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In principle I have nothing against owner builders but the fact is that many owner builds are badly built, dreadfully finished and some are downright dangerous. Why? It is because many owner builders think that it’s easy to replace professional builder and save money. Unless they have building skills they will rely on tradies and even when not let down serious issues can and do slip past.

As professional property pre purchase inspector it is my duty to advise the purchaser (by whom I am commissioned and to whom I owe a duty of care) of any significant defects.

The following example will show how a property investor got into trouble even when he did take all the right steps and commissioned a pre purchase property inspection report.

The property is a single storey older home with an new brick garage built to front and an extension built to rear. Shortly after purchasing, the new owner begun experiencing garage roof leaks from the tiled deck. He had trouble contacting owner builder to have the defects rectified (he does not want to know and is not answering messages) Then he commissioned me for the report.

The inspection revealed, yes he did have the leaks in the garage from the concrete slab above but also there were many other sub standard items that have slipped by including items that do not comply with BCA.

Cursory examination of documents revealed that they were in order. Yes there was building permit, the certificate of completion and the section 137B owner builders report.  There were electrical, plumbing and termite treatment certificates and the owner did get a pre purchase inspection report. All good, so what went wrong? This is what I found:

1. Concrete steps did not comply with BCA
2. Tiled slab over garage had no grading and outlet
3. Downpipe spacing was 20M (max allowable 12M)
4. Ventilation to sub floor blocked off
5. New wall opening inside house(not part of permit) sagging head ( probably undersized lintel or no lintel)
6. Stormwater drainage installation sub standard
7. New tiles inside house create tripping risk
8. No flashings over window heads
9. Defective paving levels and grades to rear of dwelling
10. Lack of workmanship, skill and care

In my opinion building surveyor was negligent in relation to final inspection. Owner builder’s report was negligent done by person unqualified and signed off by an engineer.

Pre purchase inspection report did not pick up the above items but because of the standard limitations and exclusions in the AS 4349.1 it may be compliant(I am still checking). I know that this property inspector does not have qualifications in building surveying so he would not have been able to determine items on non compliance.

Had I inspected the property before the purchase the purchaser would have been advised much better and would have avoided the problems he is now facing( additional expense in  chasing the owner, the building surveyor and the owner’s report engineer in VCAT)

As this example shows there is a big difference between just any pre purchase inspection and Building Expert report and it could make all the difference to you.

For other examples of properties inspected where serious issues were found:

http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog/building-inspection-pre-settlement-inspection-are-you-getting-all-that-you-have-paid-for/

http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog/pre-settlement-building-inspection/

And why does it go wrong?:

http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/new-renovating.htm

If you walk into Apple shop it always will be full of people. Despite that there is never a shortage of blue T shirts.

It is most unlikely you will be in the shop for more than 60 seconds and not make eye contact with customer service. If you talk to them they are: clean, presentable, bright, knowledgeable and helpful.

Nothing is too much. If they can’t help you with a particular problem there is always Genius Bar, staffed with specialists.

It comes down to:

1. Careful selection for aptitude
2. Staff training
3. Motivating
4. Monitoring
5. Mentoring

What does the customer want?

Customer wants:

1. Product quality
2. Value
3. Now or ASAP
4. Service
5. Respect
6. After sale service

You could do a lot worse than use Apple for benchmark. Is your business up to it?

Last week I was involved in VCAT mediation for one of my clients (one of many) whose home is ruined by slab heave. Builder(one of the top tier builders) who did nothing for months but blame the owners (unfairly in my view) for not maintaining the property has now offered to yet again engage another (supposedly independent) engineer for assessment as to what should be done. Unfortunately my client fell for that and we are now again on merry go round waiting for “Jack Daniels ” (do nothing) solution that can only be crafted by engineer who does not want to bite the hand that feeds it.

Notwithstanding all that what transpired was that even if you have rights under warranty they are virtually worthless unless you have some very good evidence to back up your claims. The problem with my client is that I became involved well after problems started appearing and there were no systematic inspections, photos or other evidence that can clearly prove that the builder did the wrong thing. So what is the state of play?

My client has right of claim under structural warranty! The structural defect has been established and conceded by the (first) structural engineer. You would think that is enough. NO! Not only does the engineer not attribute the fault to the builder but also has no idea how to fix the home, instead he offers cosmetic fix, and Jack Daniels.

So what do we have? We have a young couple whose home is ruined with big mortgage and no spare money up against incredibly wealthy builder with the biggest legal guns he can buy.

Stay tuned, this story is developing.

Roof leaks can be difficult to detect, sometimes they only occur when wind blows from a certain direction. Sometimes the leak is small, so small as to be undetectable with visual inspection. However, dampens from roof leak will be absorbed into building elements and can encourage growth of mould. Mould is unhealthy and can cause respiratory problems. In sufficient quantity there is unmistakeable smell of mould in the room.

Just last week I inspected a property where there was strong smell in one bedroom. The most likely source was inadequate sub floor ventilation and poor drainage against external wall that has been built up too high against brickwork.

Then I did what I always do, performed thermal imaging scan on the ceilings and walls and “Bingo”. There were unmistakeable images of dark areas consistent with coldness from dampness. TI is so reliable that checking is almost never required to confirm existence of dampness but is required for report content. I checked ceiling in suspect areas and yes moisture meter went off  (moisture content over 18% triggers audible beeping) Walls were checked and all below head height reading was 10% but just below cornice it was 15-16%.

As is usual, this dwelling did not have one problem causing dampness but three, sub floor ventilation and drainage defects + roof leaks. When I showed owner thermal images he was blown away, he had not suspected roof leaks.

If you have suspected dampness, mould or mould smell in the room TI can under some conditions lead you to the cause of the problem.

It’s customer service that will determine if your customer will come back for more and not stop talking about you. I want to share this little true story with you.

Recently I took a 24inch desktop to Apple store in Chadstone for repair. Although the computer did not fail there were some messages coming up that the hard drive was on its way out. The computer was 5 years old and out of warranty.

As I was struggling carrying the computer from the carpark, about 50M from the Apple store I got a tap on the shoulder. “Can I take this for you” It was apple store employee in his blue T shirt coming back from his lunch break. It was a life saver! What a nice touch of customer service!

He took me to the Genius Bar looked up on the screen for my details and performed a check on the computer. It was indeed confirmed that there was a problem with the hard drive. He explained they could replace the drive but because it was out of warranty it would be just under $300 and will take about 3 days. Happy with that I left the computer there.

Two days later I got a call from the Apple workshop, Er we can’t replace the hard drive with the drive of the same capacity because it is superseded , is it Ok if we give you a bigger capacity drive (500GM instead of 250GB)? It will be the same price. Duh I thought why are you asking me, of course I will have bigger drive for the same price. But then I thought about it.

I was the customer and Apple was going to give me something else I was not expecting and even though it was going to be more valuable to me and infinitely better they were asking my permission. Why?

It was because I was the customer and I had the right to say yes or no. I was about the respect. What a nice touch of customer service!

A day after I got another call. Er sorry but we chipped the screen whilst repairing we have to get another one in,  sorry it will be another two days. OK I said , no big deal, it can happen to anyone.

Two days after I got a call. Sir, your computer is ready for pick up, and by the way, because we are late repairing it for you, there will be no charge.

I was blown away with customer service, I have been in business for over forty years and have never experienced anything like that, so forgive me for not being able to stop taking about it.

Would it not be nice if your builder was like that?

Would it not be nice if there were more apples in the world?

This story begun seven years ago when walking through JB HI-FI near Highpoint shopping centre I spotted IMac for the first time. I could not take my eyes of it, it was the most beautiful desktop computer I have ever seen. After tripping over beige boxes and cables for neatly 20 years. It was like falling in love with a woman on first sight and I had to have it. The next day I bought it and took it home. After a pleasant unpacking experience I put it on my desktop and plugged it in. As it powered up I was thinking , now I will have to configure it with the router for the internet. As I was looking for my WI FI modem/router information I glance up and WHAT?  Yahoo page come up, internet connection, it was ON. Suitably impressed I got on integrating my business , office and network.

Fast forward seven years and I still can’t stop looking at it, I am still in love with it more than ever. Now I have 27 inch IMac and it is the most beautiful computer anyone makes, there is nothing like it.

We now have nine of them in the office and the girls love them. I have not bought anti virus software for macs, ever and they just work.

We have everything apple now! Phones I pads I pods, TV

My two year old granddaughter sits on the floor playing wiggles on I pad singing along and waving hands. She scrolls through her mums I phone and finds photos and plays her video on the swing. It’s like she was born with it, she certainly was born for it.  How cool is that?

Apple has transformed my life for ever, for the better but also it has profoundly impressed me as a company, how it does business (and I am not easily impressed) and  has become my role model as what product and service should be, what marketing and retailing should be and most importantly what integrity in business should be.

Most impressively of all is how it managed to grow into a world’s biggest company but it’s every little bit works just like a clock. It’s every little bit is streets ahead of everyone else.  It’s a phenomenon of our time. There is nothing like it.

Ah! If the whole world was apples.