Award-Winning Builder's $600K Flop? A Queensland Inspection Shocker!

Mate, you went to a random house and gave the owner a free inspection, we need more professionals like yourself.

Welcome to Queensland. Im a subcontractor here in Queensland, and we work for a number of builders, The builders that we are involved in only build approximately 4 to 5 homes per year. The actual builder is on site every day he inspects all that gets done on the building step by step. The big construction companies that build hundreds of homes per year ,we call them desk top builders, all they are interested in is how many homes have we handed over this week, and how many contracts have we signed this week. I know that they are cheaper than a small builder, but there is price to pay for that privilege, and that is below standard workmanship. So to all the potential home owners who are thinking of building a new home in this 2023 environment,go for a well known small builder, and i will guarantee you will be a lot safer.

Just look at the stats for the QBCC. Thousands of fines issued every year for late financial reporting and late licence fees. Almost zero issued for dodgy work and contract breaches. The worst government department in the state.

Bro just caught and released a Cane Toad 😂😂

I'm a retired qld builder, I was a hands on builder , i didnt sit in an office all day , I got my hands dirty, the big building companies are the problem. This is disgusting.

I worked construction on the Gold Coast in the 90s. Everybody was dodgy to save money/maximise profit. My girlfriend was getting a house built and the day before the floor pour I went to check the rebar. I can read plans. I noticed some rebar was not installed in a few places and saw the bundles of steel on the ground. I spoke to the foreman and he got his knickers in s knot asking 'So you know about these things?'. Yes. I said. We paid for it, it's on the plans, put it in. I'll wait. He was not happy as I watched him. I then was there before the pour to makes sure it was done properly.

We must protect this man at all costs

You caught and released the QBCC rep.

some of this stuff is heart-breaking. These are people's homes.

Industrial and corporate awards, about as real and as meaningful as an Oscar these days.

How bad does a builder get that they can't even do the foundations correctly.

So we had a house that we ended up actually taking to court and the QBCC due to not meeting contract requirements. The issue is QBCC in most areas does a local "board" I guess and it is always local large builders on it. So a local builder judges his mate and says nah thats reasonable. When you show any standards or laws they say nah thats not really how I'd see that and write you off. Theres absolutely no recourse for you unless you are willing to go to a multi year hundreds of thousands of dollars lawsuit. We ended up settling for about 50k and doing all the works ourselves at a cost of about 150k as we couldn't afford the mult year battle.

What a disaster zone. Loved the random house riddled with defects too. So much for the QBBC 😢

Watch your back mate,Your becoming a legend :) What part of water proofing method they don't understand ? I think they should build a fish tank first to understand what water proofing is !!

I built my own home on Russell Island as an Owner Builder.. I used a kit from Imagine kit homes and It all went well... I built on a slab which was poured by some old concreters and it was a solid pour and very accurate to the plans.. no waffle boards or sytrofoam just solid concrete and rebar over visine.. People questioned why I insulated all the walls including all the inside walls and ceiling, as I think this is not that common here in Queensland. I was supplied with insulated metal foil sarking that went under the colour bond roof and had a large crawl space that was also heavily insulated... I noticed the house being built next door did not have any sarking under the metal colour bond roof or insulation in the ceiling and the certifier passed it. When It rains I don't hear anything in the house and when its hot it stays cool in the house using just fans.. Its a small house and when my wife stays up and watchs TV in the next room don't hear anything in the bedroom with the door closed. Yes I agree the building standards need to be better enforced in Queensland..

Mate....I know you love your critters but Bufo Marinus (aka cane toads) are NON COMPLIANT😅 and highly poisonous. Love your work bruv.

I work for the Gold Coast Council and my job takes me all over the place. The worst I’ve seen is the ‘developments’ that are built on mangrove land and flood prone areas. The developers open the sites for sales between 10-1:30-2ish depending on the weather so the mosquito and Midges aren’t too bad. Any time either side and you’re stuffed. The houses are so quickly built and in one development I know a year later many of the houses have large cracks running from the driveway up the front of the house. It’s not just the house it’s all the underground infrastructure that’s put in a very haphazard manner as well. Great work mate keep it up.

The builder was expecting a concrete path around the house would hide so many problems.

The prevalence of black roofs in Australia really says a lot about us...

I’m so glad I had a family member on site most days of my build. His experience saved me a lot of money. No shortcuts taken. Love your work