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Watch out for the hidden cost; building contracts not worth the paper they are written on
By arlene | June 17, 2009
Gina of Parklands learned this to her cost. She was not able to be at home while minor renovations were taking place, and says that the job was botched. No worries, she thought. It stated on her invoice that the builder is a member of a professional body which is supposed to cover homeowners in the event of things going wrong. Gina called the association. ‘Sorry,’ they told her, ‘we cannot help you because you did not build from the ground up. We do not cover renovations, only a new build.’ Thanks very much.
Warranties commonly carry conditions and that is understandable. Take your new Merc to a mechanic who puts in generic spark plugs and you violate the terms of that cover. Fair enough. Makes sense. Gina’s case does not appear to make sense. We urge homeowners to check the fine print of assurances very carefully.
Gina is not the only one to tell us about bad building experiences. Unfortunately, there are many unhappy homeowners out there, and many of their complaints relate to finishing. For some reason, Cape Town builders have a reputation as poor finishers. They are fine with the demolition and wet work but when it comes to finishing, they go off the boil. Why? Just because. It doesn’t seem to matter if you are paying a contractor per day, so that it is in his or her interest to carry on working. They just don’t want to finish. Peter from Constantia said that he eventually took leave and did all the finishing himself – skirting boards and all.
Some hidden costs that don’t remain hidden for very long (and expenses that need to be factored into the budget):
- Plumbing, electrical conduits, planning for lights and plugs, TV, computer, phones
- Security/intercom, security gates
- Removing and reinstalling security system
- Telkom lines and computer system
- Removing and reinstalling your entertainment systems, including TV,
DVD player, etc, and more if you want cabling to different rooms - Burglar bars for new windows
- Cleaning materials to clean the windows and mess
- Increased water consumption – when cement gets mixed, taps drip and pipes get hit ‘by mistake’
- Endless amounts of rewiring that the electrician will call for – including a new earth spike
- Extra cement, plaster and Cretestone when an extra or different conduit has to be chased into a wall – there is always at least one occasion when this will occur
- Globes for the new lights
- Re-paving of areas damaged during building; re-grassing the garden
- Replacement of glass that gets broken
- New hinges for doors that might get damaged (not cheap – a good set of brass hinges can set you back R150)
- Tea, coffee and refreshments (Gatsbys) for builders
- Take-away meals when you are too tired to cook (all the time)
- Bottles of gin/whisky to calm nerves
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Topics: Contract, Job | 5 Comments »
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