EMAIL# 219 -04TH JUNE 2023- # "SHIT HAPPENS"
A few of my building disaster stories.
Over the last four decades I’ve built around 200 new houses or renovations and I’m proud of every one of them.
But building is not an exact science (see Email #141) and in around 5% of projects something bad happens along the way that creates major headaches for everyone involved.
“It doesn’t take much to convince us that we are smart, but it takes a lot of facts to convince us of the opposite.” Dan Gilbert
The most valuable lessons I’ve learnt have come from these “cock up’s” and I feel there is real value in sharing a couple of my building disasters, and importantly what I learnt from them. (Not in any chronological order or order of severity.)
Disaster 1 = The floating underground water tank.
Part of building a palatial new house in Brighton, was a 50 000-litre concrete water tank the size of a small swimming pool under a new tennis court.
Just as we finished the cast concrete tank and had back filled it, we copped two weeks of solid rain. The ground around the tank became so waterlogged that the concrete tank started to float. It ended up sitting at a slight angle 300mm higher than the tennis court. After several weeks of excavation using specialized (expensive) equipment and removing dozens of truckloads of mud, we managed to get the tank back down to the correct level.
Lessons learnt.
- The incredible power of buoyancy, (the empty concrete tank weighed approx. 20 tonnes). I.E. Always Fill the tank with water before you backfill.
- For any ground works always plan for the worst possible weather.
- Never compromise on civil engineering works, especially storm water drainage.
“Everything is a lesson. Learn enough lessons and the failures become useful.” Unknown
Disaster 2, A garage ceiling that collapsed onto a convertible BMW.
Three years after completing a townhouse in Brighton East an upstairs toilet cistern connection failed causing a massive water leak resulting in the garage ceiling directly below collapsing onto the owners BMW.
After a lengthy legal battle with the toilet manufacturer and my insurance company the matter settled out of court.
Lessons learnt.
- Always have good insurance.
- Only use recognised brands of plumbing fittings.
- When shit happens it’s not always the builder’s fault.
Disaster 3, The battle for final payment.
Unfortunately, this is a scenario that most builders end up suffering at some stage in their career.
The bottom line is that I allowed a super nice client to move into their new house before they had made the final contract payment.
Shortly after moving in, they discovered that the entry to their basement garage was extremely tight to navigate, but the basement ramp and entry was built as per the plans.
So, the client concocted “50 building defects” and refused to pay the final $159k until the basement entry was changed and all 50 defects were fixed.
After a 12-month legal battle a VCAT hearing ruled in my favour. But I only received $110k payment, had to pay all my own legal fees and had to do some minor modifications to the basement entry.
Lessons learnt.
- Always follow the plans and specifications to the letter.
- Back yourself and roll with the punches because integrity usually wins.
Disaster 4, An underground stream flowing through a basement.
We were building a large underground basement in Brighton, when we discovered there was an underground stream flowing through the middle of the property. There was no indication of this water course in any documentation and this specific problem “unknown underground aquifer” was not covered by either my construction insurance or the owners home insurance.
This put me and the client in a very difficult situation and held up the project for a couple of months. Fortunately, the client and I had a great relationship and trusted each other, so with some re-engineering and practical thinking we were able to work through the problem together.
However, the client sold the property 18 months after completion.
Lessons learnt,
- When problems occur, trust is everything.
- Always read the fine print in your insurance policy.
- You cannot control everything, but you can control your relationship with the client.
“Misfortune weighs most heavily on those who expect nothing but good fortune.” Stoic philosophy
Thanks for reading,
Stay safe and back yourself.
David
