Home Renovation -Things to Consider before Signing The Contract

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  Hithere on 30/01/2021 - 07:52

  +8

  Member Since
  42 min ago

  Welcome to OzBargain.

  There are some excellent home renovation forums available with members who have experienced the type of work you are looking at.

  Try

  https://forum.homeone.com.au

• 

  onetwothreefour on 30/01/2021 - 08:11

  +3

  https://www.renovateforum.com/

  • 

    saltypete on 31/01/2021 - 09:00

    Renovateforum is excellent. Research a little before you ask questions though. 👍

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  spal on 30/01/2021 - 08:23

  It is reasonable if you give the entire contract to one company. They will essentially sub-contract each element to different trades, and manage the whole thing. You can easily find much cheaper prices if you source the material and the trades yourself. You will have better control on finishing the job within shorter time too. For example, hybrid floors fully laid costs about $30, plus removal and disposal of the previous floors. Instead of getting just AEG, you can get the best deal you can get, the models and features that you need. Map out what will need to be done first. Say, demolishing and removal of the existing cabinets, floors. Maximise by getting the skip for most of the rubbish in one go. Some work even you might be able to do. It is more fun if you do some of this yourself too. I find Air Tasker a good source of reliable trades, look at their reviews. We did kitchen in the new house during Covid. Finished just before lock down in Melbourne.

  • 

    MMJL on 30/01/2021 - 08:53

    +1

    Thank you @spal for the suggestion. Initially we thought of going that route.Now the offices are opening not sure I will get all the time to mange things.That being said I need to so some of small fixes for which I will use ur suggestion.

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  JimmyF on 30/01/2021 - 11:21

  +2

  I am getting quotes~ 45k
  Is this a reasonable quote?

  Well if all your quotes are coming in around this, then yes. We can't see the amount of work you have or other issues. But the companies that have quoted it have.

  Other than online review any option to know if he is a good builder ?

  Reviews, word of mouth, general feel of talking to the people

  Is it advisable to remove existing floor before putting the new hybrid ( which is from HN - $35 sq m)

  If its old flooring, generally. But what did the people who gave the quotes say?

  What are the things I should add to the contract and protect price spike.

  Are you getting a fixed price quote for the work? If so you are generally protected. But there will always be things that might pop up that are not included or changes you want to make on the way.

  General rule of reno work, is it will take twice as long as quoted and always cost more than quoted!

  • 

    MMJL on 30/01/2021 - 12:35

    Thanks JimmyF for ur advice.With respect to removing the existing tile,they are not that old and vendors in general adviced me put on top of existing.Concern from me is will it result in any issues/maintenance down the line.Also I will keep in mind of your advice on duration and cost.

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  TheBilly on 30/01/2021 - 15:58

  First thing to check is if they are even a licensed builder. The fair trading website has a licence search function.

  • 

    MMJL on 30/01/2021 - 16:54

    Thanks ThBilly, I do got some quote with license issues.

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  burtie on 30/01/2021 - 16:00

  +1

  I'm not sure of the equivalent in Sydney, but we have the QBCC in Qld to look up a builder's license history. We recently did a sizeable renovation. I got a few quotes and looked all the builders up there before deciding on someone. One guy had a whole trail of bankrupt companies behind him and proceedings in court. I cancelled him before the quote even came through!

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  saltypete on 31/01/2021 - 09:05

  Think very carefully before you sign and Don’t Change Anything After you sign. You will significantly blow out costs if you do this!
  In practice this is really difficult to achieve, so maybe be prepared for financial and time blowouts as you change things. 😧

• 

  munsie99 on 31/01/2021 - 09:12

  Can't speak for QLD with QBCC although can share my experience in NSW.
  I contracted a builder some years ago to build my house, we checked his license through Fair Trading NSW and NCAT, and references and asked around, at the time all looked good.
  After we began having problems with him we researched more and found he had a terrible reputation with many other tradies and suppliers.

  What I found after much digging was that he had been found negligent at NCAT many times with many orders against him.
  Having thought I'd done a good job of checking prior to engaging him I thought I'd find out what went wrong.
  I asked and received an official reply from Fair Trading NSW that they could not comment on any past matters and all they could do was report he had no matters against him, I knew this to be incorrect as I'd completed the process through NCAT and won 28 of the 34 items I'd listed against him and had receive compensation. I further followed up on how they can report no matters against a builder even after I'd been through the process, reply was that unless it's of public interest the judgements are not made publicly available.

  My thoughts on my findings: would you take on lawyer if they had misconduct against them, would you take on a surgeon if they'd replaced the wrong hip joint, would you hire a truck driver if they'd had a history of dangerous driving? all these professions, there'd be many more, have their record available for many years after the offence. I know whenI've had to get a police report for work I have a driving offence from over 35 years ago still n record - minor offence.

  Why do builders not have their history available to find?

  I'd suggest you see some of their work and talk with other tradies and suppliers they regularly deal with.
  Not wanting to put a downer on your exciting renovation, YMMV, just my experience and findings.

  Good luck with your reno, hope all goes really well.

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  HeWhoKnows on 31/01/2021 - 11:00

  +1

  Is this a reasonable quote?

  what sort of question is that?

  No home reno is the same so short and truthful answer on behalf of everyone is

  WE HAVE NO IDEA!

  Only way to find out is to get a few quotes and compare.
  But ensure that are for exactly the same work and materials.
  Then YOU WILL KNOW dear OP.