When Your House Build Or Alterations Go Wrong

Christchurch has gone through a building boom since the 2010/2011 earthquakes and that has led to a shortage in labour supply, time pressures to complete repairs and rebuilds, and multiple levels of parties involved in scoping and approving repairs resulting in a number of issues arising over the quality of house builds and alterations.

We have acted for a number of house owners who have had problems with their house build or their alterations have gone wrong.

If you are building a new house or undertaking alterations, you need to ensure that the work is undertaken by a reputable builder who is able to carry out your job in a professional manner and to a high quality.

In our experience, the following issues have resulted in disputes:

1. Inadequate design - we have acted for clients where design defects have resulted in major structural problems.

2. Inadequate scope of works - this can result in an inadequate repair or increased costs for items that were not included in the original scope.

3. Delays - we have seen a number of examples of residential house builds taking well in excess of the estimated time to complete.  In some cases, this is because the builder has taken on too much work.

4. Faulty and substandard workmanship:

   1. shortage of labour;

   2. lack of supervision;

   3. lack of qualified and skilled staff.

1. Overruns on costs/variations - we have seen a number of situations where homeowners are charged for variations to the works that they thought were included in the original price.

2. Insolvency of the builder - if you have paid money up front often you will be an unsecured creditor in a builder’s insolvency.  You need to make sure that your progress payments are realistic and are paid in return for work completed and that you do not provide the builder with any excessive credit in respect of work that may not subsequently be completed as a result of the builder’s insolvency.

We cannot stress enough the importance of having an ongoing supervision process in place during the various stages of your building contract.

If there is trouble brewing it is important to be proactive and immediately consider independent advice and assessment of the work to date.

In this instance you should also consider a stop-work option.  Often defects are covered up before they can be identified and resolved.  However, this should be considered in the context of the contract you have with the builder.

If you are having issues with your house build or your alterations it is vital you take steps without any further delays.