Building a new house practical completion items outstanding

Hi folks

Our builder has given notice that next week we should reach practical completion but there are many items still outstanding.

Appreciate that not everything needs to be complete as yet but these are the main items

1. Erosion under the slab in a section which we have requested the builders engineer rectify
2. Cracked tile and missing portion of tile and substandard grout bubbling snd uneven
3. Dent in roof
4. Downpipe at the front in wrong position leading to an ugly pipe at the front
5..kitchen island poor joint on edge
6. Paint only 2 coats should be 3

Are these enough to not warrant practical completion?

 

Engineers don't get their hands dirty, a few shovels of dirt & you won't know it ever happened

It's a defect

You've been up on the roof? Will it leak or can it wait until the other defects are actioned

Defect

Defect

Pretty hard to prove unless you watched (is it tinted undercoat/primer + 1 or is it 2 coats).

None of these is sufficient to prevent practical completion.

When are they going to have the occupancy certificate issued?

 

Have you looked up the definition of practical completion in your State? I know in mine it means the point where all building work is complete or all but completed, in accordance with the contract, and the house is reasonably fit for occupation. A building contract usually defines practical completion being when all works are completed, except for any defects or omissions which do not prevent the home from being used for its intended purpose.

Those items sound like defects but don't prevent the house from being used for it's intended purpose, ie being lived in.

Yes of course you'd want those things fixed and I would definitely be considering holding the handover payment to try and incentivise the rectification of those works but your contract will outline how the rectification of PC items is handled.

 

Most (decent) builders provide a defect report at practical completion and then they have a set period of time noted in the contract where they agree to fix defects like these, such as within 12 months but most try to fix them as soon as possible ie. after practical completion but before handing over the keys
So check your contract or ask the builder.

But I agree with Scott, I don't think any of these would warrant holding up practical completion.

 

Thanks for the replies
To clarify
The soil around part of the slab is indeed eroding and also crumbling part of the slab exposing a screw pier to.one side.
We have over 35plus screw piers anyway so the slab is not going anywhere

Until this is fixed it would be uninsurable imo hence needs.to be rectified before pc

 

Pic?

 

I agree about the defects.

However, if the number of paint coats is less than specified, it makes it a bit harder/slower to remedy if the OP actually does move in.

Though not sure how the OP knows there are only two coats?

 

Paint is a finish not a wearing surface, if there's a coloured base coat & a top coat, it's generally sufficient for most applications. You need to check the spec if it doesn't allow substitution of methods, quality of paint & coats/coverage.

 

If three coats were specified (and paid for!) then three coats is what is required.

I would expect that to be a primer/sealer/undercoat (tinted or not) followed by two top coats.

I haven’t got a Dulux wash and wear paint tin handy, but I seem to recall that two coats of the paint are recommended - on top of a primer/sealer etc if it’s bare wood or plasterboard.

 

Depending on the colour some of the whites are tough to get looking good even with 2+coats. Vivid white is an example of this. Has very little tint in the paint so looks very light on even after two coats.

Unless you supervised the painting how can you prove 2 vs 3? It's a really **** argument to have that your going to come at from a disadvantaged position.

 

Yup Vivid White can often need 3-4 coats and painters hate it.