New Home Builder Defects Advice

MuddyClear on 15/02/2023 - 15:08
Last edited 15/02/2023 - 17:45

Hi, a friend has asked for advice on issues with her new home build where she has discovered a defect during one of the stages of her build. The builder or contractors placed pallets of bricks on the concrete garage floor (5ton approx) during bricking stage, which most likely caused cracking of the concrete upstand/firewall as it was not present before - garage is built on boundary hence need for firewall.

Question: Should she reply for a fix asap or wait until final inspection and get her independent building supervisor to inspect everything before paying the last progress payment?

Builder: Construction Services (Hickinbotham/Stateman Homes)
Defect: Cracking in concrete upstrand/Firewall (2mm wide approx)
Response from builder: “within tolerance limit” and will “continue to monitor”.

Image of defect: https://ibb.co/2FttmMH

Thanks

Home & Garden

Comments

  • 87percent on 15/02/2023 - 15:09
    +6

    Don’t wait until handover. Once it’s been handed over, you will never see the builder again

    • MuddyClear on 15/02/2023 - 15:31
      +1

      I should say at the final inspection. Get them to fix everything before she pays the last progress payment

      • iDroid on 15/02/2023 - 21:50
        +1

        before she pays the last progress payment

        Can confirm - I made a final progress payment before all defects were fixes. Long story short - I fixed the defects.

  • thatonethere on 15/02/2023 - 15:28

    If the builder allows it couls get the bulding inspector onsite now.

    However observing colleagues who have these issues the builders like to limit or out right deny access to third parties during build and sometimes even handover inspection.

    Realistically they are unlikely to rip up the slab and start again.

    • MuddyClear on 15/02/2023 - 15:33

      She has informed construction services that they are using external building supervisor to inspect the final inspection and they have OKed it

      Damages could be inspected now as the cracks run to the external front of firewall

      • hikki on 15/02/2023 - 18:33

        hire your own building inspector, dont rely on the builder's nominated inspector.

  • try2bhelpful on 15/02/2023 - 16:50
    +5

    I would get onto this ASAP. The sooner you raise it the less likely you are to be fobbed off.

  • Euphemistic on 15/02/2023 - 17:04
    +1

    I’d you’ve engaged an inspector already, contact them immediately if the builder isn’t resolving the issue to your satisfaction. Do it in email form so there’s a trail. The inspector might like to do a site visit, or may suffice with photos.

  • Donaldhump on 15/02/2023 - 17:11

    vertical or horizontal? i think <=2mm is minor / tolerable as far as defects go, not saying wont get worse tho

  • Drakesy on 15/02/2023 - 17:11
    +4

    In WA you're not allowed to/meant to pour the concrete floor for the garage until pretty much the whole house is complete due to this exact issue.
    Could get costly if the slab is actually damaged.

    Pallets of bricks though shouldn't really make an impression if evenly distributed and the builder didn't skimp on the slab depth. The design axle loads for a car would have a greater pressure footprint than say a pallet of bricks.

    Concrete slabs are also prone to minor cracks as the ground underneath settles during curing so there is some wiggle room. If the cracks are significant, say >3mm in width then you may have a case. It's generally the rebar that gives the concrete strength, not the concrete itself which is actually designed with some cracking in mind.

    Would need pics to verify though.

    • Ghost47 on 15/02/2023 - 20:33

      due to this exact issue.

      To be clear is it because if you build the house on the slab it could crack? So a separate slab needs to be poured for the garage after the house is built?

      Pallets of bricks though shouldn't really make an impression if evenly distributed and the builder didn't skimp on the slab depth.

      I wouldn't really trust builders to do this kind of thing right sadly.

      • Drakesy on 16/02/2023 - 12:35
        +1

        To be clear is it because if you build the house on the slab it could crack? So a separate slab needs to be poured for the garage after the house is built?

        The latter is correct. The house would get a separate slab to the garage floor which is the last thing to be installed/poured.

        I wouldn't really trust builders to do this kind of thing right sadly.

        It's how they come off the truck though, the pallets are wood and designed to evenly distribute the weight of the bricks across a large area, if the slab is of a significant thickness (99.9% of the time) This shouldnt be an issue and pallets would happily sit all day on a slab. (considering a slab is designed to take the load of the house itself).

  • Bafranz on 15/02/2023 - 17:12
    +6

    pics, for concrete evidence

    • Switchblade88 on 15/02/2023 - 17:32
      +3

      Your joke cracked me up.

    • MuddyClear on 15/02/2023 - 17:45

      Now included. Thanks

      • Drakesy on 16/02/2023 - 12:38

        Looking at it, it looks like a superficial crack not through the structure itself, maybe see if it falls away when you hit it lightly with a mallet.
        Looks more like they've done a patch job and it just hasn't taken.

        Personally i've seen worse and it's passed before. It's not a structural thing, moreso aesthetic.

  • Switchblade88 on 15/02/2023 - 17:31

    Guide to Standards & Tolerances

    Use this as a reference to measure against. If the cracking exceeds the listed tolerances you have an easy claim to make. If it's less than the listed values you might be able to make a claim via an inspector but they'll be using the same guides (regardless of your state) so it gets a bit trickier to make a financial claim.

    • MuddyClear on 15/02/2023 - 17:44

      I will update post to include an image of the defect:

      https://ibb.co/2FttmMH

      The build is in South Australia, so not sure if the link you have provided is still applicable for SA.

      She obviously doesn’t want to use an inspector unless it’s necessary, but she will. Ideally some information where she can refer to tolerance and refute the builder with. In any case it’s not a good look for a new build

      • Switchblade88 on 15/02/2023 - 18:03
        +1

        https://www.builderassist.com.au/resources/guide-to-standard…

        Each state sticks their own logo on the front, but the actual tolerances are all the same.

        That photo seems to indicate cracking in the surface render, so it'll take less than an hour for the builder to do a quick and dirty patch job. If there's no other cracking that'll be the end of the story as you won't be able to prove if it's structural movement, but unlikely given the photo - the builder didn't leave a joint/gap in the corner so any slight movement will be amplified in the render like it has.

        • MuddyClear on 15/02/2023 - 18:16
          -1

          That photo seems to indicate cracking in the surface render, so it'll take less than an hour for the builder to do a quick and dirty patch job.

          To clarify, the builder refers to it as a concrete upstand or concrete firewall. There is no surface render. It’s solid concrete with metal bars embedded in it. No separate surface render was applied over the concrete upstand

          • Switchblade88 on 15/02/2023 - 18:19
            +2

            @MuddyClear: The fact that the cement is lumpy (not formwork smoothed) and smeared onto the adjacent wall would indicate otherwise.

  • Ghost47 on 15/02/2023 - 20:38
    +2

    I would definitely raise the issue now and say you're gonna withhold payment until this is fixed, even if there is some sort of tolerance allowance for this kind of thing.

    People spend hundreds of thousands of their hard-earned money on a house, if you're getting one built new there should be no defects whatsoever. You wouldn't drive a new car off the lot with a scratch so don't accept this.

    Either that, or ask for a discount slightly larger than the amount of money required to fix the issue, but who knows, what if the issue comes back to bite them in 20 years' time if you go down that route? I'm sure that build issues with Opal and Mascot towers were ignored until after everyone moved in too…

    • MuddyClear on 16/02/2023 - 00:36

      People spend hundreds of thousands of their hard-earned money on a house, if you're getting one built new there should be no defects whatsoever.

      Agree. I highly doubt she will pay the final payment until all major issues are resolved. They can withhold the house and play the prolong the build game, and if you need to build move in quick so could get trapped

      or ask for a discount slightly larger than the amount of money required to fix the issue

      No chance. They will rather fix it cheap than cash settle.

  • MuddyClear on 15/02/2023 - 21:05

    Here is what I found from this resource (select SA) - thanks to Switchblade88

    https://www.builderassist.com.au/resources/guide-to-standard…

    Page 25:
    Category 2 cracks to walls are to be monitored for a period of 12 months. At the end of the monitoring period, a crack rated at Category 2 or above is defective and requires rectification. Category 2 damage is defective and requires minor repair work such as repointing.

    Category 0/1 are <1mm wide (no repairs needed)
    Category 2 cracks are < 5mm wide

  • iDroid on 15/02/2023 - 21:53
    +2

    I hope the rest of the brick work is better than what's shown in that photo - they're all over the place.

    • MuddyClear on 16/02/2023 - 00:39
      +2

      There’s probably issues with the brick work too…

  • MuddyClear on 16/02/2023 - 12:49

    Given the above, what is the likely type of repair on the cracks? Render again with a flexible product?

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join