The Contract
Your building contract should be specifically suited to your personal needs; don't let any builder tell you that you have to stick with their standard contract. A licensed builder can provide you with a range of standard contracts that will help protect your interests should their work not be what they say it will. In order to protect yourself from poor or shoddy work you should consider the following things in your contract:


• Terms of the contract that will determine exactly what the builder is required to do in relation to complying with building codes.


•  Having the builder provide you with plans and specifications including the date at which each stage of the project will be completed.


•  Any types of delays should incur penalties on the builder and these should also be included in the contract. Come to an agreement with the builder as sometimes delays are expected and will almost always happen.


•  Include a maintenance clause under which the builder will be responsible for fixing any defects that come up within the specified period after the project is done.


•  A licensed builder should also include at least a five year guarantee on their work; remember to include this in your contract.

Disputes with the builder
If for some reason you have a dispute with the builder over the standard of work that have been done you can dispute your claim to an adjudicator. You will have to do this by serving a written notice of adjudication on your builder and the notice must state:


• The date of notice


•  Details of the dispute and who is involved


•  What you want done about the problem


•  Your building contract with details like names and addresses of builders so they can be served with legal documents.

After you have submitted your claim and an adjudicator has been chosen you must refer your dispute to them within five working days of their notice of acceptance. This is called an adjudication claim. Your claim must state the nature and grounds of the dispute and you must have and provide a copy of the notice of adjudication. You must also serve a copy of your adjudication on the builder. You don't necessarily need a lawyer to go through this entire process but you are free to choose if you need one or not. There are several steps to the adjudication process.

This is just short synopsis of what your legal rights are for going after someone who does poor or shoddy workmanship. You definitely have the right to dispute with them and the right to take legal action.