Hi All,
I'm kinda in a bind at the moment... wondering if anyone knows if I can try to recoup lost investment income from my builder because of borderline-incompetent delays. I'm in Perth, WA.
We signed for an off-the-plan turnkey IP back in Feb 2010 with a real estate agent in Perth, with initial indications of having the project complete by the end of 2010. The property were part of an independent developers project, consisting of about 30 green-title houses and a similar sized seperate strata development. The developer was still to clear the land before titles were issued.
One thing led to another, and the delays came (the developer blamed in on the council, then electricity co, then water co, then holidays, etc). This wasnt too much of an issue, as we had only paid a small deposit. In any case, the land finally settled in December 2011, and the project moved towards construction.
Despite the developer saying that the construction company was ready to submit straight to council once titles were issued, this was incorrect - the construction co only started drafting final plans once titles were issued. Fine, i can deal with this, council approved the plans quickly and the property went to construction start in mid-March 2012.
Obviously, this is when the problems really started to take off. It should be noted that I never received a copy of the final plans, nor have I signed off on them. There are also no variation orders between initial plans and final - the builder is not forthcoming with any information. Apart from this, most of the construction went fine, no problems at any of the stages, until of course nearing completion.
In Mid-November 2012, i got a call from the builder wanting to setup the PCI. Despite me telling them the property was nowhere near PCI stage, they insisted that it would be complete by the time a meeting was booked, and so we arranged a meeting and I had a building inspector assess.
No work was done since the phone call. When i mean the house isnt at PCI stage, i mean no hot water, no gas connection, stove not connected, all among a list of other small items. To top it off, the two aircon units were installed on different walls than stated on the plan. Obviously this was reflected in the building inspectors report.
I didnt sign off on PCI, but they invoiced me anyway... This didnt go down well. After trying to contact them and get them to cancel the invoice all to no avail, I sent a pro-forma notice of complaint to the Building Commission to the builder. The builder acted very quickly - they claimed they couldnt reverse the invoice for final payment, but would extend the payment due date to be ten working days after PCI is signed and agreed.
Despite the builder telling me in writing that the work would be complete by 20 December 2012 (this was coincidentally the date calculated from the contract and the days-to-build allowance - excl any delay claims), I find myself in January, with a number of items still outstanding, and nothing done about the air-con (they claim they're waiting for a letter from the electrician to show it was installed correctly - which isnt the issue, they put them on the wrong walls!).
As the property is for investment purposes, and the builders are aware of this, does anyone know if there is anything I can do to claim for lost rent for the time after their build time is exceeded? I know there are clauses in the HIA standard building contract at a pitiful $30/day, but as this isnt for a residential live-in purpose, more a commerical one, does anyone have any ideas or know a good lawyer in Perth?
I'm kinda in a bind at the moment... wondering if anyone knows if I can try to recoup lost investment income from my builder because of borderline-incompetent delays. I'm in Perth, WA.
We signed for an off-the-plan turnkey IP back in Feb 2010 with a real estate agent in Perth, with initial indications of having the project complete by the end of 2010. The property were part of an independent developers project, consisting of about 30 green-title houses and a similar sized seperate strata development. The developer was still to clear the land before titles were issued.
One thing led to another, and the delays came (the developer blamed in on the council, then electricity co, then water co, then holidays, etc). This wasnt too much of an issue, as we had only paid a small deposit. In any case, the land finally settled in December 2011, and the project moved towards construction.
Despite the developer saying that the construction company was ready to submit straight to council once titles were issued, this was incorrect - the construction co only started drafting final plans once titles were issued. Fine, i can deal with this, council approved the plans quickly and the property went to construction start in mid-March 2012.
Obviously, this is when the problems really started to take off. It should be noted that I never received a copy of the final plans, nor have I signed off on them. There are also no variation orders between initial plans and final - the builder is not forthcoming with any information. Apart from this, most of the construction went fine, no problems at any of the stages, until of course nearing completion.
In Mid-November 2012, i got a call from the builder wanting to setup the PCI. Despite me telling them the property was nowhere near PCI stage, they insisted that it would be complete by the time a meeting was booked, and so we arranged a meeting and I had a building inspector assess.
No work was done since the phone call. When i mean the house isnt at PCI stage, i mean no hot water, no gas connection, stove not connected, all among a list of other small items. To top it off, the two aircon units were installed on different walls than stated on the plan. Obviously this was reflected in the building inspectors report.
I didnt sign off on PCI, but they invoiced me anyway... This didnt go down well. After trying to contact them and get them to cancel the invoice all to no avail, I sent a pro-forma notice of complaint to the Building Commission to the builder. The builder acted very quickly - they claimed they couldnt reverse the invoice for final payment, but would extend the payment due date to be ten working days after PCI is signed and agreed.
Despite the builder telling me in writing that the work would be complete by 20 December 2012 (this was coincidentally the date calculated from the contract and the days-to-build allowance - excl any delay claims), I find myself in January, with a number of items still outstanding, and nothing done about the air-con (they claim they're waiting for a letter from the electrician to show it was installed correctly - which isnt the issue, they put them on the wrong walls!).
As the property is for investment purposes, and the builders are aware of this, does anyone know if there is anything I can do to claim for lost rent for the time after their build time is exceeded? I know there are clauses in the HIA standard building contract at a pitiful $30/day, but as this isnt for a residential live-in purpose, more a commerical one, does anyone have any ideas or know a good lawyer in Perth?
