Hi all
Don’t know if anyone can help on this i am just not sure if i have any recourse or not.
I have a property its a villa (about 7 years old) the other night apparantly a loud bang was heard like a big pop.
The person was very shaken etc and woke her up
On investigation there is now a crack that has appeared, it is located about half way down the hallway.
It runs across the ceiling one side to the other (left to right ) and down the wall to the top of the door frame.
The house is brick veneer.
The people that built the house are a large building organisation that is known australia wide.
This house had some guarantees with it after it was built like
3 months
12months
and a 25 year structural guarantee.Is this sort of thing covered with these sort of 25 year guarantees.
orDoes insurance cover anything like this.
Anyone that may have experienced similar or can offer any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Cheers
SGLife should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways Beer in one hand – Pizza in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming WOO HOO!”
sounds like a structural problem. Have a reread of the contracts regarding the guarantees and contact the company.
Terryw
Discover Home Loans
Parramatta
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If its a villa in a group of 7 then it sound like its a strata titled property.
If this is the case there should be a body corporate that is responsible for the building and has insurance in place to cover it.Check with the body corp first, or else as Terry has suggested, you need to contact the builder.
Sounds prety serious though.
kp
Did you buy it 7 years ago directly from the builder? Sounds like you did.
You will really need to look at the terms of the contract and form a view on whether home building insurance or legislation is of assistance to you.
In the first instance, I would seek recourse directly from the builder, but from previous experience I don’t like your chances. If you do not get a satisfactory solution from the builder you might need to seek some legal advice.
What can you do in the interim to protect yourself if you need to take it further?
From a risk mitigation perspective, I would strongly advocate taking some photographs immediately to give you a contemporaneous record of what has happened. It might also be worth having a structural engineer take a look at it to ascertain whether the crack is merely cosmetic or a more serious structural issue. Sounds like it is a tenanted property? If so, the person that heard the crack might be worth getting a written signed statement from them saying what they saw, heard, when etc.
I hope you can sort it out as it sounds a nasty problem.
Keep on the builder. Their tactic will more than likely be to seek to deny liability and frustrate you into giving up. Most people do. Keep at their heels and don’t let go.Hi,
I’m a bit confused as well… Is the property rented out at the moment? Your not clear, because the tenant should have first contacted the landlord first not you (unless it is privately rented).
Anyway, it sounds structural to me and i’m a structural engineer and have done a few reports that sound very similar to this. Especially in regional Victoria where I live because the soil is mostly clays which makes for highly reactive sites.
Anyway, what normally happens is you contact your insurance company and they will contract two independent engineering companies to undertake a comprehesiveness report and site investigation as too what has caused the cracks in the walls. This generally will require an onsite meeting with the builder, the original design engineers, the building practitioner who certified the house during construction and obviously the engineer engaged by the insurance company to undertake the report. The engineer will then write a report, (making use of any old documents and calculations previously used for construction of the dwelling), highlighting their findings, the causes of the cracks in the wall, who is generally at fault (builder, engineer or geotechnical engineer) and what steps (if any) should be taken to fix the problem.
This process can take a couple of months for the insurance company to engage the engineers and get their findings back. The most important thing to do is make sure you document everything you see and what happened and TAKE PLENTY OF PHOTOS ! ! ! (Inc. dates of when everything happened)
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Paul[suave2]Hi all
Thanks for your responses and i will try and clarify what may not have been clear.
The Villa is Torrens titled and stand alone not strata
I am the second owner i bought from previous owner but all the paperwork re: footings / design / 25 year strucural gurantee i have.
I bought the property 3 years ago.
The property is not rented out family members live in it.
Yes it is a clay soil and is reactive however the footings were done with this in mind and is documented to accomodate this character of the soil for this area.
I have contacted the builder and they have organised for someone to take a look at it.
The crack is only at that point in the house from a corner to the other side of the hallway.
Should i also contact my insurance company or see what the builder has to say.
Cheers
SGLife should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways Beer in one hand – Pizza in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming WOO HOO!”
Hi
Something that also came to mind there is definitely a gap that wasn’t there before at the side of the house from where the pavers joined at the bottom of the side wall.
Cheers
SGLife should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways Beer in one hand – Pizza in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming WOO HOO!”
Originally posted by stargazer:Should i also contact my insurance company or see what the builder has to say.
As per the previous response by the person that is a Structural Engineer – Contact Your Insurer.
I would add
– that your insurer will work to make sure that is is the builders fault !
– the builder will work to prove it was not him.Best to let your insurer do the work.
Regards
JohnInspired Finance
(02) 9944 7776Thanks John
I understand what you are saying. Is this sort of thing covered under most policies.
What terminology would be used.
Cheers
SGLife should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways Beer in one hand – Pizza in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming WOO HOO!”
Hi all
Just thought i would update you. I had a person from the comany come and see me. He took a walk around etc and indicated he would write a report to his boss etc.
He said this was common and not something extraordinary with the dryness at the moment and with the type of reactive soil etc.
He stated the company really didn’t have to do anything but they are fair minded and more than likely would fix the crack as long as i painted it myself.
He indicated to let things settle and get it fixed around Feb-march.
He stated that insurance wouldn’t cover this sort of thing.
He also stated that what he told me would more than likely be repeated by a structural engineer for a cost of around $300-$500.
I stated i was considering going to the insurance company when he replied with what i indicated.
I mentioned the crack was an eye sore and people noticed and asked who built this house.
I aslo mentioned that i was going to get a reval done but now had to put it off because of this.
I will wait for his report and recommendation in writing, and see where i go from there.
Cheers
SGLife should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways Beer in one hand – Pizza in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming WOO HOO!”
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