Also what are some of the main things to consider when drafting a contract

Hi Rachel, It would be unusual if a builder lets you ‘draft’ a contract entirely to your own liking, but I guess more unlikely things sometimes happen. More likely they will want you to use a contract form supplied by them. And if you’ve followed this blog for long you’ll know that many (most?) of them will be reluctant to change anything much. But anyway I suggest you start by hitting Ctrl F and putting things like ‘contract’, ‘PS’ and ‘Provisional Sum’ in the search box. When you look through the many entries that come up, it may lead you to other words to search for. Also check the Building Regulations for the minimum requirements for contracts over $30K, and the NZ Standard form of building contract. Consult an experienced lawyer, or maybe QS, if you have no experience with drafting building contracts. It can be very expensive and stressful if you get it wrong. I would advise you don’t give a builder any money, or at least no significant amount (ie more than you can afford to write off to the cost of buying experience), until you’re satisfied with the contract wording. Many builders will try to persuade you it’s something that can be sorted out later. But if you do pay money for things like concept drawings, or site surveys or investigations etc, make sure that you have a share of the copyright, and can use the information if you pull out and go with another builder.

Hi Rachel At FirstBuild we build modular houses. We use the standard MasterBuilders contract, with a few minor amendments to account for the modular housing build methods. Other than that, any contract should contain all the usual terms and conditions. There shouldn’t be any need to have a different contract than the industry standard ones. Thanks Dave

Hi Rachel, We had a 7.2 x 3m cabin built by Transbuild 6 years back. We dealt directly with the manager Sam and this was in the days when they were a small company based on a farm in Clevedon. Amazing experience & very flexible. We’d highly recommend Transbuild.

Hi Rachel I’m sure Dave is genuine in his belief that the Master Builder’s contract will be sufficient but have a ctrl-F search for Master Builders and you’ll see there are issues. There are alternative contacts out there. We recommend the one from http://www.HOBANZ.org.nz or http://www.buildingdisputestribunal.co.nz. Cheers

Thank you! Will start researching. Really appreciate this blog, its the only place I have been able to source any review, which is bizarre when you consider any other industry.

Hi Mark/Rachel, It will be interesting to see whether Dave Grant of FirstBuild replies, to say whether he would consider using either of your suggested contract forms.

Hi Rachel, My suggestion would be to first download a copy of the NZ Standards Residential Building Contract NZS3902:2004, to see what a reasonable contract should contain, and compare it (plus the ones recommended by Mark) with what you have been given by the builder. If nothing else, it will put you in a better position to ask your lawyer and/or the builder about the differences, and why they prefer one or the other. Be prepared that even some lawyers seem to sympathise with builders on issues like time/date for completion. But bear in mind that many of the people on this blog with problems are talking about lack of progress on their build. Unfortunately they often have limited options, because their contract has no end date, and no requirement for the builder to compensate them for their losses (what’s called Liquidated Damages), no matter how long the build takes. One of the stranger aspects of the MB 2011 form was that it had a clause for ‘Extension of Time’ for completion (which is perfectly reasonable in itself), but the contract had no date/time for completion. Which made the EoT clause a bit unnecessary. I see Dave Grant has said he would be prepared to ‘consider’ using one of these alternative contract forms to the MB form, but hasn’t yet studied them. I hope that after he has looked through them (a 15 minute job for each, for anyone who has experience with contracts) he will be in a better position to say whether he would actually be prepared to use any of them, with or without amendment.

Hi Chris C Yes, I haven’t read them, but wouldn’t rule out using either of them Dave