top experience? Top advice? Helping hand during your build? No way! 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: No inspector - on a scale of 1 to 10, how reckless is it 17Nov 30, 2018 9:28 am Building inspector only has to ensure your house is safe for occupation, that leaves lot of unseen Elephants in the room. 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: No inspector - on a scale of 1 to 10, how reckless is it 18Nov 30, 2018 9:40 am However, the obligation is that the work and construction is in compliance with Building Act, Regulations and Building Permit. Well he can't argue it is not in compliance but still safe for occupancy, can he? Re: No inspector - on a scale of 1 to 10, how reckless is it 19Nov 30, 2018 10:25 am Perhaps you have $100k plus to leave on the table for lawyers to argue your point in court. Consumer protection is a scam and you are on your own. The laws we already have are not enforced just as financial regulators took no action against the banks blatantly stealing from customers. Do you think any CEO or members of the board will go to jail? If you are waiting for government to protect you then you will die waiting, or you can get your own building consultant to assist you. When was the last time building inspector called the owner? 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 I would send it to the certifier who is technically your representative and working on your behalf not the builder's 1 2273 I do enjoy the drama:-D In his latest two videos he has started bringing security guards to site, I am waiting for the punch on to begin lol 6 45553 If you already have a contract, is the inspection cost stated in there? If not they would be forced to issue you a variation which you could of course object to. 12 25870 |