To pay or to not pay

[sidinz]

As part of my DD, I got a builders' report. I haven't yet paid the invoice.

Only it's a piece of crap. Didn't pick up fairly serious faults with the house, and the one thing I really wanted to know (whether or not a wall was loadbearing) they got wrong, as I found out after I started pulling the wall down.

Putting the faults right will cost a few thousand dollars. If the report had picked these up, I could have at least negotiated the purchase price down.

I feel entitled not to pay for an incompetent report. What are others' thoughts?

[Anthonyacat]

Did you specifically request that the builder be competent?

Seriously though, it's a tough call. They still provided their service, and possibly to the best of their ability. Some people just aren't very good at their jobs - that's why you should always ask for recommendations. The report probably had all sorts of disclaimers in it.

[Rosco]

A few years ago we had an expert look at an issue and prepare a report.

In their report there were 4-5 major errors which in my opinion should have had a major impact on the outcome.

So we told the expert this and that we wouldn't pay until corrected.

We got taken to small claims court - We lost. The judge said that the expert had prepared a report so was entitled to be paid.

I thought the result was a complete joke!

Ross

[Perry]

I've had a similar experience. Perhaps it's a matter of the audit trial or process used? And being reasonable?

I offered to meet with the report provider to negotiate a fair(er) fee based on a number of serious discrepancies that the report writer had acknowledged were errors. After several attempts by me over many weeks to get a meeting time, date and place agreed to for that purpose - I gave up. All those details were available as e-comms printed versions. I did not pay the bill and there was no attempt by the report writer to proceed against me.

I suspect that if it had come to a claim, my attempts to resolve the matter (which seemed reasonable to me - of course) versus the lack of response would not have put the report writer in a very defensible position.

[Pants]

Can you pay the bill, but take them to the Disputes Tribunal? I'd like to think you had a strong case, but the above example makes me depressed

[Davo36]

I'd definitely argue the point.

They should have to provide a certain level of skill. If they are doing these reports, they are holding themselves out to be experts, so they have to be able to walk the walk I reckon.

[Davo36]

A few years ago we had an expert look at an issue and prepare a report.

In their report there were 4-5 major errors which in my opinion should have had a major impact on the outcome.

So we told the expert this and that we wouldn't pay until corrected.

We got taken to small claims court - We lost. The judge said that the expert had prepared a report so was entitled to be paid.

I thought the result was a complete joke!

Ross

I don't see how that could happen.

Must be more to it than that.

[sidinz]

Thanks for replies. I probably should add that the costs to rectify the unidentified faults are several times the cost of the report and that the report was done by a 'specialist' builder's report company.

The worst omission was missing an ongoing and sizeable leak that had saturated the joists and floorboards, penetrated the weatherboards and caused a large water-filled blister, made a large (about 2m wide and over an inch deep) puddle under the house and rotted out a good section of the floorboards. It was only about half a metre from the skirts, so not exactly hidden and inaccessible.

[Rosco]

I don't see how that could happen.

Must be more to it than that.

not really. This was a couple of years ago and I'm still annoyed and can't understand how it happened.

I had clear information on why there were 4-5 major errors and how they impacted on the report. I was expected to win no problems.

I think the small claims court is a bit like the tenancy tribunal, and it is very subjective to what the judge thinks!

Ross

[donna]

So there's no such thing as 'peer review' in the building inspection industry. If it was regulated (even self-regulated) peer reviewing would be standard practice like it is in many other industries.

cheers,

Donna

[drelly]

I think it's probably a good idea to get a copy of a previous building report they have done or at least view an example of a report. This is probably one of those industries that will get regulated in time but right now, it's the wild west!