Settlement due on new build .Faults found.

Our final professional property inspection on an IP has revealed some areas of concern. We are due to settle in a couple of days and have not yet received a response from the builder regarding the issues raised. The property is a brand new " up market " town house . While the structure seems to be generally well put together the report states that ventilation for ceiling fans to the exterior is inadequate and does not comply with Victorian building regulations. There is also no foam expansion joint between concrete footpaths and the adjoining brick walls. Similarly copper pipes are embedded in concrete without any surrounding foam and there is a risk of water ingress at the front and back doors as the concretor has covered the drainage holes in the aluminium sills .Insulation in the roof also has significant voids and gaps and concrete steps down to the property also require securing as they move when walked on. The builder has only had the report for two days and has not yet responded. While I have no reason at this stage to believe he won't rectify the issues my concern is that he may not have time to do this before settlement on Tuesday.
Any advice on the approach we can (legally) take to protect our interests would be appreciated.
Steve

 

Refuse to settle until faults are fixed and this is confirmed by a subsequent inspection.

 

Thanks for your input. Our lawyers are in contact with the builders and have advised them we are not prepared to settle at this stage.
Steve

 

You may not be able to delay settlement without being severely penalised. Refer to the contract.

You should be entitled to a 90 day defects warranty under the building contract (you inherit the warranty as the successor owner), which means the builder must remedy the defects as soon as practicable following settlement.

 

The vendor did threaten us with a daily penalty of about $130 if we failed to settle.
He ultimately attended to the issues raised and our delayed settlement was completed today.

 

Yay for you.
It shouldn't be THAT HARD to address issues, and come to a resolution without the threat of penalties or holding off settlement
I have just helped a friend with similar issues, when paying a lot of money for a build it is disappointing to find poor workmanship, then to also have poor communication
Glad you have found some common ground and resolved things

 

The initial response from the vendor's lawyer to our legal people was bizarre. We were told we could walk away from the contract as "property values in this location have escalated substantially and we can sell it for much more than when you signed up 9 months ago . " We have subsequently encountered another buyer who got the same response.

 

Not unusual to find other buyers in the same predicament
We bought a unit OTP 4 suburbs away from our PPOR last year, later found out our neighbors daughter (still at home) bought one of the other units in the same complex, it has been handy to know as we both had the same problems with the builder
But at least we know it isn't just us getting the run around