REVEALED:

How To Discover The Most Shocking Hidden Secret About Your New Project Home, That Could Cost You Major Stress And Thousands Of Dollars...

G’Day.

The reason for this FREE information is to reveal to you some very

shocking information. Whether you choose to act on it or not is completely up to you, but I know for a fact that you will be taking unnecessary risks if you don’t.

 

This information is going to shock you. It may even make you angry. But

after over 18,000 building inspections since 1989 and starting Australia’s first National Building Inspection Franchise, my clients say “I know a thing or two about HOW TO BUILD A PROJECT HOME, WITHOUT GETTING STUCK WITH A LEMON!!!”

 

If you want to be absolutely sure you don’t get stuck with a lemon, then

please read carefully what I have discovered. It could be the difference

between your dream home … and a major avoidable headache that could cost you time, sleepless nights, major stress and thousands of dollars!!! Thank you...from someone you may soon want to call “friend.”

 

 

David Zammit – BSc.(Arch) B.Arch (Hons) (Sydney University) RAIA,

Franchise Founder

Chartered Architect, Royal Australian Institute of Architects, NSW (Reg. No. 12348)

Building Consultancy Licence No. BC 132

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS. A recent testimonial:

To Whom it may concern,

It gives me great pleasure to be given the opportunity to write this reference.

I was very impressed with the prompt attention and manner in which every aspect

of my request was carried out for the inspection of my house. Your attention to

detail was such that I couldn’t wish for more.

Your knowledge of what to look for amazed me. I count myself fortunate that you

were able to help me when I most needed it.

Thank you again.

Yours faithfully – Thelma B. Wade – Aberglassyn

 

How To Discover The Most Shocking Hidden Secret About Your New Project Home, That Could Cost You Major Stress And Thousands

Of Dollars...

 

In the good old days, your new home would have been:

 

1. Constructed under the close supervision of an owner operated Builder and his team of local subcontractors,

 

2. Constructed from hardwood, cut on site, with simple, time proven acceptable methods of construction,

 

3. Individually designed to suit the aspect, slope and drainage conditions of the block; and …

 

4. Inspected carefully by a local Council inspector.

 

Today however, your new home has most likely been:

 

1. Constructed by a major national Project Builder, using any available and lowest priced tradesperson,

 

2. Constructed of pre-fabricated softwood frames, in the fastest possible time,

 

3. Selected from a catalogue of fixed designs, that rely upon cut and fill and retaining walls to support their generic design on your site, regardless of orientation, slope or drainage conditions, and …

 

4. Inspected by a Private Certifier, paid for, by the Project Builder!! (It is this aspect that is the most shocking hidden secret about your new project home!!).

A Private Certifier is employed and paid by the Project Builder, to inspect the home under construction, in place of the traditional Council inspector. The advantage to the Project Builder, is that this arrangement is very flexible. The disadvantage to the home owner, is that this arrangement has the potential for a huge conflict of interest that could cost you thousands of dollars.

 

Think about it for a minute… the Council inspector is free i.e. no cost to the Project Builder as this is covered in all the application fees paid, for by you the client. A Private Certifier however, has to be organised and paid for by the Project Builder. The Project Builder potentially has the Private Certifier over a barrel. If he writes a bad report, then he won’t get any more work from that Project Builder. If the Project Builder is in a hurry and does not have time to arrange the Private Certifier in time, then he will sometimes, cover up work that has not been inspected and then get the Private Certifier to sign off later.

 

What is the risk, after all, they do all their jobs the same. If the Private Certifier is doing hundreds of jobs a year for the same Project Builder, he is not going to complain too hard, or possibly risk losing his contract to another Certifier. How do we know all this … we are confronted with this

very problem every working day of the year. Let me explain …

 

Our organization, yourbuildinginspection.com, is a group of building inspection franchisees, specialising in unbiased independent pre-purchase building inspections, quality control construction inspections and defects liability inspections. We are not Private Certifiers, i.e. we do not undertake inspections in place of the local Council inspector, but we are engaged by purchasers of homes, those constructing their homes and those that have just had their homes constructed, to go over everything with a fine tooth comb, to independently inspect and advise on defective workmanship.

 

Typically, we find around 4 times as many faults as the owner or the building supervisor, can come up with on their list!!! Our clients are blown away with how thoroughly we inspect their homes. To date, our inspectors have inspected in excess of 18,000 homes in the local area, with about 31% of these found to be project homes.

 

The following statistics are from a recent random sample of 13 project homes consecutively

inspected by our inspectors, ranging from 4 weeks old to 5 years old:

 

• 2 out of 13 (i.e. 15.38%) passed with flying colours (i.e. these had been built to acceptable standards of construction with no major issues).

 

• 3 out of 13 (i.e. 23.08%) failed miserably (i.e. these had been poorly constructed and not built to acceptable standards of construction – major repairs were required, in excess of $10,000 per home. One of these had to be referred to a Structural Engineer due to major constructional faults in the brickwork, roof frame, slab and load bearing timber beams in the garage. The repair bill required would be in excess of $20,000 to this home.

 

• 8 out of 13 (i.e. 61.54%) failed moderately (i.e. generally well built, but with areas poorly constructed, ignoring Australian Standards and the Building Code of Australia. Some repairs and rectifications were required, ranging from $700 to around $7,000.

To satisfy my curiosity, I recently called 11 major Project Builders represented in the local area. I asked these if they used Private Certifiers or not. These are the results:

 

• 10 out of 11 (i.e. 90.1%) used Private Certifiers exclusively all the time.

 

• 1 out of 11 (i.e. 9.09%) used a Private Certifier at all times, except when working in a particular Council area. This Council area represented about 20% of their work.

I.e. Project Builders in the local area, used Private Certifiers in 97.37% of cases, despite this being an additional cost to the Builder. It makes you think … doesn’t it!!

 

And finally – two recent random examples (with some other shocking stories thrown in):

 

Example A: Pre-purchase building inspection on a 3 year old project home in Aberglassyn, that had been privately certified. As with 99% of new home owners, they did not have an unbiased independent inspection, just prior to handover. Our inspection revealed significant problems. One of these was discovered with the shower, causing leaks and damage to the adjoining vanity. There were also significant construction problems observed in the roof space and reported on by yourbuildinginspection.com.

 

Outcome – Builder wrote back and agreed to rebuild shower base and repair water damage. Builder also wrote in letter that ‘we confirm that the roof structure has been constructed in accordance with our Standard building practices and has been approved.’ No additional work will be undertaken in this regard.’

This example is a classic, in that despite the roof structure clearly not constructed to Australian Standards, they replied that ‘their standards’ were superior … like they knew better!!

 

Unfortunately, 71% of new homes we inspect, also have not had the roof structure constructed to Australian Standards i.e. 7 out of 10 fail the Australian Standard test for minimum levels of roof construction!!

 

Recently, I was undertaking another unbiased independent quality control inspection on another house frame in the same suburb being constructed by a well known national Project Builder. The frame inspection by a Private Certifier had just been completed. The house was at the lock up stage (i.e. brickwork and windows installed, timber wall frame complete and the roof completely installed and ready for the plasterboard lining of the interior). I observed a number of defects including the complete and total lack of tie downs to the front main verandah (i.e. tie downs stop the roof blowing off!!).

 

The building supervisor said that ‘these (and others around the house) were not required and... they do all their jobs that way.’ I asked for a copy of the truss manufacturers instructions for this job and he said ‘these never get to site on any of their jobs, but were back at the office.’ In other words, ‘we just build our houses according to what we think is enough and never consult the truss manufacturers manual, prepared by a Structural Engineer, specifically for this house on this site. i.e. ‘we build it to our standard building practices.’

My next inspection on another house in the same suburb, revealed twice as many tie downs in the roof. The difference with this new house, was that it had been correctly constructed by an owner operated local Builder and had been Council inspected.

 

A shocking story about lack of tie downs and how this could send you broke:

 

On the 18th November 2001 a mini-tornado swept through the Nelson Bay area, causing major damage to a number of homes. The worst affected homes, were Privately Certified project homes, where the roof trusses had not been adequately tied down to Australian Standards, but rather to the Project Builders usual Standards.

 

In another recent example, a home, had the roof completely blown off. The owners called the insurance company, but the building claim and consequential contents claim, were both completely denied because the roof construction did not comply with Australian Standards, despite the project home being inspected and signed off by a Private Certifier, during construction.

 

The building and contents were left to remain exposed to the weather while the owners took the Builder to court. The house was eventually totally demolished and completely rebuilt – at the Builders expense. Fortunately this Project Builder was big enough and profitable enough to be able to pay up. But what if he had filed for bankruptcy and opened up under another name. It has happened before!!

 

Example B: Pre-purchase building inspection on a 2 month old house in Bolwarra. One of the many issues with this Privately Certified, Project Home, was that both upstairs showers were leaking, due to being incorrectly constructed by a team of overseas tilers (out here on temporary work visas).

I gave the owner of the house a copy of the relevant section of the Building Code of Australia, showing in writing and with multiple diagrams, exactly how the showers should have been constructed. When these leaking showers and other items were brought to the attention of the supervisor of the Project Builder, he replied (toned down version) ‘That is all nonsense!! The way we have built both these showers is the way we build all our showers.’

 

On further investigation we also found that the waterproofing had been left out altogether!!! This supervisor was soon eating humble pie and replacing the showers the correct way. All of this hassle and inconvenience could have been avoided if the new owner had obtained a final inspection report prior to moving in.

By now you should see the picture clearly i.e. Private Certification (in place of Council inspectors); is a great idea in principle, but unfortunately it is not good enough, to ensure that the Project Builder is doing the job properly. The conflict of interest is too strong and our statistics, huge number of inspections, horror stories from clients and numerous newspaper articles and almost nightly current affairs programmes, prove this point, beyond the shadow of a doubt.

 

So to be absolutely sure, you should get an independent, unbiased building inspection on your home, whether it is under construction, 2 weeks old or 5 years old. It’s not too late to get the Project Builder to come back and fix the problems at his expense, rather than yours. After all, you paid him good money to build your house properly, so why get stuck with a huge repair bill and all the emotional stress.

 

If you would like to discuss this with me and how you can easily avoid getting caught with hidden expensive defects and how to get your builder to take responsibility and foot the repair bill, then don’t hesitate to call me direct on 0408 025 026 or leave a message with my secretary on local call 1300 766 650 & I promise to call you back within 3 hours…

 

The following information will give you more details, on how we can put your mind at ease...

How To Quickly Take The RISK

Out Of Buying Or Building Your

Home & Easily Avoid The

3 BIGGEST MISTAKES!!!

 

BIGGEST MISTAKE No.1:

 

No Building Report At All!!!

There are basically 5 reasons why no building report is obtained at all:

 

1. “Looks OK, why waste my money!!!” 97.7% of homes that we have inspected, 7 years, or older, have concealed defects, not obvious to non-builder types. What this means, is that the repair costs alone, far outweighed our fee to find them in the first place. 85.62% of new homes, from brand new, to 7 years old, had concealed defects, or high risk situations, caused by poor building methods, but also not obvious to the average person. When we ask vendors (home sellers), if they had a building report, when they bought or built their home, the majority of them, with the biggest concealed and expensive problems, regret they had not. Quite frankly, most people don’t really understand how serious some problems can be.

 

2. “Can’t afford it!!!”The cost of regret is so much higher than a small fee (approx. 0.1% of the purchase price) to have your new home thoroughly and professionally inspected. What I mean by that, is how will you afford to pay for expensive repairs and maintenance, that you have not allowed for in your tight budget? In the current market, your report could easily get you a nice reduction in the purchase price of the house. It’s all how you look at things. Yes you can afford it!!!

 

3. “It’s a brand new home!!!” The theory is that the Builder has to provide a 7 year structural warranty on the home. This is true, but getting the Builder to come back and fix all the problems is the frustrating and stressful part. The Building Industry works on “The Golden Rule”: He who has the gold ...rules!!! What this means, is that once you pay the Builder all the money (the gold), then you lose all control. 99% of people building or buying a brand new home, do not get a building report. (For a shocking and revealing report on this topic, then please go to  in the contents bar to download the report OR call my office now 1300 766 650 (local call) and ask for SPECIAL FREE REPORT: PROJECT HOME WARNING :How to discover the most shocking hidden secret about your new project home that could cost you major stress and thousands of dollars!!! Call NOW ...

 

4. “Agent said I didn’t need one” This may mean 1 of 2 things: Either he/she has a copy of another report, from a previous purchaser, that is no longer interested and he/she can sell you a copy. OR...he/she may be hiding something. For the first matter, any report obtained without the permission of the actual inspector, is a breach of copyright and therefore a criminal act!!! One of our reports was sold 5 times, with all the proceeds going to the agents. I found out when person no.5 had some complaints after buying the home. It turned out that she had a liquid papered and photocopied version leaving out all the major defects!!! Always remember that the agent works for the vendor and so advice from the agent may constitute a conflict of interest!!!

 

5. “I don’t trust anyone” The current affairs shows, regularly portray horror stories from all industries. More on this later...All the more reason to keep on reading…in particular some of our

 

BIGGEST MISTAKE No.2:

“My Uncle Inspected It!!!”

Great idea, but watch out... it is full of traps!!! What I mean is that your uncle, or your father, or boyfriend, or friend of the family have your best interests at heart and of course get them to look at your new home, BUT what do you do when you move in and find a major problem that they have missed. Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable and a little bit tense, the next time you meet. I get phone calls from distressed new home owners that have just discovered some expensive problem in their home. When I ask did they get a pre-purchase building report, the answer is more often than not: “No...because my uncle inspected it!!!” On the first of January, 2004, the NSW state government brought in compulsory licensing, of all pre-purchase building inspectors, including weekend “uncle” inspectors, in an attempt to protect new home buyers from grief and anguish. The biggest problem with the new rules is that Professional Indemnity Insurance is not compulsory for the inspectors. What this means, is that you may win a case, but there will be no insurance money to pay for all the hassle and expense if the inspector has no insurance or has a policy that appears to be valid, but in fact may be null and void because of the fine print. i.e. Insurance is useless if his report does not strictly comply with the Australian Standard. Buyer Beware!!! Which leads me to the next major point:

 

BIGGEST MISTAKE No.3:

Using Just Any Building Inspector!!!

‘WARNING!!! NOT ALL BUILDING INSPECTORS ARE THE SAME’

You have seen the numerous current affairs programs showing dodgy inspectors missing obvious and critical problems, probably because of a “drive-by” inspection. You hear the grief and anguish from people just like you, whose lives have been ruined…all while the inspector with dodgy insurance, runs and tries to hide his face from the cameras. To make it even worse, some inspectors turn up to the job for ten minutes with a blank piece of paper, have no system in place for their inspection and have no-one else to double check their work after they have typed up the report themselves. Their reports are quite often generic, very difficult to read, written vaguely (to cover over their totally inadequate inspection), are confusing, full of jargon, full of legal fine print, with no photos and quite often written to suit a third party that may have happily arranged the report on your behalf (including a kickback!!!) Buyer Beware!!! If that wasn’t enough, the typical inspector is quite often a cranky, unapproachable old builder, with a bad back (i.e. he doesn’t return your phone calls and can’t and won’t fit in tight roof and sub floor spaces !!!). Because inspectors work practices are not closely regulated, they can make their own rules…quite often at your expense!!! How do we know all this – because nearly every day our customers tell us of their horror stories with others. Please don’t become their next victim... because your solution is so quick and easy...

A

‘11 Reasons Why You Should Choose Us & No One Else’

 

1.       100% PEACE OF MIND GUARANTEE BY EXPERT INSPECTORS. Which means that your inspection is precisely and carefully undertaken by a local fit and healthy, fully licensed, owner operated and franchised pre-purchase building inspection specialist. All inspectors in this specialist franchise group are fully accountable, awesomely trained and highly experienced with a minimum of 15 years post graduate building experience. In addition, all our expert inspectors use state of the art electronic equipment, to detect hidden damp or leaks. Our strict and high standards, are others extras!!! Our guarantee is out of this world!...but more on that later.

2.       834 Critical  Item  Checklist. This means absolutely nothing critical is missed. This checklist is totally unique to this business and has been tested in excess of 18,000 times.

3.       INDEPENDENT ACCREDITATION. This means that the inspector strictly complies with ALL the requirements of Australian Standard 4349.1-2007 for pre-purchase building inspections. This is the only franchised and independently certified system in all of Australia, which means nearly every other report by our competition, that is not independently certified, is not worth the paper it’s written on!!!

4.       Professional Indemnity (PI) Insurance, though not compulsory, will be held, when available, by our inspector, at the time of inspection. This PI is very expensive, but for your total peace of mind, we think you are worth it. To be absolutely sure his PI is current, please always ask for a complimentary copy of the certificate of currency, be issued with your report.

5.       Your  Tailor  Made  Colour  Report  Is Independently Triple  Checked, in every detail and signed off by each of the specialist support team at head office. This unique, totally thorough and proven quality management process means you get your report absolutely correct… the first time. To make it easy for you, we even highlight all costly defects in red!!!

6.       Free Verbal Report – to explain the most important aspects and answer any questions. We are very easy to talk to. In fact your inspector would be more than happy to meet with you to discuss your report in person, if required – AT NO EXTRA COST TO YOU!

7.       Unbiased Opinion – Our inspectors are  bound by a strict code of ethics and under no circumstances, ever receive any kickbacks. This means we are never influenced by any third party with a conflict of interest... which means you get a report that you can trust.

8.       Free Advice by telephone, from your inspector, at any time in the future, on any aspect of the home inspected. This means you can call him and ask his opinion on a quote, or...whatever. Consider your inspector, your personal consultant for life...AT NO EXTRA COST TO YOU!

9.       Phone Calls Returned. We promise to always return all your calls, as fast as humanly possible and the same day. Your inspector will be friendly, helpful and approachable.

10.   Rapid Service to all local areas by your local inspector. Your report will be treated urgently and in addition to a hard copy being mailed, a copy will be emailed or faxed to you and to your Conveyancing Professional or Banker…… AT NO EXTRA COST TO YOU! This means you have plenty of time to read the report and take action before the hard copy arrives in the mail.

11. But Wait, There Is More - Mention this report and for a very limited time you will  receive a major discount off the recommended fee and then reward you further if you choose to pay for your report early!!

‘ OUR SIMPLE PLEDGE TO YOU’

Don’t risk your valuable home purchase with just any ordinary inspector. Please give us the opportunity to carefully inspect your new home and your personal building inspector will clearly report back to you, all the expensive building defects, that if not properly detected by another ordinary inspector, family member, or yourself, will cost you time , sleepless nights, major stress , and thousands of dollars . Your building report can then be used to negotiate a better deal. Better in your pocket than theirs!!!

STILL NOT CONVINCED… WELL HOW ABOUT THIS...

“ Your TOTAL PEACE OF MIND* Guarantee (plus $20+)”

“You Get The Most Thorough Building Inspection Ever... OR IT’S FREE!!!”

“Please be assured, that if you are not absolutely delighted with our report or any aspect of the service received, then please call the inspector immediately, to give him the opportunity to make it right and if you still don’t get the satisfaction you deserve, then you are more than entitled to hand the original Building Inspection Report back and we will TOTALLY REFUND ALL YOUR MONEY… PLUS we will also give you $20 from our own pocket …AND a free scratchie!!! Not only this, but all the free bonuses, that you receive, will be yours regardless, as a thank you for trying us out... “

 

“You won’t get a better or fairer guarantee!!!”

David Zammit (Franchise Founder)

 

 

Don’t take the risk with your new project home. Please give us the opportunity to carefully inspect your new home and your personal building inspector will clearly report back to you, all the expensive building defects, that if not properly detected by the project builder, private certifier or another ordinary inspector, family member, or yourself, will in time cost you time, sleepless nights, major stress, and thousands of dollars. Your building report can then be used to make

the builder fix all the defects at his expense rather than yours!!! We won’t let the project builder get away with it!!!

 

‘FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS’

QUESTION A: We are about to start building our project home. Can we get you to come and supervise the Builder and make sure everything is ok?

ANSWER A: The Builder has the responsibility to co-ordinate and supervise construction of your home. Our service to you is not supervision, but rather inspection of the works, at strategic times, to see if they have been constructed in acceptable methods of construction according to Australian Standards and the Building Code of Australia.

 

QUESTION B: How many inspections should we have on our home under construction?

ANSWER B: Usually only two inspections are necessary and I will explain why in a minute.

1. One Pre-Lock Up Construction Inspection Report of the home, just prior to the plasterboard installation i.e. when the roof is on and the brickwork, window installation and frame installation is complete. And...

2. A Final Pre-Handover Building Inspection Report of the home, just prior to final handover of the keys.

 

QUESTION C: We have just moved into our new project home and are still inside the defects liability period. We have made up a list of things we have found so far, but most of these seem minor. Should we get a building report, just to be on the safe side?

ANSWER C: Usually, we find around 4 times as many things than you would have on your list. We have never, ever, had a client yet that, that has regretted getting us to look at their home!!

It’s all about peace of mind and enjoying your life, rather than having an ongoing battle with your Builder, or your leaking roof, or leaking shower, or lifting tiles, or sagging ceilings, or….

What you need is a Building Defects Liability Inspection Report.

 

QUESTION D: Just say I do get a report. Is there any guarantee that the Builder will fix it?

ANSWER D: Well, put it this way. You probably will have more things wrong with the home than meets the eye. If you raise some of these with the Builder and he knows that you are not in the building industry, then he will try and pull the wool over your eyes and then it will become your problem. The biggest advantage with this type of report is that you personally don’t have to argue with the Builder anymore.

 

Let me explain… We tell people that the Builder may not be happy with all the things in our detailed report. We advise the home owner to blame the inspector, if the Builder chooses to argue. What we mean, is that if the Builder gets a bit difficult (and they do from time to time), then just tell him to take it up with the inspector. Do you know the Builder hardly ever calls. He soon gets the picture that you have a professional on your side, that is not an easy pushover!!

Will he take the risk or not?

Can he afford to be taken through The Department of Fair Trading?

Can he afford to be taken through the Professional Practice Committee of the Master Builders Association?

Can he afford all the bad publicity?

Get the picture? Your inspector can’t guarantee the Builder will fix it, but he can guarantee that he will use everything up his sleeve to professionally motivate the Builder to take action.

 

QUESTION E: How much do your reports cost?

ANSWER E: The minimum is around $407. See the attached form...

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