9 things to check before signing your HIA Building Contract
What to know before signing a Home Building Contract
Received a draft copy of your Building contract and want to understand it better before signing? Who doesn’t want to understand what they're committing to at the most important time of their lives, right?
It takes a lot of perseverance to get through the early stages of a home building project. You’ve already had to fight the hard battle when it comes to budget and designing a home that you and your family is going to love forever.
You’ve done amazing job so far but when the Building Contract hits your lap - It’s gone a little bit far in terms of how much you can DIY yourself.
What should I look for before signing a Home Building Contract?
My name is Annelyse - I’m a specialist in Building Contracts and giving confidence to my clients on exactly what is in their contract before they sign.
I’ve put together this nine point checklist of what to check in your contract before you sign.
These nine items are very high-level and is a small part of what we go into the details of when I do personalised reviews of clients home building contracts. This service is called a Building Contract Health Check where I do a one on one consult with you after reviewing the details of your Building Contract. I share education on what you need to know about your building contract, what you need to look out for and how to keep cost down during your build.
If you are someone like me who wants to understand the contract better before they sign, it’s a really smart move to have your building contract reviewed to make sure you’re taking control of your build right from day one and driving it towards a success.
9 important things to look for before signing a Home Building Contract
Here’s the list of nine things to check are covered in your HIA building contract before you sign:
Quantifiable Start Date
Make sure the anticipated start date is a quantifiable date (i.e 20 Jan 2025, rather than a period relating to an event or calculation like ‘30 days’). It’s important to have clarity on when works will start and how to calculate that date.
Reasonable Liquidated Damages
Ensure the daily rate for liquidated damages represents a genuine pre-estimate of costs if completion of the build is late. If your not sure how to calculate this, it’s one of the key discussion points in our Building Contract Reviews.
Understand the Special Conditions
Make sure you understand how any builder proposed special conditions impact the general conditions. Generally stay away from special conditions that touch on price increases, delays or EOT entitlements as these are already covered in detail in the General Conditions and amendment requires careful consideration of the wider contract implications.
Order of Precedence
Ensure the order of precedence between the contract and design documents is clear. In most cases, the Special Conditions sit ahead of the General Conditions followed by specifications and plans.
Procedure if the builder discovers ambiguity in design drawings
Make sure there is a clear procedure to follow if the Builder discovers an ambiguity or discrepancy in the documents and you have the opportunity to give instruction on how to proceed.
Authority Approvals
Ensure the responsible party for obtaining Authority Approvals (e.g Building Permits, Planning Permits, Occupancy Permits, utility connections) is clearly defined.
Delay Clauses
Review the delay clause and qualifying delay events in detail before executing your HIA building contract. Check a notification process is described in detail and check the reasons for delay are clear.
Investigate ground conditions
To help avoid variations, when applicable ensure foundation testing has been completed before the contract is executed. Clarify with the builder that the findings of the foundation testing has been incorporated into the building contract.
Working Days
Ensure that the Working Days your Builder will be working on-site is expressly clear in the contract. This is important to ensure any extensions of time can be assessed fairly.
I hope this gives you a clearer idea of what’s really important to understand in your Building Contract, and what to be wary of. Signing your HIA Building Contract doesn’t need to be a complicated or scary process - the more clients understand the finer details in their contract, the easier managing it all gets.
Ultimately, I want you to feel confident about the details of your Building contract so you can go ahead and sign with confidence!
Building Contract reviews for New Home Builds & Renovations
If you’re looking for a personalised review of your Building contract at a reasonable price you can find out more information about my Building Contract Health Checks here
I support clients with their HIA and Master Builders Home Building contracts from all states in Australia, including Victoria, ACT, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, WA, and the Northern Territory.
Building contract reviews with me are for people who want to understand their contract better before they sign.
If you’re a person like me who wants to dive into the details, wants education on what makes a good contract, and what to look out for - then you’re a great match for a Building Contract Review with me.
Ultimately, I want you to walk away from our session with confidence to proceed with signing your contract
We go through any of your questions like what to watch out for and how to keep costs within your original building quote.
Thanks for reading and catch you on my next post :)
Annelyse
Construction Management | M. Construction Law
