The Importance of Timber Frame Inspections

The Victorian Building Authority (VBA) has a Proactive Inspections Program. It’s aim is to uncover non compliant building and plumbing work during the construction phase.  All non compliant work found during an inspection is required to be rectified.  A lot of issues are undercovered by these inspections but the most common one is in relation to timber …

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VMIA Insurance Claims

If you had a contract signed for your new home, you should have warranty insurance in place – especially if works have started or a permit has been issued.  This means you will be able to lodge a VMIA  (Victorian Managed Insurance Authority) claim. Here are some insights that may help you through the VMIA claim process: …

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Resolving Building Disputes Through VCAT

If you find yourself in the unfortunate position where you’re in a dispute with your builder or the owner of a property, you may be able to take your dispute to VCAT to have it resolved. Here are the steps involved: Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria (DBDRV) It is surprising how often we find the …

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Common Problems with Slabs for New Homes

We do lots of slab inspections for new homes. In fact, it is the one of the most common types of inspections we do. This is due to it being very important to get the concrete slab right – because if you don’t you will most likely have structural issues with your new home. Here …

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Extended HomeBuilder Grants

The Australian Government has recently announced changes to the HomeBuilder Grants to extend the grants until 31 March 2021 instead of the original of 31 December 2020. The main change is that the value of the grant is reduced to $15,000 from $25,000 for contracts signed between 1 January 2021 to 31 March 2021. Here is a …

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Construction Commencement Date Extended for HomeBuilder Grant

The time to apply for the HomeBuilder Grant has now expired. It has been a great success with aspiring home owners. With grants of either $25,000, if a building contract was signed by 31 December 2020, or $15,000 if  signed between 1 January 2021 and 31 March 2021. In fact over 120,000 people have applied …

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HomeBuilder Grants

The Australian Government has recently announced HomeBuilder Grants of $25,000 for new home builds – including first home buyers. If you have been thinking of building your dream home then now could be the time to make that dream a reality. This is especially true as the new HomeBuilder Grants scheme only lasts until 31 December 2020. …

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Leaking Showers in Older Homes

Leaking showers creating damage to a home is something we often find when doing pre purchase property inspections. Although leaking showers can happen in any home they are particularly prevalent in older homes. This is especially true for homes older than 15 to 20 years of age. The reason for this is that there have …

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Concrete slab Inspections and Honeycombing

At New Home Building Inspections we notice that we are asked a particular question often when we perform a concrete slab inspection for a new home.  When we do a concrete slab inspection one of the things we see frequently is honeycombing. Most people do not know what this is and what impact it can …

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Commonly Found Defects in New Home Inspections

At New Home Building Inspections we have seen a lot of building defects over the years. These include both minor and major defects. Each new home is different. That’s why we have a comprehensive checklist to make sure you are aware of every defect at each stage of the build of your new home. The following …

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