Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) has issued advice to Victorians suffering through home-building delays and price hikes for their projects across the State, impacted as they are by changing market factors.
In a statement, CAV said the building industry was being affected by labour shortages, supply chain constraints and the availability and cost of materials.
“In some cases, builders may seek to reach an agreement with clients to amend residential building contracts to reflect the increased costs they have incurred,” CAV said.
“If this happens with your project, it’s important to understand your rights and what you can do to help ensure your building project keeps moving forward,” it said.
“Assuming your builder is continuing to operate and working on your project, you can negotiate in good faith to reach a reasonable agreement about delays and cost increases.”
CAV said builders couldn’t make any changes to contracts without the home-owner’s sign-off, “but remember that the circumstances delaying your project and increasing the cost are likely to be beyond the builder’s control, so you should take this into consideration when discussing how the project will proceed”.
It said people who were in doubt about any aspect of their building contract should seek independent legal advice.
“If negotiations break down, you can access help from Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria, a free service that helps resolve domestic building disputes between homeowners and builders,” CAV said.
“In some cases, builders may be unable to continue to operate,” it said.
“If you cannot contact your builder, or have concerns that they are in financial trouble or have ceased operating, there are further steps you should take to find out more about what state they’re in, and what you can do next.”
CAV said that if the builder had become insolvent, had not provided the services and products they agreed to provide, was being liquidated or was in receivership, the consumer would become a creditor and could seek to recoup what they were owed.
It said consumers were also likely to be covered by domestic building insurance (builders warranty insurance), which is taken out by a builder for their clients on work valued at over $16,000.
“It covers you for the cost of the project if the builder dies, becomes insolvent or disappears,” Consumer Affairs Victoria said.
The Agency’s full advice can be accessed at this PS News link.
