WA Housing Construction Disputes
During the resources boom period in WA, the housing construction market was impacted by a lack of skilled tradesmen to feed a high demand for new housing construction. Sadly, this resulted in some substandard constructions.
Quality Builders will often respond favourably to identified construction defects and ensure that these issues are appropriately rectified. Some Builders however, can be very slow to respond, if at all.
In Western Australia the WA Building Commission (“Commission”) provides an avenue for consumers to progress their complaints against Builders and Tradespeople in a reduced legalistic forum.
The WA Department of Commerce has an informative web site which provides good information about the required processes, forms and specific procedural requirements. It is an absolute must for consumers contemplating formalizing construction disputes to take the time to review this web site and the important information it contains.
https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/building-commission/building-complaint
In Western Australia Builders are liable for defective construction work for up to 6 years post practical completion.
Most complaints that are lodged with the WA Building Commission will at some stage need to be supported by a professional independent building inspection report. The objective here is to ensure that the complaint can be validated and supported by an independent third party who is a Registered Builder in WA.
The key here is that while the report content needs to be consistent with the requirements of the Australian Standards for Building Inspections, the Commission also requires a very specific format which the report must follow. The utilisation of this required report format is key to the report being accepted by the Commission.
Ultimately, the Commission has some far reaching power and can order the Builder to return to the site and rectify defect work, can order financial restitution to enable another builder to complete the work and can even order that recovery of your costs associated with obtaining independent expert reports.
The process takes time and requires all parties engage in trying to find an equitable resolution to what often can be quite complex situations. In what can be an emotionally draining and stressful process Houspect WA has a range of specific services which can assist consumers through these processes. Service includes:
- Staged Construction Inspections during the actual construction process
- Practical Completion /handover Inspections prior to handover
- Post-Handover Builders Defect Liability Inspections (during or post maintenance periods)
- On Site consultations to discuss building and construction defects
- Investigation inspections on specific construction issues
- WA Building Commission and State Administrative Tribunal investigation reports in support of construction disputes
If you are having issues with the construction of your home, first talk to your builder and try and find common ground. However, when you need expert support contact Houspect WA.
