Home Building Contract (4) - VIC

Builders and consumers are required to have a formal written contract for most work worth more than $5000. Builders must give the building owner a copy of the contract and all relevant documents such as plans and specifications.

To successfully manage your building contract, you must be actively involved in planning the content of the contract. You need to make sure that everything you want in the construction of the new home or renovation is included. If details are not included in the contract, the builder is not required to deliver them.

What must be included

Before signing your domestic building contract, check that it contains all details required by the Act. The contract must:

• be written clearly in English
• set out the full terms of the contract
• give detailed descriptions of the work to be carried out under the contract
• include plans and specifications containing enough information to obtain a building permit for the work
• state the names and addresses of the parties to the contract
• state the registration number as it appears on the builder's registration certificate
• state the date when the work is to start, or how that date is to be determined
• state the builder will do everything that is reasonably possible to start work as soon as possible, if the start date is not known
• state a finish date, or if the start date is not known, the number of days that will be required to finish the work once it has started
• state the contract price, or in the case of a cost plus contract, how the amount that the builder is to be paid is to be determined
• state the date the contract is made
• set out details of the insurance required under the Building Act 1993
• give clear advice about the five-day cooling-off period
• have a separate section including definitions of words used in the contract
• show which words used in the contract are included in the list of definitions
• set out warranties implied into the contract
• contain an approved checklist.

Types of Contracts

Contracts are prepared by a number of organisations and are available for a range of different types of domestic building work, including works under $5000.

(Source: consumer.vic.com.au)