Legal Advice

[SirFooK'nG]

So I purchased my house in August 2008. Been there for 4 years now. My garage was built by the previous owner in 2007 as far as I can tell from records I have. The plaster around the lintel on the garage door slowly cracked until recently chunks fell off to reveal the lintel. The lintel has actually moved about 10mm outwards.

So I get two evaluations done, one from a builder, and one by an inspector.... Both say the same thing. The lintel used was incorrect, and it is in fact not even positioned correctly. It is lying on its side, not right way up ?!?!. To fix it I have to remove the tiles above the door area, where the wall reaches the apex. Break down the entire front side of the garage, (also removing the garage doors). Pull out the existing lintel and then put in the correct one, then rebuild the front apex wall.

Total cost R9450.00 farking hell .... but it has to be done.... So now what? Do I try get a hold of the original owner and tackle him for the repairs? Can I? do I have recourse here? Or do I try find out what municipal inspector signed off the physical building inspection and go after them and the original contractors? I still need to find out who the contractors were .... IRG not aaiyoba today!


grrrrr

[ToxicBunny]

4 years later?

You have no recourse... Pay the money and fix it.

[Pynet]

Ouch, sorry to hear! Suck it up and carry on, doubt there is any chance in going after the previous owner or inspector, especially since this deal was done well before the CPA kicked in.

Would be a scary thought that if I make a bad building decision on MY house today, in 5 - 10 years after I sell it the new owner will come after me.........

[TelkomUseless]

4 years later?

You have no recourse... Pay the money and fix it.

This.

[SirFooK'nG]

Thing is this is a completely illegal in building codes! Fine if I dont get the money back .. but surely the original contractor (and I will find out who it was) should be nailed for building violations!?!

Yaaa ... I have already paid for the repairs .... Just peeves me off that this was a known shortcut taken by some contractor!

[noswal]

Better have someone inspect you house construction too

[ToxicBunny]

Thing is this is a completely illegal in building codes! Fine if I dont get the money back .. but surely the original contractor (and I will find out who it was) should be nailed for building violations!?!

Yaaa ... I have already paid for the repairs .... Just peeves me off that this was a known shortcut taken by some contractor!

Ahhhh, thats a different story...

If the contractor is registered with the NHBRC, then you might get some satisfaction from that avenue.. if they aren't well you might as well just stop wasting your time.

[Wyzak]

It's not worth it going to the courts for R9500...

[Ancalagon]

Ahhhh, thats a different story...

If the contractor is registered with the NHBRC, then you might get some satisfaction from that avenue.. if they aren't well you might as well just stop wasting your time.

Yeah I'd at least see what can be done with a national authority on the matter. You might not necessarily need to go to court. At the very least, maybe you can get this guy's license taken away, so he cant do stuff like this again.

[intel8080]

You, or someone in knowledge, should have inspected the house properly PRIOR to signing the sell/buy contract. Now . . . You accepted it like it is. There is no law out there which forces the seller to show you any defects. Chances are, the previous owner did not know himself what shortcut the builder took. But if you are 'Harde gat' enough, you'll always find someone to sue

[SirFooK'nG]

You, or someone in knowledge, should have inspected the house properly PRIOR to signing the sell/buy contract. Now . . . You accepted it like it is. There is no law out there which forces the seller to show you any defects. Chances are, the previous owner did not know himself what shortcut the builder took. But if you are 'Harde gat' enough, you'll always find someone to sue

you cant see through a farkin wall to see how it was constructed .... visibly was perfect on the outside, hidden by plaster. This is not a case of ground movement or natural expected occurrence, its pure negligence and deviation from building codes / regulations that was hidden to even probably the original owner. I cannot condone this and just shrug it off, action needs to be taken to prevent this type of thing re-occurring. Complacency is a disease....

[ToxicBunny]

You, or someone in knowledge, should have inspected the house properly PRIOR to signing the sell/buy contract. Now . . . You accepted it like it is. There is no law out there which forces the seller to show you any defects. Chances are, the previous owner did not know himself what shortcut the builder took. But if you are 'Harde gat' enough, you'll always find someone to sue

Ummm, I hate to burst your little bubble but you're wrong.

An owner is required by LAW to disclose latent defects in the property, and is liable if said defects are intentionally covered up and only come to light after transfer has taken place (within a reasonable time frame).

Please also tell me how one is supposed to tell that a Lintel was installed incorrectly when it is behind plaster etc etc...

[ambroseg1]

Cut your losses. I would laugh at you if I were the previous owner.

[Messugga]

You, or someone in knowledge, should have inspected the house properly PRIOR to signing the sell/buy contract. Now . . . You accepted it like it is. There is no law out there which forces the seller to show you any defects. Chances are, the previous owner did not know himself what shortcut the builder took. But if you are 'Harde gat' enough, you'll always find someone to sue

Actually, the seller has to make the buyer aware of any known defects. You sign off on it when you buy a property.

I find it unlikely, however, that the previous owner was even aware of this building violation.

[ToxicBunny]

Cut your losses. I would laugh at you if I were the previous owner.

TBH, if this issue had arisen within the first year..

I would have made it the previous owners problem in a BIG way.... but 4 years is just too long a time period to reasonably expect anything.