If you’re a veteran in the construction industry, you’ll have some idea of how problematic building disputes can be, in terms of cost, time and professional relationship strain. It doesn’t take long at all for builders and customers to not see eye to eye, but the most important thing to consider is not how to deal with these situation – but how to avoid them entirely. Domestic building disputes can range from claims of incomplete or defective works, variations to the planned scope of works, the cost of materials, delays to the project and issues related to payment. No need to fret, though – in this article, we offer some great tips to ensure you can prevent disputes from occurring.
Getting back to basic to prevent disputes
Although you already might be mopping your brow at the prospect of hiring construction dispute lawyers, there are quite a lot of things you can keep in mind to help prevent such a thing from even happening. One of the first things you should be completely familiar with is the law in relation to domestic construction. Building acts in your relevant state will provide you with all you need to know about the rules of conduct for builders, and knowing these in detail is an excellent way to prevent and better work your way through disputes. Detailed legal obligations will include important things like payment of deposit, insurance, progress claims, information related to completion and statutory warranties. It is also often quite useful to stay on top of alerts from your legal advisor, industry associations and government authorities, as being updated at all times will ensure you can very easily keep track of changes to new laws and adequately prepare for any new reforms that are set to be introduced.
Ensure everything is in writing
Creating a paper trail is one of the most important things you can do in the construction industry, as having everything in writing will ensure that you’re protected if any issues arise. After all, customers requesting variations during a project is not uncommon, and not recording these requests can land you in hot water if any issues do arise later. On-paper descriptions of the work and agreement will include plans, specifications, and a contract setting out the essentials of the project. It’s also important to keep in mind that the requirement for written contracts is not only great in helping manage disputes, but is actually a legal obligation for all builders. You should also know that work should never commence until receipt of the contract signed by the customer. When it comes to variations of the original project at the customer’s request, alterations should always be in writing and refer back to the original contract, with variation terms always signed off by both the builder and customer.
The best way to prevent domestic building disputes
It is often the case that many disputes occur due to poor communication between the builder and client, or a fundamental misunderstanding of the scope of the project and relevant delivery. Preventing this is easy – ensure a high degree of communication is your number one priority, as if there are any issues, you’ll be able to catch them before they snowball. This unfortunately doesn’t always work though, and if negotiations don’t work out, in these cases it is crucial that you obtain legal advice as quickly as possible.