Define the certification boundary before finishing another builder job
Assess certification and inspection scope when an owner asks a subcontractor to complete an interrupted project.
Corporate Recovery Partners
01 / 06
Finishing work may include a broader request
The owner asks you to finish after the builder collapses, then mentions signing off the whole installation. Before accepting, clarify exactly what inspection or certification is required and whether you are qualified and authorised to provide it. Obtain appropriate technical and legal advice. Completing a defined remaining task should not silently become an unsupported assurance about work performed by others.
Imagine an electrical contractor asked to complete a partly finished project and provide final documentation. Obtain the actual requirements from the appropriate source and identify the relevant scope. Do not rely on a casual phrase such as sign everything off. Different work, documents and statutory or contractual requirements may need different people and evidence.
business.gov.au recommends clear contracts describing the work and responsibilities. Have the new agreement identify the inspections, completion tasks and documents actually included, with professional advice where needed. Avoid using a broad description that leaves the owner expecting certification of concealed or uninspected work that has not been assessed as part of the proposal.
In the electrical example, locate available drawings, test results and records of work already completed through authorised channels. Identify gaps and ask the qualified technical person what further assessment is needed. Do not assume an old drawing proves the installation matches it, or create a record purporting to document tests your business never performed.
If additional inspection or corrective work is needed, explain its scope, access requirements and cost before committing. Keep uncertain findings visible and avoid promising a completion date unsupported by the assessment. Ask the adviser how responsibility for existing conditions should be addressed in the agreement. The owner needs to understand what the proposal does and does not establish.
Retain the evidence for work and assessments actually undertaken and follow the applicable professional requirements. Keep the old builder debt separate from the new completion arrangement. A clear certification boundary protects the usefulness of the final documents, because they reflect work properly assessed rather than a broad assurance added informally to win the opportunity to finish the job.
