G'day everyone.

Uh, and thanks for

joining us for another

episode of the Mindful

Builder Podcast.

Matty, how

are you mate?

Fucking shit,

how are you?

G'day.

What's really

interesting about

that comment there is

that I've been in the

trenches lately, and

I know that, , a few

of our close friends

have also been, uh,

been battling it.

not going to back away

from the fact that the

construction industry

at the moment is a,

um, It's a bit of a

battlefield, but I

feel like we're winning

the war at the moment,

but some of the other

battles are kind of

getting on top of us.

hopefully Miles,

who's our guest

has got some more

positive news for us.

today, we're going to

be joined by, Miles

Clark and he's a fellow

podcaster, builder and

a building inspector.

Hey Miles, thanks

for coming on today.

Thank you, Hamish.

Thank you, Matthew.

Much appreciated

to be here.

Hiya.

Mal, tell us a little

bit about yourself.

All right.

So, uh, I like to

put myself as just

the regular bloke

in construction.

That's given it a

crack and sort of,,

building out myself

personally as well

as professionally.

So my background was

always wanted to be

construction started

out as a chippy.

went through that

process has got under

the wing of a good

builder, which wAs A

blessing in disguise,

, learn all the ropes

through that process,

went out on my own,

subcontracted to

another young crew,

just did some high

end homes and cool

stuff like that.

And there's a little

bit of ambition in

me that I wanted to

do better things.

So I went out and did

my diploma of building,

went out and went into

the world of commercial

construction, , CEOs

of big companies

and one landed and I

ended up working for

Kane Constructions

for a few years doing

site management.

Which, in the

construction industry,

residential and

commercial are two

different games.

So I learned a lot

through that process.

as well as that

started a building

inspection company,

just focus on doing pre

purchase inspections.

So people looking

to buy a property.

That's, Pretty

much what I do now

part time, , and as

well as that, I've

been building out a

technology company in

the property inspection

industry for the last

four years now, which

we're looking to

go live in the next

hopefully two months.

So that's a battle

and then doing the

social media podcasting

stuff, just trying to

provide some value and

help some people out.

And then all the other

stuff, guys have kids,

families, lots of shit.

And, , yeah, just

trying to kick ass.

That's awesome, man.

So I might be a

bit naive here.

Residential

versus commercial.

I've never

actually worked

in the commercial

industry myself.

What is the difference?

There's a massive

difference.

The commercial

industry is very,

very structured.

it's more business

orientated.

What I found in the

residential industry

is that you're dealing

with moms and dads

and it gets very

emotional and gets very

difficult getting the

design right, getting

the whole process in

place, trying to get

that understanding

with the client can

be very hard at times

and then managing

that whole process

from start to finish.

Then coming out

the back end is a

pain in the ass.

In the commercial

industry, it

is cutthroat.

It is, boys,

we're doing this.

There's liquidated

damages, we'll

backcharge

you for that.

it Can be a

bit of a fight.

And everyone's,

you're just trying to

manage more people.

but the good thing

about that is, is

it's very contractual.

So, there's not

a lot of emotion

associated with it.

Which I kind of like

to a degree, because

it means you can just

get the job done.

It's like, boys, this

is what we're doing.

Execute.

Move forward.

And the safety

component of commercial

is, just takes the shit

all over residential

to be honest.

It's like, what

people get away with

in residential is

Crazy.

compared to commercial.

you know, an A frame

ladder is practically

illegal on site.

You see that, you

get kicked off.

You got to have all

these things in place,

which I, I'm all about.

So that's that's

the big difference.

I found in

commercial compared

to residential.

do you find there's

been like a lot of

positive things that

you've taken out of

commercial that you've

been, you've, you've

brought into Resy?

Like I, I've actually,

I was taking some notes

as you were talking

there and the notes

that I wrote down

were commercial is

very transactional.

And no emotion

involved.

And then as I was

writing that down,

you actually talked

about like the lack

of emotion in there

and then have you

found that there's

been parts of the

commercial experience

that have been quite

beneficial in the

residential space?

hundred percent.

so I left commercial

because you know, 65

hours a week, minimum

five days a week.

You're there from six.

Six in the morning till

five at night and that

just didn't work with

the family orientated

sort of stuff So I

wanted to make sure I

was there for me kids

And so I went back to

residential and I went

and worked into like

a high residential

builder Just Bayside

here in Melbourne.

And what I really

brought to them was a

lot of the commercial

Management and systems.

So like putting

together a wicked

quality Red folder

is what we called it,

which is practically

just explained all the

safety situations on

site So I Put induction

systems in place,

QA systems in place.

and then the more

important part was

more the correspondence

with the clients.

So it's black and

white, it's gotta

be very contractual

through that

construction process

because , if you

gray here and there,

it can be just bent

and manipulated.

And from what I pulled

from the commercial

was just like, nah,

this is the contract.

With subcontractors,

you have a

subcontractor

agreement.

This is your

scope of works.

This is exactly what

we expect from you.

This is your price

that you've given us.

It's not just a quote

in with a one line

on and it says, roof

plumbing, it's this,

this, this, this,

this, this, this.

And then we also

go into the depth

of like what we're

not going to do.

All right.

Yeah.

That's the outside

of your scope.

So when it comes time

to the construction

process, you streamline

that like an absolute.

Bloody bad out of hell.

And you can just

go, right, that's a

clear variation to

the construction.

You know, we've stated

in your subcontract

agreement, you're

going to be doing X,

Y, and Z and that's it.

So it doesn't cause

those little bits and

those little contention

between people.

It just makes

that whole process

streamlined.

And it goes the

same with the, with

the client as well.

It's like, all right,

this is the contract

and we would do

this in commercial.

We would sit with

the subcontractors

and go through

every single detail.

Same goes like with

the client, you'd have,

you have your contract,

which is very broad and

very detailed, which

obviously reflects the

standard, but we would

add to that as well

and have like a tender

qualification document.

So within that

document, it would be

like, all right, guys.

We're going to be doing

this, this, this, and

we would step through

and we would take

every single thing.

So when the

client leaves that

conversation, they

know exactly what

they're going to get.

They know exactly

what they're not

going to get.

So it's black

and white.

So when the variations

come because they

bloody well do or

when changes occur,

you can just sit

back down through

that documentation me

personally, I just want

to do the right thing.

So I don't want to

bump steer anyone

to like charge an

extra for variations,

try and make extra

money here and there.

Cause that's just

anyone should operate.

I believe.

And the client

can just be like,

all right, cool.

Well, yeah, that's,

yeah, we didn't, that's

not part of the scope.

It's what it is.

And you go, right, this

is how the process is.

And then it goes

even further with

variations, you know.

Getting the variations

in place, putting

all the details in

place, making sure

it's all clear as mud.

And then we can all

just crack on and get

the job done, get paid.

their, they get

their product and

everyone's stoked.

So with the

subcontractor

agreements,

they're quite hard.

Like I've tried to

implement them on my

sites to some trades.

I find them so hard

to get people even

just to read them

from a residential

perspective.

Look, I've got great

relationships with all

my trades and not that

I actually need them.

And sometimes you might

get someone that's new

and you haven't worked

with and you've got a

gut feeling about them.

I can hardly even

get them to send

me an invoice half

the time, let alone

sign one of them.

Have you sort of

had problems with

that?

Yeah, definitely.

A hundred percent.

And like, and that's

the sort of different

things between the

commercial world

and the residential

industry is that.

There needs to

be more of that

commercial side.

It's like, right guys,

you contractually

doing this and this is

the contract you do.

And that will

really help improve

the industry.

Cause you do get a

lot of cowboy people

come through or people

you don't, or, you

know, your guy that

you use forever, he

just can't make it.

So you're stuck with a

block off high pages.

Cause you're getting

desperate, they're

not all horrible.

I've already stumbled

on high pages and

he's fucking awesome.

But like that process

in place enforcing it,

just being the builder

that enforces it.

Mate, the reason I

do it is to protect

you and I do it to

protect me because

you agree to this.

And if there's anything

outside of the scope,

mate, yeah, mate, you

charge your variations.

You do what

you got to do.

Cause it's subcontract,

it works both ways.

Same with the client.

It's a contract

in place.

It needs to be clear.

It needs to be precise.

Action.

I'm interested

to know how you

balance the emotion.

Because, you know,

if we're talking

about commercial

construction, there's

not a huge amount

of emotion there.

It really is just

black and white.

It's very

transactional.

You can't deny that

when you're dealing

with someone's home,

that they're going to

raise their family in.

And it's the biggest

investment they're

going to have in their

life, that there is a

huge amount of emotion

that's wrapped around

that black and white

transactional agreement

that you've got.

So how do you

balance that?

Emotion that's there,

when building someone's

home and trying to

keep things as black

and white and as

clear as possible.

that's a ripper

question.

And what I found

in these situations

for me personally

was a lot of it came

to communication.

So it comes down to

having their intentions

in mind and just

understanding what they

want, understanding

their needs, asking

all the questions to

ensure what they want.

Is going to be correct

because the only

way you disappoint

someone during a

situation like this

during construction

project is not meeting

their expectations.

And the only way

you can know their

expectations is by

actually communicating

it with that person

and trying to get

as much information

information out of

them as possible.

And from that black

and white transactional

process, there's times

when clients don't have

a clue what they want.

Like we build things

and they walk in and

they're like, Oh,

I didn't think it

would look like that.

And you're like, that's

what it looks like.

Cause we're different.

We're different cats.

We can look at a 2d

set of drawings and

we can construct

it in our brains.

The communication

channel with these

people with clients

in particular, cause

they don't have that

talent that we have.

It's about ensuring

that they understand

exactly what they're

going to get.

And that's just by

expanding the scope.

And what I mean by that

is you have pictures of

what the materials are.

you know, you have

pricing lists.

You can just sort

of expand on that

sort of that aspect

BMX files.

Oh man.

Matty loves his BMX.

He

bangs on about

them all the time.

It answers everything,

like you can't expect

people, like we're

industry experts,

we can't expect

people to build

this in their head.

I say it all the

time.

Well, a hundred

percent.

and when you have like

price like that, That

helps it even more.

As you progress through

that process, because

it is super emotional

because they're forking

out a heap of money

off the banks or

whatever they're doing.

they start to feel it.

And when they start to

feel that communication

is dropping from

the builder or from

a subcontractor or

whoever, they're

sort of engaging.

That's when, like,

there's doubt and,

like, you might skimp

a little bit here and

oh, and they just get

this fear of, they

get this fear and

this issue and they're

like, oh, they're like

every other builder,

they're going to be

on a current affair,

oh no, it's all going

to be shit, but if you

actually clear with

them and communicate

well, um, and just tell

them what's going on

and , just help that

process, help keep

them at ease, you know,

like it's not going

to get built tomorrow.

There's process

in place.

I want to be

done right.

the hardest thing in

construction is just

making decisions.

building is the

easiest part.

The hardest thing is

getting decisions and

then executing on that.

And with a client,

if you can just help.

Steer them through

the process and, and

just work with them.

Like, Oh, we need

this done here because

of these reasons.

And just keep

working with them and

communicating through

that whole process.

By the time you get

to the back end, what

they're going to see

is that that builder

actually gave a shit.

They cared about

what we want to do.

It wasn't just

a transaction.

It was a whole process.

And as you know, when

you work with families

and especially people

taught on a budget,

which is another

important one, it's

you, as long as

you put their best

interests at heart

and then you can move

forward and crack on.

And hang, we bang on

about this all the

time about the pre

construction phase.

Like, I think that's

one of the most

important things

about seeing that

communication boundary,

developing that report.

So you're just getting

all those problems

before they start or

you, okay, you're not

getting all of them.

You're limiting

the risk.

And yeah, as you said,

before miles, there's

going to be problems.

Yes, there's going

to be variations.

Most of the variations

because the client

wants to change

something themselves.

So what we can't

foresee that.

beauty about the

relationships I have

with my clients.

Variations come

from them wanting

to change something.

I'm not saying

that, hey, we need

to change that.

Like, that's

going to cost you

extra, you want to

change something.

So, Yeah,

that we're going

to touch on now,

but to bring it up

like it's for us.

It's twofold.

It's it's exactly what

you're saying miles

and making sure that

your documentation

is tight and that

you're capturing all

the things that the

clients throwing at

you and making sure

that's all documented.

So you do have a very

fixed black and white

set of documents that

you're referring to.

But it's all about

developing that

relationship.

Building that

relationship, having

tough conversations

with clients,

particularly around

budget and you

know, what they

can actually afford

with the money that

they have to spend.

And then I feel that

building of that

relationship in the

pre con stage makes

it so much easier to

have difficult and

hard conversations

during construction.

Can't agree more.

That is nail

in the head.

That's exactly

the process.

We just want to

mitigate making

our lives hard

as the builder.

Because if you don't

have the answers

up ahead of time,

it just makes the

process difficult.

And when you start

asking for more

money, because they

just didn't make a

decision earlier.

relationship

difficult, so that,

it just, yeah, that's

just a shit show.

Don't recommend

it's a hard

conversation too.

Like, you don't enjoy

going to that client.

Like, hey, this is

going to cost more.

Like, I don't get all

excited for that in the

morning when I wake up.

Like, it ruins the day.

A hundred percent,

but, if you didn't

say anything and you

left there, with them

with the intention of

saying it's all going

to be fine, well,

you're going to be

in a situation where

you're going to leave

and go, I just gave

them the bum steer,

they're going to have

these hopes and dreams,

but they're going

to get crushed and

all that, you know.

I've actually

got a real life.

Relevant example of

exactly what we've just

been talking about.

That's happened not

35 minutes ago, as

we were going into

construction, something

that was documented,

wasn't available.

So 40 by 40 batons

wasn't available at the

time of contract, So

we allowed for 40 by

30, cause at the time

that was available.

Now I've gone to order

these buttons yesterday

and I can't get 40 by

30, which is what we've

allowed for, but I

can get 40 by 40 now.

Now, 40 by 40 and

40 by 30 have a

different price tag.

So I've gone back to

the client today and

said, just letting you

know, there's a 650

variation I'm going to

send because we can't

get the 40 by 30s.

We can only get

the 40 by 40s.

Now that's all

documented in our

tender document

that we send to

the clients that we

sign a contract on.

Clear as day.

You know, they're like,

yep, you know what?

We know we talked, we

know you talked about

that during the pre

construction phase.

And it does make

sense now that you're

coming back to us

because there's a

different product

that's being supplied.

So, I mean, that's

just one really

small example of the

power of that pre

construction process.

And that's what

you've done there.

It's shit hot.

That's exactly

how it should go.

That's perfect.

that's where the

trust is built.

It's like, I've

just, you know, just

being real with you.

And that's what it is.

communication is key.

Like, I look at all the

builders that are like

complaining that they

have relationships with

clients up and no, it's

a client's problem.

Like it's because

you're not

communicating properly

with your client.

Like I have no problem

with my clients.

Like I've got such

good relationships with

him to a point where

like today I've got

problems on site and

I've called one of them

to explain the problem.

And he's the one

that put me at ease,

not anyone else.

Like that's the

relationships

we need to

That's crazy.

so, Miles, what's the

building inspector

because they

differentiate from

a building surveyor.

So, people will know

that when they build a

house, have a building

surveyor involved

to check over the

plans but what's the

role of a building

inspector?

Alright, industry

itself, we've got

building inspectors

and we've got

building surveyors.

Building surveyors

are the ones that,

as we all know,

puts the building

permits together.

They come on site

at certain stages

of construction to

make sure, that's All

the big ticket items

have been ticked off

and the house isn't

going to fall apart

and non compliant,

stuff like that.

With regards to

building inspectors,

there's different types

of building inspectors.

So me personally,

I just focus on

doing pre purchase

building inspections.

What that is, is if

Matthew's looking

to buy a house

and he has no idea

about the house.

He engages me, I come

out and I do a full

building and timber

pest inspection.

Okay.

So ideally, you need

to be a registered

building practitioner

and a licensed pest

controller ticks all

the boxes for the

contract move on.

The other type of

building inspectors

are ones we do

now called private

building inspectors.

Now.

There's no like

industry or anything

related to it.

These are just blokes

and they don't have to

be registered builders.

They can be, the

mailman off the street

and come out and

they can do reports

on the property.

And that's based around

what the building

surveyor does, but to

into more detail, which

I actually thinks a

really good industry

that I really like.

I like the idea of it.

There's some people

that aren't really

qualified to do it,

but then there's

some people that

absolutely kick ass

at it, and they're

great, and they make

sure that the house

is getting built to

a, a minimum standard,

right, which as you

guys know is really

not that difficult.

and there's a lot

of people out there

getting shafted just

getting houses that

aren't compliant,

don't meet a

minimum standard.

And then they're paying

hundreds of thousands

of dollars and getting

shafted, which is uh,

shits me,

Okay, so correct me

if I'm wrong, the

people that are coming

out, cause they might

subcontract out those

inspections to anyone.

Are you saying that

the people that do

those inspections don't

have to be licensed?

It depends.

So if they're

working under the

building surveyor,

they most definitely

have to be licensed

building inspectors.

Like a registered

building inspector.

yeah, so I'm on

the, I'm on the VBA

website here, and

they've got Building

Inspector Unlimited

and building inspector

Limited, and

that's depending

on the size and

but if you've been

engaged by the client,

to do private

building inspections,

Different game.

Nothing's in place yet

for that, which they

will need to be

yes.

Yeah.

So these are the people

that come out and say

that, oh, your wall

is this far out of

level by this amount,

or that's a defect or

exactly right.

Yeah.

So

they use the old

gods of standards and

tolerances to ensure

the house is built to

some sort of minimum

standard, it's just

the next step that the

building survey does

not do the building

survey doesn't come

through and check that

the walls are plumb

or straight in every

single location, but

they do the key things

like the footings

are the right depth

and the steel is

correct in the slab.

And the frame is.

Got all the connections

that it needs, but it's

not going to go out

there and say, Oh, the,

, one of your trusses

is a little bit out

of plum, start again.

You know, that's, it

takes that extra step.

So is that, you, you

don't, because like

on your Instagram

that you're on site

a lot with your

microphone, that's

the stuff that you're

explaining is that you

don't do that though.

You do the reports

for people moving

because

the reason I didn't

do the new home

inspections, cause I

just didn't have any

capacity because I have

stood a construction

company with a mate,

still got the building

inspection company

and building out

another company at the

same time, plus the

social media stuff,

plus the family,

plus just trying to

be a human being.

had no capacity to

go into and learning

again, all the

building regulations

and codes and get up

to date with it all.

I just thought I'll

just stick with the

pre purchase I'm

comfortable with that.

It's easy.

And then I just

move forward.

But, I never got into

the, into the new home

stuff.

think there's a gap, so

I've been vocal on this

before, I think there's

a gap between then your

frame and your final

inspection to help

void that warranty or

void that, that issue

that we have on site

where you have people

for, I just still can't

get my head around it,

we whack up a frame,

the next time the

building survey comes

on site is the end.

That's so much

shit happens in

between that,

I can't agree more.

I, you know, you,

you think you slap

the frame up and then

you've got the service

trays come through and

they're smashing holes

through all the LVLs

and stuff like that,

and they're making

things fall apart.

That's why I like

the idea of these.

private building

inspectors, because

they do come through

like pre plaster or

they come through

for waterproofing,

they come through

post plaster and then

the defects walk at

the back end of the

house that just gives

a better scope to

ensure that the house

is built to within an

acceptable standard.

Yeah.

And we talk about like

an acceptable standard,

and being a, you know,

minimum standard.

So whatever it's

spelled out in the NCC.

Yep.

I just, I do

want to get your

opinion on where we

should be putting

More inspections.

I mean, Matt and I

have our opinions

on this, obviously,

because we're high

performance and

passive house builders.

And there's some

real obvious ones for

us, but I'm keen to

hear your take on it

from maybe someone

that's not in the high

performance space.

I don't know if

you build high

performance stuff,

but, but you do do.

Pre purchase

inspections.

You're a

builder as well.

You understand how

things go together.

Like where would

you put additional

inspections?

for me personally, I

think the additional

inspections

would definitely

be pre plaster.

I think pre plaster,

making sure all the

roughing and everything

done is correct,

insulation in the home

is actually adequate.

That's a big one.

And then I think

waterproofing wet

areas is another

one in particular

because as you guys

know, To fall back

on some sort of claim

with waterproofing

is pretty well near

impossible, because

once you rip a tile up

and try to blame the

waterproofing, it's

not really relevant.

I think it's a really

good capture of the

home to ensure that

the workmanship that's

been done has been

done compliant, it's

been done correctly,

and ideally it's

been flood tested.

So it's just, So

you can walk away

and say, yep, that

is done correctly.

But they're the two

big ones that are, I

think are important.

And I the PCI is

important too.

So the project

completion inspection,

which as you would

know, it's like a

defects walk back into

the house because a

lot of people like

novice homeowners,

they have no idea from

a building compliance

point of view, if

everything's correct.

So I think ensuring

that, you know, that

the fit off stages

and everything like

that has been done

correctly, and there's

no, you know, GPO

sitting right above

your oven or next to,

you know, in your sink,

things like that are

super critical as well.

Like it happens

all the time, which

I can't believe.

But

again, that sort of

probably falls back

to you, Matthew, with

regards to registered

trades, you know

you can kick a spark

in the ass and a

plumber in the ass.

Cause I got something

to fall back onto,

but when it comes

to everybody else,

they just put their

hands up and like,

Oh, I'm just, I

did the best I

Yeah, but the GPI

in the sink makes it

a lot easier to use

your stick blender.

So you're not getting

shit everywhere.

It just

that's actually,

froth the most photos

when I see them online.

I actually laugh.

all the door that just

doesn't open because

it hits the toilet.

And it's like,

What the fuck?

Yeah.

Like, there's so

many people that

have been on site

from supervisors

to like a tiler,

plumber who installed

it, carpenters, did

not anyone go, oh,

this doesn't work.

yeah, no one cares.

from your point of

view, because you guys

do high end work, , and

I've done that before,

and that's what I

really did, it's a

different game for us,

because we, are there

more, we care more, but

when it comes to, like,

a volume builder, where

it's just these port,

like, and I feel sorry

for these site managers

that run, run these

jobs, they're trying

to run, like, 15 houses

simultaneously with

all different trades.

It is impossible to

try to stay on top

of absolutely every

single time, little

bits and pieces.

They rely on these

inspections without

these independent

inspectors coming

on to help them.

They, like, they can't

look over every single

thing, like, and even

we, Mahamish and I

can't, like, we're

there all the time, but

we still can't capture

absolutely everything,

and we rely on our

team to help fill that

That's correct.

And what I'm finding,

speaking to these

guys that do the new

home inspections is

they're getting now

engaged by builders

just to do that job.

So they'll come out

and do a full defects

list at whatever

stage it's at.

And then the builder

just takes that on,

discharges that to

every Trade relevant

to it and then get

some to execute and

then move forward,

which I think is a

good model as well.

As long as those

buildings, as long as

those inspectors are

somewhat independent

to the builder and

they're not trying to,

you know, they're not

in their back pocket,

then I think it's going

to be a good thing.

But to do that, you

need to be again,

registered industry,

which it's not quite

there yet.

I'm looking at doing

it on my site so

I'm completely open.

I'm looking at

introducing two or

three extra inspection

stages from an

external consultant

to come be that eye

and just double check.

But there's things

that we're not going

to know that is a

standard or something

that might pull us

up and that's fine.

I totally get that I'm

going to, there's some

things I'm probably

not doing a hundred

percent correct and

that's good because we

can improve on them.

it comes back

to regulation.

Like who, who's

actually doing

these tests?

I'd like to see like

the VBA, and we're

in Victoria here,

all of us, that they

introduce some form of

licensing, or maybe not

them because they're

fucking useless, but

some form of body that

can actually, bring

together, , these

inspectors and have

them, at least on an

equal par, so everyone

knows that they're

actually legit, not,

oh no, I went and

got a tape measure

and a level, and now

all of a sudden I'm

an inspector, mean,

we need to have real

people doing this.

yeah, well the case

scenario for you guys

in particular is like,

all right, we're going

to get to hand over.

And then someone

comes in and is like,

Oh, the box gutter

doesn't, isn't,

it's not compliant.

And you're like,

try fix that when

the job's done.

You know what I mean?

Like you want that

stuff picked up much

earlier throughout

the stage just to

mitigate any issues.

But the box, like,

box is a great one

because roofing

is a huge problem

that we see with a

lot of water leaks.

But that should go

back again to the,

again, back to the

pre construction

phase of the architect

and designer working

with the builder

and a roofer to make

sure it's calculated

properly,

there should be some

form of document

sign that has been

calculated for

the right depths.

Because every architect

designs a 300 by 100

mil box gutter, and

they just chuck it in.

But it never works.

Not once.

Never.

for any listeners

out there, if you're

doing your box gutter

at a minimum of 100,

depth, then you're

just fucking asking for

problems, especially

in like a, a really

high tree area where

you've got fucking

foliage falling into

them all the time.

Like it's an

absolute pain.

And if you can avoid

box gutters, put an

eave gutter, eave

gutter all the way,

every day, all the way.

so the issue is when

you do, when you,

when you do your pre

property inspections,

is there like certain

items that come up time

and time again that

can be really prevented

in the way we build?

no.

In regards to pre

purchase, I think some

of the important things

I've learned from

that, and I think I'm

up to about a thousand

hours now, right?

The biggest things that

I come across often,

and I bang on about

this all the bloody

time, is inground

plumbing issues.

there's movement

in every house.

I must admit, it's

more than I expected,

to be honest, in just,

you know, slap a slab

down and the house sits

there for 20 years.

Inground plumbing

inspection should be

like a mandatory thing

done to help mitigate

all these massive

issues that every

house comes across.

There's like

rising damp.

What's the cause?

In grand plumbing

issues, houses moving

in grand plumbing

issues, pooling of

water in grand plumbing

issues, water issues.

It's just these types

of things that I'm

learning a lot about

it, that people are

not aware of and just,

and they need to get

on top of it because

it's a slow burn.

If there's an issue,

it can take 10 years.

And then your house

starts falling down.

So I think.

It's more about

educating people

about how to maintain

their property.

They buy a house and

they just think, that's

it., Definitely not.

You need to maintain

it like a car.

Like you got

to service it.

You got to do these

things or that's

when shit goes bad.

totally.

We spend, we spend

30, 40, even 100 grand

on a car and everyone

gets it vacuumed and

polished each week, but

people spend a million

dollars on a house

and literally don't

Yeah.

Until they sell it

and that's when they

do all the work.

or they build gardens

right up to the

footings and then

wonder why they've

got rising damp and

footing sediment.

Yeah.

They cover weep holes.

It's just dramas

guys, and that's,

that's, part of my

intent with the social

media stuff I'm doing.

It's just trying to

help educate some

people about what's

going on, so they're

not doing all these

things, because they

don't have a clue,

which is, that's

fairly unreasonable.

There's a, there's

CSIRO guide to

standards around,

planting plants

up against house

and water and

foundation management.

And part of our

handover package is

we send that document

to make sure that

they are not planting

things up against the

house, that they need

to get that water away

from the building with

their landscaping.

Like, if anyone

doesn't know 101 of

building, if you're

going to learn anything

in any podcast to

do is water kills

buildings, simple.

It starts and

finishes right there.

Like, every

conversation is to

get water away from

that building because

it will kill the

yes, yeah, water

is the destroyer

of everything.

Weatherboards, roof

tiles, the roof,

yeah, the roof leaks,

it goes in here, it

causes these issues.

It just, it just adds

to it, and like, that's

why the Yeah, that's

why I bang on about

it, because it's so

fucking important,

to be honest.

But it's also so easy.

there's so many

answers to do this

and just everyone

wants to be tried

to it differently.

I feel sometimes

because it looks

cool on Instagram.

But you know what?

Simple shit works.

Just get the

water away.

If you've got storm

water, drain it away.

Get it away from

the building.

Get it out onto

the street until

the barrel drain.

Like,

Actually, just to go

back on your question,

Matt, with regards

to the house I see

today, and how new

builds should change,

I think the big one is

drainage in particular,

like aggie drains,

surface water getting

captured and going

where it's got to go.

That's something I

don't come across

often, and when I do

come across houses

that does have some

nice, adequate drainage

around it, then

there's no issues.

The subfloor is

nice and bone dry.

Everything's

working really,

really, really well.

then my experience with

new home construction

is, you know, you

don't really, from my

experience, I never

really had designs

for surface water

and surface drainage.

It's just capture

the roof and then

send it on its way.

So I think that's a

probably important one.

I reckon that needs

to be, um, yeah,

kicked in the ass to

be honest.

We're now forcing a

civil engineer on most

projects, if not all.

I don't know about

you Haym, are you

doing the same?

Just to,

well, we've got

one project at the

moment in Warrandyte

where it's on a,

to 30 degree slope.

And, um, In Warrandyte,

you scratch the

surface and you're

hitting shale rock.

So water's just

hitting that rock

and just running

underneath the house.

Now, because we've done

a, an extension and

added on, undermined

the footing, so

we've done some,

um, , stabilising

the existing

footings, we've

now trapped water.

Now we, we had an

engineer, like a

drainage engineer

involved, and we've

had to get them back

involved again to

try and work out

how we're going to

manage the water.

Like water is, water

is just fucked.

whether it's from

a, uh, not adequate

waterproofing, whether

it's getting in through

the claddings and you

haven't put the right

building wraps on, or

whether it's coming

from underground,

it will fuck it

from top to bottom.

100%.

100%.

That's the biggest

number one takeaway

for anyone.

Anyone.

And where it comes

in is never where

you think it is too.

Like, I've had projects

we've had a roof

leak in the past.

They, you can't

find them.

Like, they come from

the other side of

the building and

they end up on the

whole, like, you

just can't find them.

And it's so hard,

so, also think

to some point we

should be having

roofing inspections.

I think if we're really

serious about this,

I think that if we

want to start reducing

the liability across

the board and have

reduced insurances

and potential claims

in the future, I

think most claims for

insurance companies

are roofing related.

Like surely way

that we can go about

that they need a

roofing inspection

prior to getting

building insurance,

something like that.

It keeps people

100%.

And like with regards

to that, you know,

because I got some

mates that work in that

sort of industry as

well as they do repairs

for insurance works.

As you know, insurance

companies don't

like to pay fucking

any money out.

So what happens most of

the time is that they

just fall back and say,

oh, sorry, your house,

you know, you didn't

maintain your roof.

No claim, move on.

And everyone's just

like, all right, shit.

So like it's, it

happens so often.

It's very, very common.

, but yeah, that's

an important

part to ensure.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You're looking

And that's just

cleaning your

gutters out.

Just cleaning your

gutters out is probably

starting with that.

Oh, a hundred percent.

Yeah.

gonna put a

situation at you.

So, you're doing

inspection for a pre

purchase inspection.

It's a brand new house

and I wanna go back

to at the start that

you don't wanna get

like commercial and

residential emotionally

involved residential.

How do you report to

the new people about

to buy this house?

That their house is

shit, or it's falling

apart already, and

it's just new, and

like, that's emotional.

So with regards to pre

purchase inspections,

someone's bought

a house and let's

say it's, you know,

10 years old and

there's issues, right.

And you wouldn't

believe it, but

there's actually,

I've had major

structural defects

on houses that are

like five years old.

The reason why we

get engaged to do

these things is to

ensure people don't

get shafted and buy

an absolute lemon.

And again, same

with building.

Building inspections

are the same.

Communication is key.

The idea here is to

help educate these

people about the

reasons why these

defects are present.

Recommendations on how

to fix those defects.

And then what that

does in from the report

point of view, it

creates like a massive

defects list of all

these things in place

that need to occur to

ensure the house gets

back to a standard

that's acceptable.

All right, so having

that communication

client is hard.

It's one of those ones

where it's required

because if I just You

know, if I ignored the

issues or whatever it

might be, obviously I

can get me ass kicked,

but they're going

to buy a house that

they're going to have

to fork out 25, 000

to do underpinning

because there was a

little area, but, you

know, it looked a bit

sus and all it needed

was a little bit of

an investigation and

that's what it raised.

I had one only the