Well another day on site, another day of problems! I tell you what, I never expected so much trouble and bad luck hey, if I could have foreseen so many problems there is no way I would have gone down this road!
Started with a phone call this morning from our supervisor saying "yay the sun is out" but we're on site and we're having problems! Here I was thinking, oh the sun is out at last they can finally get moving but NO!
#1: the blocks behind us still haven't put up any silt net and their crap is running down onto our block. I've rung the developer and asked them to contact the builder building both houses and asked they rectify this! (let's hope they do). I had already asked Delfin to do this months ago and they refused!
#2: they are continuing to drill the piers (that we have paid extra for already) and apparently at the front they have gone down 4m and still haven't hit anything solid so they have got their engineer coming back to reassess. Apparently if they need to change the pier design we're going to be up for more $! I can't see how, given they had the developers compaction certificate and they did their own soil test that they can now come back and say we need to pay more! They are using some "unforeseen subterranean conditions" as their excuse as they are saying the front of the block is where the natural water used to flow or something!
I tell you what, I'm mighty P*SSED off and when they finally get back to me with an answer I think I'll be calling the BSA or a building lawyer (anyone know one?!) for some contract advice, I can't see how the soil 4m down which hasn't changed is now an extra, why didn't their engineers pick this up earlier!
More to come I guess! :I
:<
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear of the bad news... I think I read somewhere once about penalties for builders who allow silt run-off. Surely their dirt ending up on your site because they didn't do what they were supposed to (ie erect a silt trap) is their problem and they would need to fix it or provide compensation? Just a pain that you guys have to organise that though maybe the QBSA will take care of things???
ReplyDelete2. 4M?! Wow. Did they do any soil tests on that part of the block? They did 3 separate bores on ours at the back middle and front and on the diagonal which should just about cover everything. Surprised that the entire front of your block was an 'unforeseen condition'.
Hope things improve for you guys.
They only get in trouble if dirt goes on the road, not on other peoples sites, what a load of crap hey!
ReplyDeleteYeah they did the same for ours, 3 in a diagonal across the site, you'd think that would cover it wouldnt you! This is in a spot that wasnt tested, be warned!
Looks like it's illegal to allow runoff to enter streams / waterways (http://www.ipswich.qld.gov.au/documents/environment/healthy_waterways_fact_sheet.pdf). If you haven't already I'd try contacting the council / EPA about it.
ReplyDeleteI mean, if you guys didn't have any silt traps on your block it's likely that the runoff from the blocks above you could be flowing right through yours and into the drains. Also if you had an existing home with water drains in your back yard their silt could be flowing directly into that.
Anyway good luck with it and sorry to hear things are getting difficult after you guys have had such a good run thus far (well at least until it started raining).
Yes it is illegal to allow runoff (our builder is always worried about getting fined) and our site has the sediment control in front (all they allow for in the contract) but its the run off from the back onto our block that shouldnt be our responsibility!
ReplyDeleteYes.. In the Redlands it is a $2000 fine if you let the soil run into the waterways....Well that's what the guy said who was removing our soil....
ReplyDeleteThe soil running off from the blocks above is the least of our problems at the moment, these footings are the bigger problem!
ReplyDelete