Australia
There seem to be an unbelievable number of homes out there, each with an unbelievable number of costly-to-rectify defects. Some of these can be seen on TV. But for author Mark Whitby, they are just the tip of the iceberg. He found out that there are other hidden problems totaling more than six times the cost (on average) to rectify the items that homeowners themselves had discovered.
"DEFECT" is about how a home owner can ensure that their home is built to a reasonable standard just by making a few alterations to their contracts and specifications. It also enables home owners to obtain the services of a capable building consultant, so that the defects built on their homes will be properly rectified and not just maintained. Inadequacies in current building insurance policies are also revealed.
This book defines basic contractual terms-such as defect, specification, and performance-that form the very basis for quality in housing. Once defined, these terms go a long way to ending the shortcutting rife in the industry, make insurance fairer for homeowners, and greatly reduce the costs associated with building disputes.
This book also attempts to set up various models to make this all happen and to ensure that quality is of a high standard well into the future so as to avoid a sizeable blight resulting from the steady decline in the standard of building work being constructed today. Whitby gives advice on what can be done to help the residential building industry cure itself of this now entrenched substantial drop in standards.
"DEFECT" helps to facilitate a fairer playing field so that current and future homeowners can avoid ending up with maintenance-prone homes. Those who are buying or already in the possession of a badly built home may also benefit from this book as long as they get the help of capable, hard-working, caring people plus take heed of existing precedents.
For more information on this book, interested parties can log on to http://www.Xlibris.com.au.
About the Author
Mark Whitby is a building consultant and architect who has extensive experience (over a period of more than thirty years) assessing quality of work in houses, units, additions, and apartments in the Victorian residential building sector. He has inspected a wide variety of styles of houses-big and small, old and new-including many houses and additions under construction today. He diagnoses problems and scopes the rectification works needed to bring defective homes up to a workmanlike standard.
DEFECT * by Mark Whitby
New Houses, Units & Additions
Publication Date: April 21, 2014
Trade Paperback; AU$29.99; 138 pages; 9781493137060
Trade Hardback; AU$49.99; 138 pages; 9781493137077
e-book; AU$4.25; 9781493137053
Members of the media who wish to review this book may request a complimentary paperback copy by contacting the publisher at 1-800-455-039. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (02) 8088 6078 or call 1-800-455-039.
Xlibris books can be purchased at Xlibris bookstore. For more information, contact Xlibris at 1-800-455-039 or on the web at http://www.Xlibris.com.au.
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