Marketing with Martha

Katz points out that new immigrants are particularly vulnerable to unscrupulous builders, since they tend to assume that law enforces reasonable standards. In fact he says, the official standards for building materials and practices are inadequate.

But there are, of course, commercial consultants. The Independent Consumers Association recommended a company called B.M. Building Monitoring to me.

The head of the firm, Reuven Katz, is a Technion graduate who worked for years in the building field before going over to consulting services. His main office is in Tel-Aviv, at 42 Dizengof St. (03-2817081), with a Haifa branch at 112 Hagalil, Neve Sha’anan, and a Jerusalem branch at Shamai 8 St (today, The Head Office is in Herzlia, (09-9567996).

“People usually come to me for inspection of a dwelling just before they move in, or at the time the contractor’s one-year guarantee for free repairs is about to expire”, Katz told me. Such an inspection and written report will cost I.L.1,000 for a flat, I.L. 1,400 for a house, plus VAT.

A buyer will be well advised to spend those amounts several times during the course of construction to have a professional engineer check up on the builder.

The Jerusalem Post Magazine

Martha Maizels, December 78