The Do’s and Dont’s

Guidelines And Questions To Ask

Follow the guidelines and answer the questions below before having any work done on your home.

1. DO contact a house re-stumper and obtain some quotes to replace the old rotted wood or cracked concrete stumps or rusted steel columns

2. DO Ask the person quoting your home how many genuine years experience do they have in the trade? How long have they been self employed? Where did they learn their trade and from who?

3. DO they carry contract works and public liability insurance & with whom? And for how much are they covered up to? What does it cover and what does it not cover? If they use sub-contractors – are they covered under his policy to be on the property to carry out any work?

4. Does the contractor have a BSA license and does that license cover the scope of work for the contract? If not, does the contractor employ an on-site licensed project manager with a current BSA license? Ask to see the said license. Remember; There is a big difference between a BSA license and a person that only has an A.B.N. (Australian business number) or an A.C.N. (Australian company number).

5. Ask the contractor what the quote does and does not cover and what you are getting for your money, because price does matter as the more you want, the more you will have to pay.

6. Can the contractor supply written references from passed clients? Can you contact the clients to ask about their work and if they were happy and got value for money?

7. If the contractor is self-employed, does he carry an income protection policy for himself in case he is hurt on site? Does he pay work-cover for his employees in case one or more are hurt on site?

8. Can the contractor provide the policy numbers and are the policy numbers stated on the quotations?

9. It is your responsibility to know this, ask the questions and to know if the people on your property are employees or sub contractors, as it is your home owner’s public liability insurance policy that will be in question if a person is hurt on your property and the employer is not covered for this.

10. You must ask also, is the person doing the work on your home the person who came out to quote? Or does this person only come to quote and leave the responsibility of the job to his workers? Or does he only quote on your work and then get in sub-contractors to do it? If the person who does the quote is not the person doing the work, I would be in doubt and be asking questions as to why the contractor is not the person on site doing the work.

11. DOES THE CONTRACTOR TAKE AWAY ALL THE RUBBISH AND LEAVE YOUR PROPERTY CLEAN AND TIDY?

12. WILL THE CONTRACTOR REPAIR THE CONCRETE UNDER YOUR HOME AROUND THE NEW STUMPS AFTER THE JOB IS COMPLETED

13. Does the contractor replace the battens or palings between your new stumps once the job is done? Or replace rotten or broken timber rails, battens or palings?

Before having any foundation work done on your home make sure you;
1. DO NOT renovate inside before you re-level downstairs; for downstairs governs all above and inside your home.
2. DO NOT tile, paint, or wall paper inside your home before you re-level, or add on any patios or decks.
3. DO NOT install air conditioners.
4. DO NOT put in gardens or new turf.
5. DO NOT paint the house.

If you do all or any of the above, it will only come undone when you have the home restumped or re-levelled, which will be a waste of money and have to be done again, so do not renovate first, EVER!

 

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