DUPED!! B&P INSPECTORS sa help pls, recourse?

[lollka]

Hi all
need a bit of advice please. We had a building and pest report done by separate companies experienced in their profession... so it would seem... unfortunately between us inspecting the property and us receiving their report ... some things are hugely askew.

The Building report NOR the pest report made no mention of:

+ flue that had fallen through ceiling into toilet exposing a large hole, insulation and most likely asbestos roof that had broken as a result
+ 20cm diameter hole THROUGH timber FLOORBOARD that looks like some insect had or was or may still have been eating through...
+discrepancy between sth/west side of house where rotten fascia boards were visible

Whilst these are huge show stoppers for us. Our issue is that these so called experts didnt even bother to mention the first two obvious defects in their reports, when we believe they should have. We have unfortunately paid for the building report and are yet to pay for the pest report.

As a side note, whilst i am no expert... my fam have been in the building trade for some combined 60+ yrs and have themselves an excellent name in the trade of their expertise.. having been raised literally with that, i like to think i have some understanding around the lingo n terminology to know when we are being screwed over...

as such, we would appreciate some suggestions on where to from here. We honestly feel that almost 900.$ on these reports have been an absolute waste to tell us what we knew!

If anything we have paid that money to know whose professional services we wont be using ever again.

its dissapointing to say the least so far...

Thanks in advance fof your advice

Lollka

 

[Jen_PFR]

Oh that's really bad, what an awful thing to happen.

I think the first thing I would do is see if both reports were (supposedly) done to the relevant Australian Standards. This should be stated in the report.

If one or both doesn't reference the relevant AS you will have a more difficult time pursuing the matter.

Anyhow, after you've worked that out, I would write to them stating exactly what they missed (so the things you listed, plus anything else you might have noticed) and also clearly state what you expect in terms of restitution. A written apology? A refund? This is important, if you don't put this in, they will just ignore it as a whinge.

Also put in the letter the date by which you expect a response. Ten working days should be sufficient for them to get back to you.

I'd also send the letter via registered mail, so you don't have to deal with claims of non-receipt.

If that doesn't get you anywhere, I'd then report it to Consumer Affairs in your state.

Good luck - let us know how you go with it - always good to hear the outcomes of these kinds of situations.

 

[wylie]

The Building report NOR the pest report made no mention of:

+ flue that had fallen through ceiling into toilet exposing a large hole, insulation and most likely asbestos roof that had broken as a result
+ 20cm diameter hole THROUGH timber FLOORBOARD that looks like some insect had or was or may still have been eating through...
+discrepancy between sth/west side of house where rotten fascia boards were visible

Whilst these are huge show stoppers for us. Our issue is that these so called experts didnt even bother to mention the first two obvious defects in their reports, when we believe they should have. We have unfortunately paid for the building report and are yet to pay for the pest report.

Did you know about the obvious defects? Wouldn't you have seen these things during your inspection?

As a side note, whilst i am no expert... my fam have been in the building trade for some combined 60+ yrs and have themselves an excellent name in the trade of their expertise.. having been raised literally with that, i like to think i have some understanding around the lingo n terminology to know when we are being screwed over...

I'm wondering if you knew about the obvious defects (above) and were getting a building inspection to pick up other (hidden) things. Seeing they didn't pick up on the obvious things, you are now concerned there is more damage they may have missed?

as such, we would appreciate some suggestions on where to from here. We honestly feel that almost 900.$ on these reports have been an absolute waste to tell us what we knew!

If anything we have paid that money to know whose professional services we wont be using ever again.

its dissapointing to say the least so far...

Thanks in advance fof your advice

Lollka

Jen PFR's advice sounds good to me. But I still cannot work out whether you saw the obvious things yourself.

 

[Andrew_A]

Would be a good start to speak directly to the inspectors and get their opinion on the matter, also think about how you selected them and use a different method next time if they didn't match up.

If the property is not unconditional could be worth your time to put the problems back on the seller.

 

[twobobsworth]

What outcome do you want? Your money back, compensation and apology?

 

[Corey Batt]

Recently had a client who had a B&P on an IP. Came back as being mickey mouse, no problems.

Upon settlement found that several lights not working, a family of possums in the roof, holes in the roof, bee hive in the chimney. Leaking gravity feed tank in the ceiling etc. That's just what I can remember him telling me. Apparently there is no recourse for him as in the T&C's it says the inspector can't be held liable for faults not found or understated.

Hrmm..

 

[amativus]

Poor service from the B&P inspector, makes me think to be more wary next time.

 

[grantwhit]

Recently had a client who had a B&P on an IP. Came back as being mickey mouse, no problems.

Upon settlement found that several lights not working, a family of possums in the roof, holes in the roof, bee hive in the chimney. Leaking gravity feed tank in the ceiling etc. That's just what I can remember him telling me. Apparently there is no recourse for him as in the T&C's it says the inspector can't be held liable for faults not found or understated.

Hrmm..

yep very hard to fight against incompetence. Time to do some word od mouth research to find a decent bnp inspector

 

[Dazz]

these are huge show stoppers for us

Are you sure about that ??

In 20 yrs of investing, I've only ever seen 2 instances where the defects found have warranted not going ahead with the purchase.

Invariably, the land value and the price you are paying dominate the proceedings. The building itself rarely comes into play in its totality, let alone small little defects like you have listed.

Looking at your list of defects, all 3 - even on a combined effect basis, looks very minor indeed, certainly not even close to what could be described as a showstopper.

 

[Burramys]

Recently had a client who had a B&P on an IP. Came back as being mickey mouse, no problems.

Upon settlement found that several lights not working, a family of possums in the roof, holes in the roof, bee hive in the chimney. Leaking gravity feed tank in the ceiling etc. That's just what I can remember him telling me. Apparently there is no recourse for him as in the T&C's it says the inspector can't be held liable for faults not found or understated.

Hrmm..

There’s a duty of care and a reasonable expectation of reasonable compliance with professional standards, which if not met may be subject to remedies under consumer laws, state or federal. For a few years goods and services must be of acceptable quality. If not there’s a breach. Suggesting that “I didn’t see that or report on it” is insufficient reason for there being no remedies. In such cases, consumer advice should be sought.

 

[Truly Exotic]

There’s a duty of care and a reasonable expectation of reasonable compliance with professional standards, which if not met may be subject to remedies under consumer laws, state or federal. For a few years goods and services must be of acceptable quality. If not there’s a breach. Suggesting that “I didn’t see that or report on it” is insufficient reason for there being no remedies. In such cases, consumer advice should be sought.

exactly, there must come a point where you simply say, if these BP inspectors are going to be so useless, you might as well do it yourself and minimise obvious risks but at the same time expose your self to unobvious risks

You are paying a qualified professional to do his job within reason, sure he might miss a hairline fracture in the corner of a bedroom, but missing beehives, family of possums, holes in showers is ridiculous

 

[willair]

Hi all
need a bit of advice please. We had a building and pest report done by separate companies experienced in their profession... so it would seem... unfortunately between us inspecting the property and us receiving their report ... some things are hugely askew.

The Building report NOR the pest report made no mention of:

+ flue that had fallen through ceiling into toilet exposing a large hole, insulation and most likely asbestos roof that had broken as a result
+ 20cm diameter hole THROUGH timber FLOORBOARD that looks like some insect had or was or may still have been eating through...
+discrepancy between sth/west side of house where rotten fascia boards were visible

Whilst these are huge show stoppers for us. Our issue is that these so called experts didnt even bother to mention the first two obvious defects in their reports, when we believe they should have. We have unfortunately paid for the building report and are yet to pay for the pest report.

As a side note, whilst i am no expert... my fam have been in the building trade for some combined 60+ yrs and have themselves an excellent name in the trade of their expertise.. having been raised literally with that, i like to think i have some understanding around the lingo n terminology to know when we are being screwed over...

as such, we would appreciate some suggestions on where to from here. We honestly feel that almost 900.$ on these reports have been an absolute waste to tell us what we knew!

If anything we have paid that money to know whose professional services we wont be using ever again.

its dissapointing to say the least so far...

Thanks in advance fof your advice

Lollka

Maybe read the contract that they use,and put it down too experience all these problems can be fixed for a very low cost ,how much is the 900$ going to cost to get back..

 

[lollka]

Hi All,
thanks so much for your replies and opinions.

As for Dazz - boring rent collector, everyone is different in what they deem as showstoppers, depends if you want to invest in a hovel and put lots of time and effort into fixing things (which if we were in the same state would not be an issue, but we are in another state so it's a time & distance thing for us)... The 3 items are showstoppers based on our investment strategy of what we don't want.... each to their own! Perhaps our expectation was too high, but sheesh.... you can't miss those things in our opinion!! Suffice to say though, we pulled out our offer on that place!!

Having said that, we inspected another property not too far from that one for only a smidge more and it ticked more of our strategy boxes. Made an offer on it and it was accepted. We are happy with our first IP purchase!

Again, thanks all for your comments and opinions. Much appreciated. Apols for the delay in replying, currently renovating our house!!

Cheers,
Lollka