It’s important to get legal advice whenever signing a building contract to ensure that the contract is in your best interests. In particular, speak to a solicitor with building contract expertise.
Any small changes to the contract can actually cause you major headaches when it comes to getting approved for a construction loan and drawing down your progress payments for the build. Consider the following:
- What warranties can they offer you?
- Do they offer termite prevention? It may cost you in the short-term, but it’ll likely save you thousands over the long-term
- The contract should include the fully itemised list of quotes that you agreed upon initially.
- Make it clear that you should be made aware of any changes to the building schedule that may need to be made during construction.
- It may be that certain materials will need to be substituted in order to stay within your budget. If you haven’t made this clear, the builder may use fixtures and fittings that will cost you more than you can afford.
- It should include the construction start date, key construction stages (where you’ll need to make progress payments on your construction loan) and the completion date.
You can check out the NSW Fair Trading website for information on building contracts.
In addition, on the HIA and MBA websites, you’ll find standard, proforma construction contracts which are accepted throughout the industry.