Home Building Tips for Builders in NSW
Materials supplied by the Home Owner

When a builder enters into a contract with a home owner, it is common for the parties to agree that the home owner may provide some of his or her own materials and services, whether it is to save money or because of connections the home owner may have.

There is nothing wrong with this practice.  With some ‘high risk’ goods that are considered ‘PC items’ and may become faulty after a few years, it is actually advisable for the builder to direct the home owner to purchase these goods directly, so that the builder is protected in that these goods would not fall under the builder’s responsibility and ‘seven year warranty’.

However, where people are on site that have not been engaged directly by the builder (and this includes the home owner), issues of safety and control arise, and the builder needs to ensure that if other people are going to be on site, the builder needs to have total control over these people, not only for safety reasons but also for project management reasons.

In order to protect itself, the builder should ensure that the contract with the home owner contains certain clauses that protect the builder from the common risks that would naturally arise.  HBBC has listed some suggestions below for builders that find themselves in such a situation:

1. Any goods, materials or labour provided by the home owner must be suitable for inclusion in the builder’s work and supplied or completed in the time required by the builder
   
   
2. The builder is not responsible for the performance and suitability of materials, services, labour and goods provided by the home owner
   
   
3. All work carried out by the home owner is at the home owner’s risk
   
   
4. If the home owner (or contractors engaged directly by the owner) carries out work on the site, the owner and his or her contractors:
   
   
• must not interfere with the progress of the works
  
• must observe all relevant safety laws, and the requirements of the builder in relation to safety
  
• must obey all directions issued by the builder regarding the coordination and timing of their works on the site
  
• must co-operate with all of the other workers and contractors on the site
  
  
5. The home owner must ensure that all contractors engaged directly by the owner hold the relevant licence to carry out the work as issued by the NSW Office of Fair Trading, and that they hold adequate insurances
   
   
6. The builder shall have the power to exclude or direct the home owner or the owner’s contractors to leave the site, if the above rules are not followed
   
   
7. When the home owner commences any works on the site, the owner is deemed to have accepted the base work as satisfactory, unless a competent builder who had examined and inspected the base work would not have detected or anticipated the unsatisfactory base work

The above suggestions should not only protect the builder, but give the builder total control over other persons who have not been engaged directly by the builder.