Builder refusing to negotiate contract

Pedro4137 · Jan 01, 2025 3:24 pm

Yes, let’s see clause

CallyNoon · Jan 06, 2025 11:19 am

Pedro4137

People are paying for finished house, that’s the contract

Consumer could inspect car being manufactured, or fridge

need to see contract

A house is not even vaguely like a car or a fridge.

Firstly theres the cost. People are financially ruined over a poor quality house build. Nobody is put in that position by a car or a fridge.

Secondly, I can return a poor quality car or a fridge. I can't return a house. And by all reports, the building regulators are pretty useless. Even if I had a car sitting for 2 years while dealing with the company, it still wouldn't have anywhere near the impact that an unliveable home would have for that same time range.

On top of that, theres reputation. I can go by known and trusted brands with cars and fridges whereas thats very hard to do in the building industry. Volume builders have a known name yet the worst reputation. Builders have a reputation for phoenixing and poor quality. Every person I've said to that we are building, they all shake their head and say don't do it. Thats the state of builders reputation. I know not all are like that, we wouldn't have people like Simeon putting their name out on forums like this, but they are a needle in a haystack and I don't know how to get some level of guarantee that I've chosen a good one other than by using a building inspector.

I'm not providing the clause on a forum, I don't see what benefit that will give. I know what it says and what it means as I've gotten legal advice.

In any case, it looks like we can move forward with having a building inspector, they just have to meet their requirements.

DelavaleElectrical · Jan 06, 2025 12:26 pm

Ashington Homes

takenbyWine

Sounds rough. Builders refusing independent inspections is a massive red flag. Walking away might save bigger headaches later. Check with a construction lawyer about your options. Hopefully, others can recommend reputable Melbourne builders!

Couldn't agree more.

My two massive red flags for me would be:

1. No independent inspection
2. Not being able to come to site and inspect the work myself.

If am paying for the work I should be able to view it, inspect it and have my own representative do the same.

The industry really needs to change in relation to this

Happy new year everyone

Cheers

Simeon

i agree with your statement If am paying for the work I should be able to view it, inspect it and have my own representative do the same.

building-expert · Jan 06, 2025 4:51 pm

CallyNoon

Pedro4137

People are paying for finished house, that’s the contract

Consumer could inspect car being manufactured, or fridge

need to see contract

A house is not even vaguely like a car or a fridge.

Firstly theres the cost. People are financially ruined over a poor quality house build. Nobody is put in that position by a car or a fridge.

Secondly, I can return a poor quality car or a fridge. I can't return a house. And by all reports, the building regulators are pretty useless. Even if I had a car sitting for 2 years while dealing with the company, it still wouldn't have anywhere near the impact that an unliveable home would have for that same time range.

On top of that, theres reputation. I can go by known and trusted brands with cars and fridges whereas thats very hard to do in the building industry. Volume builders have a known name yet the worst reputation. Builders have a reputation for phoenixing and poor quality. Every person I've said to that we are building, they all shake their head and say don't do it. Thats the state of builders reputation. I know not all are like that, we wouldn't have people like Simeon putting their name out on forums like this, but they are a needle in a haystack and I don't know how to get some level of guarantee that I've chosen a good one other than by using a building inspector.

I'm not providing the clause on a forum, I don't see what benefit that will give. I know what it says and what it means as I've gotten legal advice.

In any case, it looks like we can move forward with having a building inspector, they just have to meet their requirements.

There are no guarantees in life.
Reputation is a record of past performance and no guarantee of a future.
If you choose your builder based on a good reputation you are merely improving probability of desired outcome
If you do all of your due diligence and have your own independent inspector there is still no guarantees that major things cannot go wrong but you will have a chance to catch it early and manage it.

Professional_Bed2614 · Feb 18, 2026 12:37 pm

We had someone check over our building contract, even though it was the HIA standard we wanted help to make sure the details were right. She helped us with emailing the builder to get the recommendations into the contract which they agreed to. Our builder was fine in the end. We used Build Together if that helps