Ask & Answer: Clean House?!
We got this in our mailbox (in our PC, not the real mailbox outside the gate) last week, we’re curious how it came to us. We’re assuming he/she wrote this to his developer and sent a copy to us. And hopefully he didn’t mistake us for his developer, or KPKT for that matter… 
Anyway, i hope the person doesn’t mind us putting it up here for our Ask & Answer column for the benefit of other buyers. Cheers!
XX
10-Aug (5 days ago)
Dear Sir,
I’m really puzzled how can most people just happily get their new house keys from the developer and start gathering family members to spring wash their new house???
When approached, developer always say they have no one to spaer to clean the house. Isn’t there any article somewhere somehow indicating that a house must be surrender to the buyer in clean and perfect condition? Imagine buying a new car and you get it in sparkling show room condition. And buying a house but got in urrh..no words to describe the mess in the new house…Cant we demand it to be delivered in show room condition???
Where can we poor people channel our sorrow?? after spending quarter million to buy a house that comes free with 1 ton of building waste…
Dissapointed
Our Response:
Well, the best place to look is in your S&P document if there is any clause to say they must hand over the house in a clean state. But we can bet you that 9.9 out of 10 developers will NOT put such a clause in the S&P. Why? Well, there are a few problems. How clean is clean? Of course, following due reasoning, the developer cannot expend $$$ to make sure everything is super spick and span, since new housing area is bound to be very dusty. Anyway, if they put a clause to impress buyers, they’ll be afraid that buyers will ‘take advantage’ if it and make them clean everything right down to sterile conditions. (More $$$). So you see why they don’t usually do that. Most of the time the developer will think “Aiyah, the buyer will clean anyway, so why bother to clean so much? They won’t move in immediately, then the house will be dusty again…”
But then, buyers must fight for their rights. Or at least good after sales customer service. Here’s what you should do:
- Put it in the defects list.
- Take lots of photos.
- Make an appointment with the developer’s supervisor to come and inspect the handed over house. Make sure he signs receipt of defects list. Keep a copy (should they accidentally ‘lose’ the form)
- Get a commitment from them as to when it can be rectified (the period is usually stated in the S&P).
If the above still does not get thing done, you need to move into Phase 2.
- Write letter to developer to complaint. Attach all documents - photos, defects list, and notes of all inspection times and dates.
- Send photos to papers, with complaint letter so that everyone hears about it.
- Copy letter to KPKT.
- For more drastic action - call the press. I hear this particular TV station is always very keen on all these issues.
Okay, fine, the above is a little drastic, but what else can a buyer do? There’s one thing a developer is afraid of is - BAD PUBLICITY. Well, MOST developers lah. Some will think - “Project finish already, i got my profit, can close HDA account, why should i worry? I’m not spending XXX to clean your house!”
Having said that, most developers usually hand over the house in a reasonably clean state, but even so, you still need to clean the house again.We’ve come across a developer that will offer free professional cleaner service once after VP to the buyer, the buyer must appoint the date for them to come. Good idea.
Thanks for your reply. Its not a mistake, my email is meant for you to publish in your column. At least to create more awaremess on buyers right.
In this intsance, the developer sent his site supervisor to sweep clean the house but did not want to co-operate on a proper washing. Inspection after the sweeping shows no signs of defect but still needs lots of scrubing. As such, how do we add this to the defect list? Do we still have any ground to demand a proper washing of the construction grime off the beautiful tiles? Please advise. Thanks!
Comment by Disappointed — August 21, 2006 @ 4:23 pm
that last bit is iffy. You say not clean, the developer say clean already. Hard to argue. I’m not saying its wrong for you to ask for a clean house (like show unit), only that the developer has no contractual obligations to clean it further if he thinks its is sufficiently clean (again, quite objective here).
here’s what to do - list down the defects and show photos. See if they act. If they do, well and fine. If not, let’s see what’s their response.
Comment by Administrator — August 21, 2006 @ 4:33 pm
err.. are you suggesting we “insist” the dirt as defect? I was thinking more like chipped tiles and the sort.
Comment by Disappointed — August 21, 2006 @ 4:43 pm
you can say that the tile is dirty and grimy, and attach the photo. if i were you, i put put it as part the defects list, even though its not like chipped or broken. I would think they have to clean it, or if they won’t, they must give you a satisfactory answer as to why.
Comment by Administrator — August 21, 2006 @ 4:48 pm