Risk and Opportunity Considerations

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A few considerations include:

Item	Action
Warranty issue	Firstly determining if it’s a statutory warranty issue. If it is, the work needs to be fixed. The importance of good subbie selection, programme and quality management really shows at this point.
Works to be done	The work needs to be done, so if the subbie can’t or won’t (eg. has gone out of business), we’re going to incur another cost against the job and chasing that back can be very difficult.
Rectification works	If the issue would have arisen regardless of care and maintenance. If it isn’t really linked to maintenance, Hutchies’ doesn’t use this as an excuse to avoid rectification.
Good maintenance	If good maintenance would have helped prevent/minimise the issue – we’d need to understand if the proper care of the building has occurred. The operation and maintenance should have been as followed as per the manuals (ensuring that the manuals covered the issue adequately/clearly), or if it seems like a common-sense issue that a suitably experienced building maintenance contractor manager person would have been able to understand.
Occupancy neglext	If the occupants have been negligent in any way. If we are prepared to be responsible for our contribution to an issue, then it’s fair to expect the same for anyone else involved.

In short – we don’t ignore issues hoping they will go away. We deal with them upfront to avoid them getting out of hand and causing greater damage.

During the post contract period we:

Item	Action
Allocated supervisor	Make sure we have allocated a supervisor that has time to deal with the issues and has exceptional communication skills in this environment (who knows how to treat people decently)
Distribution list	Maintain the correct distribution list for the project defects email so the people that need to know about an issue are contactable
Central email	Use the central project defects email address to accept new defects and distribute information.
Phone calls	We don’t screen calls or avoid issues – a completed building means the people involved have their work and personal life disrupted so it doesn’t take much for them to be frustrated. It’s like a new car breaking down and the proud new owner having to stand by the side of the road waiting.
Contact	People that don’t have success contacting us, or getting us to attend to defects fall back to regulators and that not at all what we want
Good relationships	Maintain that good relationship with the building manager/building owner/body corporate – continue healthy positive communication – if there is an issue we want them to be upfront and tell us. The closer we are to them, the more likely they will want to work with us. Remind them of the need for maintenance.
Attend to issues	Attend to issues / defects that are raised progressively – don’t delay them or let them build up without clear agreement. The more time people have to look at a defect once they identified it, the more irritated they become and will go looking for more to escalate the importance of dealing with them. Don’t leave people hanging and thinking we have no care or consideration for their needs (which are typically backed to contract and statutory rights)
Be polite	Be polite, helpful and respect the building managers/building operators/owner’s privacy and time. Don’t presume they are working around us like they are here to do us a favour. Don’t think every owner is sitting around waiting for us, or that you can arrange for them all to be home at the same time, so the work is efficiently completed.
Defect inspection	Complete our own full project defects inspection at 18 months to ensure we identify any issues during the initial operation/use of the building. Use the Quality and Services teams to assist. Note once again – this isn’t lip service – refer defects period guide
Buildinghandover	Once a building is handed over and occupied, we lose control of easy access and the works are inefficient – it’s that simple. This is why we want to build good quality to begin with to avoid this costly exercise
Comple works	Complete any required works to a good (Hutchies) and acceptable (contract / statutory warranty) standard
Check defects	Consider the works carefully and implement controls to ensure suitable security, safety, protection of building works and building contents (including vehicles), and cleaning are provided, check the defects are complete yourself (don’t take anyone’s word for it) and maintain records as typically those works have an extended warranty
Written conformation	Get written confirmation that the acceptance of the defects from whoever raised the defect to close it out
Don't leave	Don’t leave any loose ends!

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Statutory Warranties