Hi All, I know someone who is doing development in Perth. I dont know who is the builder he is using, but he is going to order most of the building material other than basic structure like window frames, doors, stone benchtop etc directly from China. He and his builder have gone to China and visited factories there to see quality of material themselves. His development includes 11 units. I was doing numbers about this. Generally, for average construction, these materials will be 25% of the total construction cost. He says he is getting 30% cheaper rate than in Australia. By that logic, 7.5% less construction cost. Sure there will be some problems but if you can save 7.5% of construction cost and if builder is also on board, its worth trying. Has anyone attempted this before ? Thoughts ? Rooky
Yep - been along for the ride on one - never again. Quality, fitment, materials, suitability - all left a lot to be desired.
From what I have heard it may be cheap but you get what you pay for unless you have troops on the ground over there who manage the QA for you.
But do these products meet the Australian standards required? https://sourceable.net/faulty-building-products-flooding-australian-market-minister/#
Who cares? They're cheap, may contain asbestos or be otherwise unfit for the purpose. Product recalls
Lots of risk there! Even if the materials are legit, which is highly questionable when dealing with Chinese suppliers when they don't have a long ongoing relationship with you, so many other possible issues can arise, too many to mention. It's a business on its own. Builders build. Importers import. Take dental supplies for example, that would be a huge industry with major profits to be had. How many dentists source their gear direct from China to increase their profit margins?
I can imaging the conversation. Chinese Supplier says "please return faulty goods, I will inspect and send you new ones" Builder say "but it will cost me a fortune to ship back, 30 days by shipping and I need the goods now!" Chinese Supplier says "sucked in"
Its not so much a case of sucked in but the Chinese literally believe they dont make mistakes. It's basically a dishonor to lose face to a white person. They will even go as far as saying but if we fix this we will be left with no profit lol. You're like yeah....ok....but what about us? They have a totally different set of business ethics to us.
Yeah sucked in was poor choice by me and they don't set out to rip you off, it's just that the quality can vary a lot and the customer they deal most with probably get the best class goods then the customer they may never see again gets the worst of the batch.
Had a friend recently import all their windows, stone, tiles & stairs. Flew over to inspect before they left and all good. The window savings alone for the two houses he was building was huge and well worth it. Might not have been such a big saving if he wasnt comparing the double glaze he bought there versus double glazing here.
Inspecting and watching it shipped is different to just ordering over Alibaba. And double glazing.....geez, you could fly to Germany, order triple glazing in thermal-break alum frames, ship them back with 3 Germans in the container to install them when they get here and fly them back for less than a whole job costs in Australia.
Ethically I could never do it. The average Chinese worker making those products was probably paid $5 for a 12 hour day, no overtime and sick leave. All this for a slightly cheaper (and probably inferior product). No thanks.
Planning to buy some stuff in China that I can install myself after handover, like timber floors, decking, some furniture, light fixtures, drapes, supplies for hydronic heating, etc. The idea is to buy on the local market, not Alibaba. Alibaba is pretty expensive. As already mentioned you have to have someone on the ground that you trust and who knows Chinese and the local market. I have a person like that.
Go over there and see for yourself, they are not doing to bad. Better life than being a farmer. China is actually getting pretty expensive to manufacture in now compared to other countries as the workers are getting higher and higher wages. I take it you only buy Aussie made products if you think like this?
Australian Standards apply to many building materials. Walls, doors, hinges, locks, door closers, electricals, fittings, plumbing even timbers etc Get found using unapproved or falsely compliant to AS and see where the occupancy cert goes. The builder is liable for warranty and would have zero recourse. Could be a bulldoze job if its not built to BCA. Years ago I worked for a major supplier and they had to retro fit a tower in city when the builder used cheap imported door hardware of questionable origin that wasnt fire rated. City of Sydney ordered it stripped. It was detected by the door supplier - Corinthian when they saw a door with an AS mark that didnt look right. They tested the rating at CSIRO Ryde and it ignited. Door and all hardware were dodgy. Thats all it takes. One visible defect. Google Infinity and Olsent cables and they took Masters and Bunnings for a costly ride.
Speaking of fire doors - it still happens! The new children's hospital being built here in Perth has to have all it's door frames replaced More than 900 fire door frames to be replaced at Perth Children's Hospital
It depends on what type of construction materials you are seeking. Actually l got a very good friend whose family business is manufacturing those materials in China and their security door is the no1 brand in Chinese market. However, they only do light staff like shower rooms, doors, locks, floors, curtains, mirrors and handles. If you guys have interests in those supplies, feel free to ask me since currently l'm helping him to find clients here in Aussie. About Alibaba, the truth is that most suppliers on it are small manufactures who got no certifications at all and the quality of their products could be a problem. For example, products of my friends' business may have done SGS tests or other tests for their product quality so that their goods would be able to export to foreign countries(Different country has different standards). But before you ask for further information, you need to tell us what type of materials and the amount of it you need.
Australian standards test apply. Retesting here is now normal. Poor certification on imports is often a customs issue. Cheapshit imports can also involve import penalites.
