Construction Stages
“Commencement” means the day on which excavation works for the Building works commence on the Building site.
“Inspections” means any private, client or surveyor approval, should not hold up any stage payments, except for the final claim as per clause 38 of the HIA contract, if necessary rectifications still need to be done.
“Base stage” means the ground floor concrete slab is completed. (Excluding any site works for drainage, retaining walls, landscaping, paths, driveways and/or backfilling soil around the perimeter of the slab)
“Frame stage” means the stage when a home’s wall frames and roof trusses are completed. This often excluding window and door frame installation, and the construction of any lower story roofed projection such as a garage, alfresco, external projections or porch. The reason for this is due to some more practical build methods Porter Davis undertake, especially related to roof framing for the garage whereby the garage boundary wall often needs to be constructed first before the garage roof frame can finished being built onto it.
“Lock up stage” means the stage when a home’s external wall cladding, roof covering, external doors and windows are fixed, thus closed off from the elements. This does not necessarily mean some of the lower-storey roofed projections such as the garage, alfresco and porch will be completed.
“Fixing stage” means the stage when all internal cladding, architraves, skirting, doors, cabinets and cupboards of a home are fitted and fixed in position. This will often exclude items like stone benchtops, baths, basins, sinks, troughs and cupboard shelving however, as they can run the risk of getting damaged as the remainder of construction works are undertaken.
“Completion” means the building works are complete in accordance with the H.I.A. Contract.
Construction Questions
Please refer to your Site Start Letter, this will give you the anticipated completion date working off of your Contractual Build Days. We will do everything in our power to have your home completed before that date however, to avoid disruption and unnecessary stress please do not put in notice to vacate until a handover date is instructed by your Supervisor.
If you haven’t handed over as yet and you are returning your supervisors call – please allow the day for them to get back you via phone. If this doesn’t occur please contact your Contract Administrator.
If you haven’t handed over, but you are calling as you are running late to an appointment, please feel free to text your supervisor and follow up with a call to your Contract Administrator.
If you have handed over in the last 90 days and need urgent support please make sure you leave a voicemail. If it is not urgent please email through with photos / videos of your concerns.
If you have handed over more than 90 days ago, please direct your queries to Home Care team
Once onsite we do not allow changes, as your project is pre-ordered and scheduled we do not have the ability to conduct changes.
Practical Completion is a really exciting time! Your Site Supervisor certifies all building works have been practically completed in accordance to your HIA Build Contract and is now ready for you to inspect.
This is where you will inspect internally and externally and identify any defects or incomplete work, and both parties will sign off and agree upon works to be completed prior to handover of your new home.
To help with your inspection please see attached the VBA Guide to Standards and Tolerances for your reference:
During the appointment
• You can check all items in the Final Tender, along with any variations/documentation that have been completed.
• You will be given a full working demonstration of all fixtures, such as doors, windows, cupboards
and drawers. Suggested items to check are taps, S bends/traps, power points, paint work, lights and light switches etc. Please feel free to bring along a phone charger if you wish to test power points.
• Any items deemed defective will be listed on the Practical Completion Inspection Form and will be rectified within 14 days so settlement/handover can proceed.
Once you have received your Final Invoice and Occupancy Permit.
Your Occupancy Permit is a document that is issued by your appointed Building Surveyor and confirms that they have completed their final inspection of your new home and are satisfied it is suitable for Occupancy. Once your Occupancy Permit is received from the Building Surveyor your Final Invoice will be raised. Your Occupancy Permit and Final Invoice will be emailed to you to forward to your lender to organise the release of your completion progress stage (final payment). Payment of your final invoice will be due payable within 21 days of issue.
Please Note: Any variations raised post contract that are not being paid by the lender must be paid in full prior to your final invoice being raised. If the lender is paying the post contract variations this pricing will be incorporated into your final invoice. Please forward your post contract variation/s to your lender along with your Occupancy Permit and Final Invoice.
Warranty Questions
Please contact the Hermitage Properties Homecare Team via email – homecare@hermitagehomes.com.au and we will attend to your query from there. Please ensure you send us much information as you can about the defect/s, including photos or videos, so we can see exactly what is happening. Please allow up to 2 business days for a response as we are a very busy department.
For manufactured items, warranties are provided by the manufacturer of that particular item, so the amount of time depends on what the manufacturer allows, and this can differ from item to item – on average, most items are covered for a 12-month period. For structural-related issues, you are covered by a 10-year structural warranty, which covers the structure of the property only. Warranties only cover you for items that are faulty or that have been installed incorrectly by Hermitage Properties or our contractors. Homeowners are responsible for regularly maintaining the property once it is handed over to the owner. Please note that you must contact Hermitage Homes as soon as you notice something is wrong so we can investigate and, if necessary, arrange to have the defects attended to by the trade that was responsible for the defective work/product. If you do not contact us and you instead contact your own tradesman and have them attend to it, we will not be responsible for reimbursing you for this cost.
Please send an email to homecare@hermitagehomes.com.au at the 90-day mark, and complete the form that was given to you in your handover pack. Inspections take place from Monday-Friday between 8am and 2pm – we do not work on weekends or public holidays. Please list the items that you need us to look at on the form and email it through to us, with photos if possible. Inspections normally take about an hour, depending on how big your home is and how many items you have that need inspecting. Once the inspection is complete, work orders will be sent directly to the trades by the Warranty Supervisor who did your inspection, and the trades will contact either the homeowner or the tenants living in the property and arrange a suitable time with them directly. The trades have approx.. 3 weeks to complete the repairs – please email Homecare if you have not heard from your tradesman within that time frame, and we will be happy to chase them up for you. Please note if a warranty inspection is booked in and our Supervisor arrives at the arranged time and no one is home, you will be charged for any repeated visits.
If you have an urgent issue outside of business hours, please contact Tim Di Camillo on 0408 391 070.