Home Buyers Beware

Building disasters

The building industry is heading full steam ahead towards yet another costly failure, worse than the leaky home scandal.

This new problem to hit unsuspecting homeowners comes about because of the lack of supervision on new house builds.

In the past there were clerk of works and architects, who had the responsibility to oversee building projects,

To save money the builders took on the clerk of works role, this worked fine when the builder was on site and was able to supervise the sub trades.

In recent years with the popularity of group house builders the builder is no more than a sales man who employs labour only workers who in turn employ apprentices and unskilled workers. In theory there is a supervisor whose job it is to oversee the construction but unless he can be there full time it is just a token gesture, the reality is that if the owner is happy with the work done then no one is going to tell him any different.

The result can be shoddy workmanship that doesn’t get picked up until further down the track when everyone has rushed off onto the next job.

We have gone from a robust building system where tradesmen could take pride in what they had built to one that is essentially supervised by those who are the least qualified to do so, the home owners themselves. It would be bad enough if this were restricted only to group house companies but this system of building has now become normal for the most expensive homes.

It really is a case of Caveat Emptor (Let the buyer beware)   

Go Nuts