Building inspection: Dunedin - recommendations?

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Batman

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#116215 22-Apr-2013 10:18

Hi I looked at the yellow pages for pre house purchase building inspection and find so many of them

If anyone has used anyone who had picked up very small and did not miss any important stuff please let me know ...

Ie - who is a good meticulous one?

Ta

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#803545 22-Apr-2013 10:27

I can't help with your query, but I have thoughts...

I got a reputable firm, one recommended by people. They missed or understated:
- The roof, which they said needed a few sheets of tin, but needs complete replacement within 5 years of buying the house, and needed some sheets replaced as a stopgap
- The paint, which they said needs repainting, but in fact needs to be completely stripped or reclad. Paint just won't stick to the weatherboard reliably, it's an old oily wood.
- The piling, which they said had been redone, but wasn't redone to a good standard
- Drainage - basically all the water from the roof was dumped onto the lawns, great for making swamps. Also no drainage of on the driveway, it turned into a pool in winter
- Rotten bearers under two sides of the house. Pretty big job to fix them.
- The deck not meeting spec - it's attached to the house, instead of beside the house as the current spec requires
- The start of borer

My point is don't put all your trust in one person. A working builder may not give a pretty report, but may point out more issues. Also have any friends who've bought houses have a look through, under, and over.

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#803549 22-Apr-2013 10:29

that's exactly my problem!

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#803550 22-Apr-2013 10:29

so find companies that also working builder is what you say?

timmmay

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#803561 22-Apr-2013 10:33

I think get an inspection firm as they'll look at plumbing and electrics that a builder won't, but also find a working builder to go through. They probably won't give you a written report, but will point out any areas of concern.

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#803564 22-Apr-2013 10:35

ok points taken

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#803650 22-Apr-2013 12:42

peak hour bump

froob

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#803912 22-Apr-2013 20:45

Unfortunately no building inspection is bulletproof, and the reports are usually full of caveats. I suggest you engage a registered building surveyor, rather than a builder. I recently used Flanders Marlow for a property maintenance inspection in Dunedin, and they seemed to be quite good.

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#803913 22-Apr-2013 20:49

We had a really good guy when we purchased in Fairfield a few years ago, I'll see if I can dig up his contact details.

edit: front and centre in yellow pages results! http://yellow.co.nz/y/reece-building-consultants-north?c=10659

Recommended to us by a close family friend who's a registered valuer.

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#803933 22-Apr-2013 21:08

thanks - those 2 stood out.

good point with the caveat of nothing is bulletproof :D

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#806797 28-Apr-2013 18:00

I advise getting a registered building surveyor: www.buildingsurveyor.co.nz

Click on members near you and see who does pre-purchase inspections. There are 3 in Dunedin, 1 has been mentioned already.

For transparency - I am also a registered building surveyor (Wellington) and somewhat biased against unqualified inspectors.

An important point - our members must have appropriate insurance for any services they provide so any monetary loss you face as a result of their negligence can be claimed against the insurer.

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#806820 28-Apr-2013 18:41

gazbo: so if timmmay had used a registered building surveyor (he didn't say if they where) with all his problems he could of claimed back a lot of the problems (which where not found/understated) from the surveyor?

gazbo

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#806855 28-Apr-2013 19:39

Essentially yes, you can make a claim in tort (negligence) against any professional whose negligent act (or omission) causes you an economic loss up to 10 years from the date of the act or omission.

If a pre-purchase surveyor misses items which should have been found by a reasonable surveyor and the sale goes through, then the purchaser can claim the cost to remedy the missed item(s) from the surveyor due to the lost opportunity to negotiate the contract price appropriately.

If the surveyor goes bankrupt their insurer (depending on the policy) is still liable to pay out on the claim. Insurance clauses can be included in the terms of engagement so limits may be known right off the bat.

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#806896 28-Apr-2013 21:10

gazbo: Essentially yes, you can make a claim in tort (negligence) against any professional whose negligent act (or omission) causes you an economic loss up to 10 years from the date of the act or omission.

If a pre-purchase surveyor misses items which should have been found by a reasonable surveyor and the sale goes through, then the purchaser can claim the cost to remedy the missed item(s) from the surveyor due to the lost opportunity to negotiate the contract price appropriately.

If the surveyor goes bankrupt their insurer (depending on the policy) is still liable to pay out on the claim. Insurance clauses can be included in the terms of engagement so limits may be known right off the bat.

Some may have clauses that prohibit making a claim against them. Also any problem that is covered by something else, even rot that has been painted over, a inspector may not pick up or be liable for, as they could claim that another party has tried to intentionally cover up a problem. Often an inspector will only give some guarantee if they carry out a destructive inspection where they can take off wall linens and use moisture Meters.

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#806930 28-Apr-2013 21:40

Prohibition clauses are yet to be tested in court. I am not sure if you can contract out of negligence entirely.

You are quite correct about items that have been covered over or are hidden. It would be unfair on the surveyor to claim they were negligent if the defect wasn't actually detectable by visual inspection only, especially if the vendor actually covered up the defect specifically to hide it. In that case the fair claim would be against the vendor for not disclosing salient information.

The test for negligence is to compare the work to what a reasonable professional (not the best) should have or would have done.

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#807019 29-Apr-2013 07:01

while waiting for lim what does subject to right of batter subject to transfer 123456 mean?

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