In the new year the CTTT (Consumer, Trade and Tenancy Tribunal) will be known as the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). I'm not sure what changes this will make to the application process from January onwards, but here's a quick guide to how we lodged the claim against our builder...
First step is to contact the Department of Fair Trading (DFT). I found these guys to be helpful, though unfortunately pretty powerless. I made a formal complaint against the builder back in June but nothing shows up against his name when you do a search on his licence (which is why we're glad Tribunal creates a black mark against his name....if only to warn other potential clients).
Let's face it, if we really wanted to rubbish his name, we'd do it on the online building forums!
Anyway, by talking to the DFT and making a complaint, it creates a formal process surrounding the problem. The DFT offer effective steps on how to resolve this process (so it hopefully doesn't even have to go to Tribunal). After exhausting these steps, the DFT sends you the referral necessary for your CTTT application.
Second step is to download the application form on the CTTT website http://www.cttt.nsw.gov.au/pdfs/Applications/Forms/Application_form_home_building.pdf Take your time and fill in the form. Remember the respondent (person you're claiming against) gets a copy of this form and all attached documentation, so keep this in the back of your mind at all times.
In question 12 'What order/s do you want', you're able to select 'work orders', 'money orders' or 'other orders'. You could select one, two or all three of these options, depending on the situation. We chose a 'money order' (due to all of the f@&$ ups in the house - we definitely DO NOT want the builder back...EVER! We'll happily source new trades ourselves), and 'other order', stating that the CTTT ruling ceases our relationship with the builder (builders warranty excluded). You could put anything in this order really. We chose to create some finality and ensure there's no more back-and-forth with this dickhead.
In question 13 'What are your reasons for requesting the above order/s' we treated it as an appendix for all of the items we were attaching to the claim: copy of the contract, inclusions list, full set of house plans and spreadsheet covering all of the outstanding items (basically our total claim laid out in an easy-to-read format).
This spreadsheet listed all payments claimed and made (to give the mediator at Tribunal a snapshot of where the financials are up to), outstanding items (what the builder STILL hasn't finished on the house), and defects (stuff wrong with the house due to the builder's shit-house work). All of these items are numbered for easy reference, a short description given, valued and tallied for a final figure. The excel spreadsheet also has a running total to make it really easy to read.
The idea is that someone can gain an overall idea of the situation by reading this document. Details will/can be explained further at Tribunal if necessary. The key focus is to make it factual with NO EMOTION. This is not the place for being cranky/upset. The clearer and more concise you are, the easier it is for a mediator, and the easier the process.
To lodge online takes (they say) 30 minutes once you've got all your documentation together (the really time-consuming aspect). We lodged it at the office in person and it only took a few minutes. Lodging it this way also means we get to choose the hearing location (handy for us...not so handy for the builder - but who cares?).
Third step is to wait for the hearing date to come in the mail and pull all of your claims and resources together (the hard bit!).
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
Sunday, 22 December 2013
What's my New Year's resolution? To get some resolution!
Lodging the claim to the CTTT was a LOT of work!
My next post will be on 'how to' for anyone interested. It took longer than expected but after all this time, we figured it was best to wait and get it right for a smoother process. After all, someone from the CTTT has to sit down and wade through all of this stuff...best to make it as concise and succinct as possible.
We used an excel spreadsheet to break it all down. Next step is to pull together all of the supporting documentation for each point...and for each of the Builder's claims. There's a lot more work to go, but I'm going to tackle this in the New Year and enjoy a little rest for now.
We received notice in the mail (2-3 weeks after lodging the claim) that our hearing is set for late January. Will keep you posted on how it all goes. For now, we're trying to enjoy the house, celebrate the festivities and say goodbye to (probably) the most difficult year of our lives.
My next post will be on 'how to' for anyone interested. It took longer than expected but after all this time, we figured it was best to wait and get it right for a smoother process. After all, someone from the CTTT has to sit down and wade through all of this stuff...best to make it as concise and succinct as possible.
We used an excel spreadsheet to break it all down. Next step is to pull together all of the supporting documentation for each point...and for each of the Builder's claims. There's a lot more work to go, but I'm going to tackle this in the New Year and enjoy a little rest for now.
We received notice in the mail (2-3 weeks after lodging the claim) that our hearing is set for late January. Will keep you posted on how it all goes. For now, we're trying to enjoy the house, celebrate the festivities and say goodbye to (probably) the most difficult year of our lives.
Friday, 8 November 2013
off to tribunal
I feel I should rename this blog to 'the never ending story'. Apart from the copyright issues, I really hope this does come to an end soon. Someone recently brought my attention to the fact that this should be a happy time for us...moving into the brand-new house we designed and had built. Unfortunately it's been nothing but tears (mine) and tantrums (the Builder). I can't wait to have him out of our life.
So finally all parties agreed to a meeting date for mediation but due to the Builder failing to provide the Mediator with enough information, much of the meeting was spent trying to gather feedback on the issues at hand (instead of time trying to resolve them). It got a little heated at times. I lost my cool at one point (which I'm not proud of), but in retrospect I'd be disappointed if I didn't have the opportunity at some stage to say how I really felt about the situation.
At the end of the meeting, the Builder was asked (by the Mediator) to send through more supporting documentation, while we needed to clarify his new variations (sent through an hour before the meeting). Since the meeting (3 weeks ago), the only correspondence we've received from the Builder is an email stating he will no longer dealing with the Mediator as he believes he is siding with us and bringing up unnecessary items "fueling the fire". In his email he stated that he hoped we'd be happy to try with another mediator (because this one was obviously taking him to task!). No thanks.
Now the Builder's refusing to pay the (agreed) 50% of the Mediator's bill. How ironic. The Builder still maintains he will issue certificates for occupation and fix all outstanding defects once the final (ludicrous) invoice is paid. I'm not sure how many ways we can communicate to him that we cannot get the bank to pay him until the occupation certificate is issued, which cannot be done until the house (and all it's outstanding issues) are fixed.
It feels like we're back to square one, but not quite. We've clarified some issues going through mediation, done more homework into what requires rectification, and can now walk into Tribunal feeling better prepared with actual costs and what is required to fix this house and stop hating it.
If we didn't need further motivation to keep going, I came home to this sight on Monday...
Apparently, one of the structural wall members has collapsed inside causing the wall to bow. It's not a load bearing wall and will not cause the house to collapse...it's just another thing to fix. I'll just add it to the list.
So finally all parties agreed to a meeting date for mediation but due to the Builder failing to provide the Mediator with enough information, much of the meeting was spent trying to gather feedback on the issues at hand (instead of time trying to resolve them). It got a little heated at times. I lost my cool at one point (which I'm not proud of), but in retrospect I'd be disappointed if I didn't have the opportunity at some stage to say how I really felt about the situation.
At the end of the meeting, the Builder was asked (by the Mediator) to send through more supporting documentation, while we needed to clarify his new variations (sent through an hour before the meeting). Since the meeting (3 weeks ago), the only correspondence we've received from the Builder is an email stating he will no longer dealing with the Mediator as he believes he is siding with us and bringing up unnecessary items "fueling the fire". In his email he stated that he hoped we'd be happy to try with another mediator (because this one was obviously taking him to task!). No thanks.
Now the Builder's refusing to pay the (agreed) 50% of the Mediator's bill. How ironic. The Builder still maintains he will issue certificates for occupation and fix all outstanding defects once the final (ludicrous) invoice is paid. I'm not sure how many ways we can communicate to him that we cannot get the bank to pay him until the occupation certificate is issued, which cannot be done until the house (and all it's outstanding issues) are fixed.
It feels like we're back to square one, but not quite. We've clarified some issues going through mediation, done more homework into what requires rectification, and can now walk into Tribunal feeling better prepared with actual costs and what is required to fix this house and stop hating it.
If we didn't need further motivation to keep going, I came home to this sight on Monday...
Apparently, one of the structural wall members has collapsed inside causing the wall to bow. It's not a load bearing wall and will not cause the house to collapse...it's just another thing to fix. I'll just add it to the list.
Monday, 14 October 2013
wish I could say things were different
...but I can't.
This is our 4th week with a mediator involved. A huge step in itself (getting the Builder to agree to mediation), but no meeting has been scheduled to resolve anything just yet. So what have we been doing? Feeding the mediator with plans, emails, specifications, defects outstanding, photos and timelines to give him a thorough understanding of what has gone down over the last 11 months (from our perspective).
What has the Builder done? He's issued us with a final progress claim...hooray! It only took 6 weeks of asking!!! He hasn't provided any evidence of timelines or documentation to the mediator, and I'm not sure why. Maybe he thinks if he buries his head in the sand all will go away? In this last progress claim he tried to muddy the waters by stating that we hadn't paid for any variations - even though they were noted as paid on every previous claim. He even started messing with dates and paid amounts in an effort to bulk out his final claim (increasing it by $20K!).
I'm sure the mediator is clear on what is happening (and what needs to be done). I'm not saying we're right about everything - there's a lot we could have done better or differently throughout this whole process, but I can't help to think that things aren't right...
Lucky we've been pretty good with keeping all correspondence in check. It's a really big effort to respond to all of the Builder's disheartening emails, gather evidence to dispute his claims, and pull together all the necessary info for mediation (including the obvious excuses the Builder will come up with for time blow-outs, reasons for inflating costs, etc). At the end of the day, we just want this over and done with...finally.
There's a large amount of items outstanding. The mediator has been a great sounding board in what we should accept as part of the building process, and what is sheer sloppy work. He says we shouldn't have to put up with sub-standard work, or make compromises on the house we designed and paid for. Unfortunately this process has become so long and drawn out, we've just brushed over things to have it finished...hating it all the way.
So what are we talking about? Here's an example of our 'finished' concrete patio edge.
We had planned to polish this concrete area - we even put a different coloured aggregate in the wet concrete so it would look super-flash. The concreters didn't form / finish it very well and hence we have folds of plastic, holes and cracks in the edge. Doesn't look very nice, does it? The Project Manager's answer is to run some treated pine around the edge to cover it up. Nice one, but no. The other big problem with this edge is the fact that water runs back straight into the bricks below when it rains. It's supposed to be a drip edge but the Builder has clearly failed in achieving this. Until now he's just shrugged his shoulders at the whole thing. Now we're ready to take him to task on the job he hasn't properly completed.
This is one of about nine items that really require fixing...from re-plastering the ceiling to replacing the wardrobes. It's not like these are things that effect the structural integrity of the house...but why should we pay for the fixing of items that clearly weren't built correctly in the first place?
So now we're waiting for a meeting to be set and hopefully we can get somewhere with the certificates of occupancy, finishing of items and payment upon completion...hopefully. Failing this we're off to Tribunal. All of this evidence-gathering will not be lost at least we'll be well prepared. Keep you posted.
As I'm reviewing this post for spelling mistakes, it strikes me that tonight I sound calm and collected. This hasn't been the case on most days. I've been angry, sad, wanting to sell, and even never wanting to return to the house ever again (contemplating finding somewhere to rent until this all blows over). It has been an uphill slog at every step for me and my family...and most of it so very unnecessary. On one hand, it's just a house. On the other, it's our home.
This is our 4th week with a mediator involved. A huge step in itself (getting the Builder to agree to mediation), but no meeting has been scheduled to resolve anything just yet. So what have we been doing? Feeding the mediator with plans, emails, specifications, defects outstanding, photos and timelines to give him a thorough understanding of what has gone down over the last 11 months (from our perspective).
What has the Builder done? He's issued us with a final progress claim...hooray! It only took 6 weeks of asking!!! He hasn't provided any evidence of timelines or documentation to the mediator, and I'm not sure why. Maybe he thinks if he buries his head in the sand all will go away? In this last progress claim he tried to muddy the waters by stating that we hadn't paid for any variations - even though they were noted as paid on every previous claim. He even started messing with dates and paid amounts in an effort to bulk out his final claim (increasing it by $20K!).
I'm sure the mediator is clear on what is happening (and what needs to be done). I'm not saying we're right about everything - there's a lot we could have done better or differently throughout this whole process, but I can't help to think that things aren't right...
Lucky we've been pretty good with keeping all correspondence in check. It's a really big effort to respond to all of the Builder's disheartening emails, gather evidence to dispute his claims, and pull together all the necessary info for mediation (including the obvious excuses the Builder will come up with for time blow-outs, reasons for inflating costs, etc). At the end of the day, we just want this over and done with...finally.
There's a large amount of items outstanding. The mediator has been a great sounding board in what we should accept as part of the building process, and what is sheer sloppy work. He says we shouldn't have to put up with sub-standard work, or make compromises on the house we designed and paid for. Unfortunately this process has become so long and drawn out, we've just brushed over things to have it finished...hating it all the way.
So what are we talking about? Here's an example of our 'finished' concrete patio edge.
We had planned to polish this concrete area - we even put a different coloured aggregate in the wet concrete so it would look super-flash. The concreters didn't form / finish it very well and hence we have folds of plastic, holes and cracks in the edge. Doesn't look very nice, does it? The Project Manager's answer is to run some treated pine around the edge to cover it up. Nice one, but no. The other big problem with this edge is the fact that water runs back straight into the bricks below when it rains. It's supposed to be a drip edge but the Builder has clearly failed in achieving this. Until now he's just shrugged his shoulders at the whole thing. Now we're ready to take him to task on the job he hasn't properly completed.
This is one of about nine items that really require fixing...from re-plastering the ceiling to replacing the wardrobes. It's not like these are things that effect the structural integrity of the house...but why should we pay for the fixing of items that clearly weren't built correctly in the first place?
So now we're waiting for a meeting to be set and hopefully we can get somewhere with the certificates of occupancy, finishing of items and payment upon completion...hopefully. Failing this we're off to Tribunal. All of this evidence-gathering will not be lost at least we'll be well prepared. Keep you posted.
As I'm reviewing this post for spelling mistakes, it strikes me that tonight I sound calm and collected. This hasn't been the case on most days. I've been angry, sad, wanting to sell, and even never wanting to return to the house ever again (contemplating finding somewhere to rent until this all blows over). It has been an uphill slog at every step for me and my family...and most of it so very unnecessary. On one hand, it's just a house. On the other, it's our home.
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
no chickens yet
So nothing has hatched...just more abusive phone calls / text messages / emails. When will this be over?
How did it all go wrong when we were so close? The afternoon that we were supposed to have handover, I went with my gut not to pay the final total and then claim later, and instead claim out of the final total, and our Project Manager blew his stack.
He threw a tantrum my 2 year old niece would be proud of..."what about showing me some appreciation for building your house" (ummm, it's your job!), "now I can't go on hoildays without the money" (not my business what you get paid - that's up to your boss), "wish I'd never been nice to you" (oh, OK, you were being nice? Sorry, I mistook that for incompetence and endless bullshit).
So it seems he has gone on holidays and now the Site Foreman is putting the heavy on me. Pleading to pay the Project Manager in full and all will be fine. The thing is, we have no Final Progress Claim invoice to pay (the Builder won't issue it despite several written requests), so are we just expected to pay a nominal amount into somebody's account and just think everything will be finished and fine?
The documentation for the Occupancy Certificate is what we really need. The money is what they really want. Our bank won't issue the final amount without an Occupancy Certificate as proof, so here we sit...stuck. The Builder is not responding to our requests for mediation, only sending demanding emails for money and (again) denying there is any contract between us. What? Why would we be paying you to build our house if there wasn't a contract between us? Bonkers!
Oh, and let's not forget that the house isn't finished yet. Just a few small jobs like installing a hot water system. We've been connected to gas for nearly 2 weeks and we still don't have a (working) hot water system due to the dodgy Project Manager trying to deny that he'd hooked up a natural gas appliance to LPG and voided the warranty. Now he's had to buy a new one (supposedly out of his pocket) and wants us to be grateful? Grateful for what? Putting our family and house at risk? For making us pay for a temporary unit? He even tried to purchase a 2nd hand unit and pass it off as new. What a dickhead.
The legal advice I sought strongly advised we write a letter with our intention to take the matter to tribunal unless all issues are rectified immediately. We also received advice to pursue the House Designer, after all, he filled in the contract (or rather, didn't fill in the contract), placated my queries about all of the empty spaces in the contract (like liquidated damages), and assured us that our house could (and would) be built on time (5 months ago). He also only recommended we build with one builder - the one we're in dispute with.
So unless the house is finished, certificates issued and a proper invoice generated, we can't go anywhere. They want the $$$ for finishing the house without doing any of this. I really hope it doesn't go to tribunal but it could be our only option. It's not like we're asking for anything out of the ordinary here - this is how the building process goes (I'm told). Who knew it would be this tough?
How did it all go wrong when we were so close? The afternoon that we were supposed to have handover, I went with my gut not to pay the final total and then claim later, and instead claim out of the final total, and our Project Manager blew his stack.
He threw a tantrum my 2 year old niece would be proud of..."what about showing me some appreciation for building your house" (ummm, it's your job!), "now I can't go on hoildays without the money" (not my business what you get paid - that's up to your boss), "wish I'd never been nice to you" (oh, OK, you were being nice? Sorry, I mistook that for incompetence and endless bullshit).
So it seems he has gone on holidays and now the Site Foreman is putting the heavy on me. Pleading to pay the Project Manager in full and all will be fine. The thing is, we have no Final Progress Claim invoice to pay (the Builder won't issue it despite several written requests), so are we just expected to pay a nominal amount into somebody's account and just think everything will be finished and fine?
The documentation for the Occupancy Certificate is what we really need. The money is what they really want. Our bank won't issue the final amount without an Occupancy Certificate as proof, so here we sit...stuck. The Builder is not responding to our requests for mediation, only sending demanding emails for money and (again) denying there is any contract between us. What? Why would we be paying you to build our house if there wasn't a contract between us? Bonkers!
Oh, and let's not forget that the house isn't finished yet. Just a few small jobs like installing a hot water system. We've been connected to gas for nearly 2 weeks and we still don't have a (working) hot water system due to the dodgy Project Manager trying to deny that he'd hooked up a natural gas appliance to LPG and voided the warranty. Now he's had to buy a new one (supposedly out of his pocket) and wants us to be grateful? Grateful for what? Putting our family and house at risk? For making us pay for a temporary unit? He even tried to purchase a 2nd hand unit and pass it off as new. What a dickhead.
The legal advice I sought strongly advised we write a letter with our intention to take the matter to tribunal unless all issues are rectified immediately. We also received advice to pursue the House Designer, after all, he filled in the contract (or rather, didn't fill in the contract), placated my queries about all of the empty spaces in the contract (like liquidated damages), and assured us that our house could (and would) be built on time (5 months ago). He also only recommended we build with one builder - the one we're in dispute with.
So unless the house is finished, certificates issued and a proper invoice generated, we can't go anywhere. They want the $$$ for finishing the house without doing any of this. I really hope it doesn't go to tribunal but it could be our only option. It's not like we're asking for anything out of the ordinary here - this is how the building process goes (I'm told). Who knew it would be this tough?
Thursday, 12 September 2013
it's the final countdown
I've been waiting to use that post title for ages!
Yes, it's true, today is supposedly the last day of defect fix-ups and we should have our handover tomorrow.
10 months after signing the contract, 5 months over schedule and 3 months past the end date of the contract (with no contract renewed), we're finally here.
The last week has been meetings, some tradies onsite and lots of negotiation back-and-forth surrounding the final payment. We haven't spoken to the Builder since he told us via email that there was never a contract between us (ummmm, so what's this document I have here with your signature on it?). The Project Manager has been negotiating claims, ticking items off the defect list and asking us not to make a claim to the Builder for liquidated damages...yet.
The Project Manager goes on holiday this weekend (hence our house is being finished this week - finally!) and needs to wrap up the outstanding bills for trades (and some spending money for pina coladas). He's asked us to pay the final payment into his bank account (with prior permission from the Builder) so he can get paid for his work. He tells us that we should pay the full amount, then claim back the liquidated damages (8 weeks of rent) later from the builder.
So let me get this straight - you want me to pay the Builder the final bill, then ask him for money back????
I don't think so, after all, this is the guy who denied ever having a contract, then denied having an Inclusion List, then stated the house was only to be built to lock-up. Sorry, but if we don't claim now we're facing weeks / months / years of chasing that money back. No thanks.
So when I suggested to the Project Manager that he seek the money from the Builder (his colleague and associate) - after all, our agreement is with the Builder, not the Project Manager, he told me the Builder would never cough it up. So why would the Builder pay us????
I'm under no illusion that this isn't just another scam and they're in on it together. I really do appreciate the effort the Project Manager has put in over the last couple of weeks (shame he couldn't have put this kind of effort in 10 months ago), but the job was always to get the house built. End of story. Our beef is (mainly) with the Builder, but also with the Project Manager...he has really dragged this out / cut corners / made life pretty difficult this year. My husband and I feel pretty disappointed that much of our time over the last 12 months has been wrapped up in the stress of getting this house built, instead of enjoying our baby's first year...such a toll.
We still can't help but to see all the flaws of the house...the poorly-placed plumbing / crappy plaster work (that will be fixed by us) / endless cleaning-up after trades (ever tried to get silicon out of brand new carpet?). I know one day we'll show someone through the house and not feel compelled to point out all of the mistakes, we're just not there yet. My (poor tired) husband has so much more remedial painting to do after the carpenter fixed up lots of items this week (like wardrobes and shelving). I'm still getting stuck into all the window / tile / floor cleaning as I took this as a rebate (I had a little time up my sleeve this week and have very little faith in the quality of trades considering what has been done in the past...cynical, I know).
In fact, I've been off work for the last 3 weeks to see this house through to completion...letting trades in and out, checking quality of works, maintaining lists of outstanding items, negotiating with the Project Manager...ughhh! I can't wait for this to be over! Maybe tomorrow? Maybe I shouldn't count my chickens either...
Yes, it's true, today is supposedly the last day of defect fix-ups and we should have our handover tomorrow.
10 months after signing the contract, 5 months over schedule and 3 months past the end date of the contract (with no contract renewed), we're finally here.
The last week has been meetings, some tradies onsite and lots of negotiation back-and-forth surrounding the final payment. We haven't spoken to the Builder since he told us via email that there was never a contract between us (ummmm, so what's this document I have here with your signature on it?). The Project Manager has been negotiating claims, ticking items off the defect list and asking us not to make a claim to the Builder for liquidated damages...yet.
The Project Manager goes on holiday this weekend (hence our house is being finished this week - finally!) and needs to wrap up the outstanding bills for trades (and some spending money for pina coladas). He's asked us to pay the final payment into his bank account (with prior permission from the Builder) so he can get paid for his work. He tells us that we should pay the full amount, then claim back the liquidated damages (8 weeks of rent) later from the builder.
So let me get this straight - you want me to pay the Builder the final bill, then ask him for money back????
I don't think so, after all, this is the guy who denied ever having a contract, then denied having an Inclusion List, then stated the house was only to be built to lock-up. Sorry, but if we don't claim now we're facing weeks / months / years of chasing that money back. No thanks.
So when I suggested to the Project Manager that he seek the money from the Builder (his colleague and associate) - after all, our agreement is with the Builder, not the Project Manager, he told me the Builder would never cough it up. So why would the Builder pay us????
I'm under no illusion that this isn't just another scam and they're in on it together. I really do appreciate the effort the Project Manager has put in over the last couple of weeks (shame he couldn't have put this kind of effort in 10 months ago), but the job was always to get the house built. End of story. Our beef is (mainly) with the Builder, but also with the Project Manager...he has really dragged this out / cut corners / made life pretty difficult this year. My husband and I feel pretty disappointed that much of our time over the last 12 months has been wrapped up in the stress of getting this house built, instead of enjoying our baby's first year...such a toll.
We still can't help but to see all the flaws of the house...the poorly-placed plumbing / crappy plaster work (that will be fixed by us) / endless cleaning-up after trades (ever tried to get silicon out of brand new carpet?). I know one day we'll show someone through the house and not feel compelled to point out all of the mistakes, we're just not there yet. My (poor tired) husband has so much more remedial painting to do after the carpenter fixed up lots of items this week (like wardrobes and shelving). I'm still getting stuck into all the window / tile / floor cleaning as I took this as a rebate (I had a little time up my sleeve this week and have very little faith in the quality of trades considering what has been done in the past...cynical, I know).
In fact, I've been off work for the last 3 weeks to see this house through to completion...letting trades in and out, checking quality of works, maintaining lists of outstanding items, negotiating with the Project Manager...ughhh! I can't wait for this to be over! Maybe tomorrow? Maybe I shouldn't count my chickens either...
Saturday, 31 August 2013
in hot water
So after having our lease run out (without the possibility of extending), we had to move into our un-finished house. When I say "had to", we chose to move in thinking it would: a) hurry up the Builder, b) prevent us from moving twice (ughh, just the though of it!), and c) hurry up the Builder.
We weren't unjustified in thinking the timing would be OK, it was 2 weeks after the final completion date and all was promised to be finished in the lead-up. Unfortunately everything stalled, but the Project Manager actively encouraged us to move in due to the fact that we could no longer charge him rent in liquidated damages...and us being in the house meant we could do his job for him (let trades in / supervise works / clean up after them). Win-win (for him).
Faced with the prospect of the house never being completed (OK, maybe that's a little dramatic), but going on and on, it's become very unsettling...you see we won't get an occupancy certificate to officially live in the house until they have finished and we have paid in full. We're happy to pay when the job is done...but when will it be done? In the mean time, we're living in limbo, having trades arrive on random days at random times to complete partial jobs. When will this ever be over?
The Project Manager tells me he will complete all works when the building inspection report (completed this week) arrives (more stalling tactics - there's heaps to do in the mean time). I understand he wants to make sending trades out worthwhile but it's become glaringly obvious that there's a cash flow problem. And as they won't get paid until they're finished, it's all come to a grinding halt (again).
So back to the title. We're living in an incomplete house with partial services connected...we don't have any gas. We would have received the connection 2 months ago had the Builder installed the correct valve (as recommended by AGL), but he didn't, therefore we needed to reapply...and here we are, still waiting for gas. Gggrrrrr...another thing thing that makes us so angry! Anyway, without gas, we don't have hot water or a working cook top /oven.
I tell you, hot water is seriously underrated. Even with all of the house moving, we always had hot water...we made sure of it. Now we're in the hands of someone who couldn't give a stuff, so we're pulling out all stops to make it happen. As a compromise (it is winter, after all), the Project Manager arranged to have my brother's old electric hot water heater wired up. Unfortunately it had rusted out - no go. So this bright spark (I'm being sarcastic here), talked us into hooking up our hot water heater to an LPG bottle.
We questioned it..."are you sure this is OK..isn't natural gas different to LPG"?, but all was assured. The plumber (not the one that's done all of the shit work - he got fired, but his unqualified apprentice), connected it up and told us how to light it daily. Apparently it was safe, but "you don't want to run it all the time". Well, word to the wise: it's not safe. After 5 days of working, it stopped. And here's why...
Not trusting the Project Manager (why did we ever?), we got our superhero plumber who connected all of the stormwater work when we subdivided the block to come out and have a look. He was gobsmacked. He couldn't believe that someone would perform such a dodgy connection and told us we were lucky that something hadn't gone really awry. All of the insulation has burnt away and melted (see above) and the different gas / pressure has caused the pilot light to stop working (hence it no longer works).
The Project Manager's response? If it needs replacing, no problem...it's under warranty. I called the manufacturer - hooking it up to LPG voids the warranty. What an idiot. Oh well, he's the one who'll be replacing a 5 day old water heater.
The upside is that our superhero plumber saved the day by bringing over his spare electric hot water heater and hooked it up immediately. Aahhhh, hot water! No more boiling of kettles to wash up and bucket baths at night. Bliss! And the really good news? Gas will be connected on Wednesday! Hooray!!!
P.S if you ever really want to get somewhere with AGL (and bypass their 'robots' on the other end of the phone), speak very loudly on Facebook...it actually works.
We weren't unjustified in thinking the timing would be OK, it was 2 weeks after the final completion date and all was promised to be finished in the lead-up. Unfortunately everything stalled, but the Project Manager actively encouraged us to move in due to the fact that we could no longer charge him rent in liquidated damages...and us being in the house meant we could do his job for him (let trades in / supervise works / clean up after them). Win-win (for him).
Faced with the prospect of the house never being completed (OK, maybe that's a little dramatic), but going on and on, it's become very unsettling...you see we won't get an occupancy certificate to officially live in the house until they have finished and we have paid in full. We're happy to pay when the job is done...but when will it be done? In the mean time, we're living in limbo, having trades arrive on random days at random times to complete partial jobs. When will this ever be over?
The Project Manager tells me he will complete all works when the building inspection report (completed this week) arrives (more stalling tactics - there's heaps to do in the mean time). I understand he wants to make sending trades out worthwhile but it's become glaringly obvious that there's a cash flow problem. And as they won't get paid until they're finished, it's all come to a grinding halt (again).
So back to the title. We're living in an incomplete house with partial services connected...we don't have any gas. We would have received the connection 2 months ago had the Builder installed the correct valve (as recommended by AGL), but he didn't, therefore we needed to reapply...and here we are, still waiting for gas. Gggrrrrr...another thing thing that makes us so angry! Anyway, without gas, we don't have hot water or a working cook top /oven.
I tell you, hot water is seriously underrated. Even with all of the house moving, we always had hot water...we made sure of it. Now we're in the hands of someone who couldn't give a stuff, so we're pulling out all stops to make it happen. As a compromise (it is winter, after all), the Project Manager arranged to have my brother's old electric hot water heater wired up. Unfortunately it had rusted out - no go. So this bright spark (I'm being sarcastic here), talked us into hooking up our hot water heater to an LPG bottle.
We questioned it..."are you sure this is OK..isn't natural gas different to LPG"?, but all was assured. The plumber (not the one that's done all of the shit work - he got fired, but his unqualified apprentice), connected it up and told us how to light it daily. Apparently it was safe, but "you don't want to run it all the time". Well, word to the wise: it's not safe. After 5 days of working, it stopped. And here's why...
Not trusting the Project Manager (why did we ever?), we got our superhero plumber who connected all of the stormwater work when we subdivided the block to come out and have a look. He was gobsmacked. He couldn't believe that someone would perform such a dodgy connection and told us we were lucky that something hadn't gone really awry. All of the insulation has burnt away and melted (see above) and the different gas / pressure has caused the pilot light to stop working (hence it no longer works).
The Project Manager's response? If it needs replacing, no problem...it's under warranty. I called the manufacturer - hooking it up to LPG voids the warranty. What an idiot. Oh well, he's the one who'll be replacing a 5 day old water heater.
The upside is that our superhero plumber saved the day by bringing over his spare electric hot water heater and hooked it up immediately. Aahhhh, hot water! No more boiling of kettles to wash up and bucket baths at night. Bliss! And the really good news? Gas will be connected on Wednesday! Hooray!!!
P.S if you ever really want to get somewhere with AGL (and bypass their 'robots' on the other end of the phone), speak very loudly on Facebook...it actually works.
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
how to install a wardrobe
OK, OK, so it's more like how not to install a wardrobe.
So you start with some shelves...and maybe a hanging rail or two.
Make sure the shelves are level, cut evenly and flush with the other shelves.
Oh, and it's handy if the doors close properly at the top...
So you start with some shelves...and maybe a hanging rail or two.
Make sure the shelves are level, cut evenly and flush with the other shelves.
You'll need a frame for your doors (this will probably cut into your skirting boards along the floor which should be finished at the end).
Oh, and it's handy if the doors close properly at the top...
...and the bottom. And don't forget to finish those skirtings off! Voila! Job done.
Sunday, 25 August 2013
a new day
Along with a new look, I'm looking at a new day.
The Project Manager "managing" (ha ha) our house build came over yesterday to chat. We went through the current progress payment, deductions and variations and made some real progress.
We don't ever want to see the Builder again. In fact, my opinion of him couldn't be lower. He has gone out of his way to deceive and scam money out of a fixed price contract, deliberately left vital information out of the contract, denied ever having a contract, denied having to bring the house to completion, and dragged this build out 5 months over schedule. To say we're keen to be rid of him would be an understatement.
I'm not naive enough to think that everything is fixed - in fact far from it. Nor do I underestimate that the Project Manager is just pretending to be helpful in the hope that we retract our Notice of Default. We'll just wait and see what happens over the next week or 2 and go from there.
In a few days we'll having a Building Inspector complete a defect list, then it will be up to the Project Manager to tick everything off prior to the final progress payment and handover. The Project Manager foresees 4 days of "fixing". If it's taken this long to get our house built, we conservatively guess a few more weeks...though we'd love to be surprised...it is a new day after all.
The Project Manager "managing" (ha ha) our house build came over yesterday to chat. We went through the current progress payment, deductions and variations and made some real progress.
We don't ever want to see the Builder again. In fact, my opinion of him couldn't be lower. He has gone out of his way to deceive and scam money out of a fixed price contract, deliberately left vital information out of the contract, denied ever having a contract, denied having to bring the house to completion, and dragged this build out 5 months over schedule. To say we're keen to be rid of him would be an understatement.
I'm not naive enough to think that everything is fixed - in fact far from it. Nor do I underestimate that the Project Manager is just pretending to be helpful in the hope that we retract our Notice of Default. We'll just wait and see what happens over the next week or 2 and go from there.
In a few days we'll having a Building Inspector complete a defect list, then it will be up to the Project Manager to tick everything off prior to the final progress payment and handover. The Project Manager foresees 4 days of "fixing". If it's taken this long to get our house built, we conservatively guess a few more weeks...though we'd love to be surprised...it is a new day after all.
Friday, 23 August 2013
too bad, so sad :(
This feels like a terrible TV drama series.
So now the Builder is recognising our contract and the listed inclusions...apparently there was a "misunderstanding", the Home Design company tells me. What a dickhead.
He's keen to meet, but not with a mediator (alarm bells anyone?). He wants to discuss our claim for credits (and try to talk us into paying more, no doubt). We're obligated under the contract to meet (sometimes I'd sooner just push to tribunal as these discussions never go anywhere...just empty promises and lies). I think we're going to get a friend involved who deals with building contracts a lot. Maybe he can help retain some clarity during the meeting. I don't think we can afford a solicitor to attend at this stage.
In the mean time, a plumber showed up today for an hour. Woo hoo! That's the 2nd trade we've had onsite in 2 weeks. And this house is meant to be finished? What a joke. The list of items we've come up with is long. Unfortunately the Project Manager who works for the Builder is trying to narrow things down, claiming: it's too much work to repair / that's your fault / we can do this part at a later stage. Many items have fallen into the 'too bad, so sad' category...he's just too lazy to properly finish the job.
What's worse is the Project Manager claims he's unhappy with the Builder and has pulled out of another job with him. He says he'll never work for him again and he disagrees with what the Builder is doing to us in regards to our contract. Is he just playing the "good cop", or should I be ultra-thankful that he's staying on to complete our job? One thing we've learnt is that these guys lie...constantly. We're too tired to play their game (and obviously not very good at it), we had too much faith that what was agreed upon would be carried out. In any case, we need to keep our guard up.
The Project Manager asked us to write a final list of items to be completed so the Builder can issue the final progress payment. Hang on a minute...we have to come up with a defect list? We're handy but we're not professionals! I don't want to sign anything saying "all works completed" when we don't even know if all works have been completed. I wouldn't be a surprised if they were holding out on us, only to spring more additions on us later on. I called a private building inspector who specialises in new homes. 2 hours for $450 and a very detailed report showing every minor flaw - sounds worthwhile. At least we'll have a professional's view and some unbiased information to go on.
My main concern (and there are many!) is that if we sack our current Builder (as we are entitled to do under the Notice of Default): what else needs to be done by him??? What paperwork is he holding back on? Will this come back to bite us? I know it's not a valid reason to continue with him - he's done such a shitty job thus far. I'm just not sure if it's going to be more work to handover to another Builder and chase the old one up on paperwork? I'm only wishing we'd fired him as soon as things started going really down hill...about 8 months ago :(
So now the Builder is recognising our contract and the listed inclusions...apparently there was a "misunderstanding", the Home Design company tells me. What a dickhead.
He's keen to meet, but not with a mediator (alarm bells anyone?). He wants to discuss our claim for credits (and try to talk us into paying more, no doubt). We're obligated under the contract to meet (sometimes I'd sooner just push to tribunal as these discussions never go anywhere...just empty promises and lies). I think we're going to get a friend involved who deals with building contracts a lot. Maybe he can help retain some clarity during the meeting. I don't think we can afford a solicitor to attend at this stage.
In the mean time, a plumber showed up today for an hour. Woo hoo! That's the 2nd trade we've had onsite in 2 weeks. And this house is meant to be finished? What a joke. The list of items we've come up with is long. Unfortunately the Project Manager who works for the Builder is trying to narrow things down, claiming: it's too much work to repair / that's your fault / we can do this part at a later stage. Many items have fallen into the 'too bad, so sad' category...he's just too lazy to properly finish the job.
What's worse is the Project Manager claims he's unhappy with the Builder and has pulled out of another job with him. He says he'll never work for him again and he disagrees with what the Builder is doing to us in regards to our contract. Is he just playing the "good cop", or should I be ultra-thankful that he's staying on to complete our job? One thing we've learnt is that these guys lie...constantly. We're too tired to play their game (and obviously not very good at it), we had too much faith that what was agreed upon would be carried out. In any case, we need to keep our guard up.
The Project Manager asked us to write a final list of items to be completed so the Builder can issue the final progress payment. Hang on a minute...we have to come up with a defect list? We're handy but we're not professionals! I don't want to sign anything saying "all works completed" when we don't even know if all works have been completed. I wouldn't be a surprised if they were holding out on us, only to spring more additions on us later on. I called a private building inspector who specialises in new homes. 2 hours for $450 and a very detailed report showing every minor flaw - sounds worthwhile. At least we'll have a professional's view and some unbiased information to go on.
My main concern (and there are many!) is that if we sack our current Builder (as we are entitled to do under the Notice of Default): what else needs to be done by him??? What paperwork is he holding back on? Will this come back to bite us? I know it's not a valid reason to continue with him - he's done such a shitty job thus far. I'm just not sure if it's going to be more work to handover to another Builder and chase the old one up on paperwork? I'm only wishing we'd fired him as soon as things started going really down hill...about 8 months ago :(
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
how did we get here?
If you're maths is good, you'd have worked out we should have been in our house (by the Builder's time line) 21 days ago. Unfortunately we haven't moved in as the house is incomplete and not able to pass Council's inspection for a temporary occupancy certificate.
We're in no man's land. Our home (while building) has been sold and we've had to move out (we extended the lease 5 times but the new owners want to move in now). Our possessions have been moved into the new house but we're unable to reside there yet without an occupancy certificate.
We were stupid to think that the Builder would stick to his word and actually get us in on 31st July. Things started going pear-shaped about 2 weeks before the completion date when trades didn't show and they fell behind in schedule. We asked if we were still on track (as we were packing boxes to move out) and were spun more lies about unforseen delays, though all was OK - all bullshit. Time just slipped away with no real urgency from the builder...and here we are.
The Liquidated Damages clause that usually cover these situations was never filled in on the contract (crazy, I know). As first-time signing a building contract, we trusted the Home Designer facilitating the process and Builder that all of the blank pages were usual practice. Oh, how I regret ever signing that contract.
After issuing the Builder with a Notice of Default and Notice of Dispute, we had several meeting where things seemingly got back on track (in around June where the new timeline was issued). Unfortunately it all meant nothing when the Builder told us he would write an amendment to the contract including Liquidated Damages. Little did we know he never intended to write anything. Shame on us for believing.
The one item in our favour (we thought) was payment. No progress...no payment. Unfortunately we underestimated the Builders' withholding the necessary documentation required to obtain an occupancy certificate. He says they will be released when the house is finished (when will that ever be?) and and all monies are paid. As work has (apparently) ceased on site (no trades in over a week), we can only assume this is going to take a little longer...
It's incredibly unnerving to feel so stuck: a house unfinished, not cleared by council, no where to live (we're camping at my aunt's house) and no end date.
Last week the Builder asked for another progress payment (again, no items in contract to be ticked off to show it is due) and we decided to claim our purchased items as they have now been installed....and we've purchased a LOT of items! Why? We got them cheaper than the Builder / they are to our taste / it ensured items were ready for installation when required (reducing delays). So I'm talking: timber flooring ($10K), carpet ($2.5K), bathroom vanities, taps, bath, tiles ($6K), etc, etc...around $20K we've outlaid - ready for credit.
Wouldn't you guess it? The Builder is denying these claims, sending constant and rude emails insisting we pay the total (with no credits for all flooring / bathrooms / etc) and saying "you got what you deserve"???? What?
Fuck! Now where do we go? I've contacted the Master Builder's Association (whom our contract is through) and they're writing another letter of Dispute, essentially asking him to pull his head in. I'm arranging mediation (do you think the Builder will go halves in it? LOL) and looking into tribunal.
In the mean time nothing is happening on site. I'm really upset about this. I feel unsafe and hurt. My husband is angry. We're both so tired of fighting. God, this hurts.
We're in no man's land. Our home (while building) has been sold and we've had to move out (we extended the lease 5 times but the new owners want to move in now). Our possessions have been moved into the new house but we're unable to reside there yet without an occupancy certificate.
We were stupid to think that the Builder would stick to his word and actually get us in on 31st July. Things started going pear-shaped about 2 weeks before the completion date when trades didn't show and they fell behind in schedule. We asked if we were still on track (as we were packing boxes to move out) and were spun more lies about unforseen delays, though all was OK - all bullshit. Time just slipped away with no real urgency from the builder...and here we are.
The Liquidated Damages clause that usually cover these situations was never filled in on the contract (crazy, I know). As first-time signing a building contract, we trusted the Home Designer facilitating the process and Builder that all of the blank pages were usual practice. Oh, how I regret ever signing that contract.
After issuing the Builder with a Notice of Default and Notice of Dispute, we had several meeting where things seemingly got back on track (in around June where the new timeline was issued). Unfortunately it all meant nothing when the Builder told us he would write an amendment to the contract including Liquidated Damages. Little did we know he never intended to write anything. Shame on us for believing.
The one item in our favour (we thought) was payment. No progress...no payment. Unfortunately we underestimated the Builders' withholding the necessary documentation required to obtain an occupancy certificate. He says they will be released when the house is finished (when will that ever be?) and and all monies are paid. As work has (apparently) ceased on site (no trades in over a week), we can only assume this is going to take a little longer...
It's incredibly unnerving to feel so stuck: a house unfinished, not cleared by council, no where to live (we're camping at my aunt's house) and no end date.
Last week the Builder asked for another progress payment (again, no items in contract to be ticked off to show it is due) and we decided to claim our purchased items as they have now been installed....and we've purchased a LOT of items! Why? We got them cheaper than the Builder / they are to our taste / it ensured items were ready for installation when required (reducing delays). So I'm talking: timber flooring ($10K), carpet ($2.5K), bathroom vanities, taps, bath, tiles ($6K), etc, etc...around $20K we've outlaid - ready for credit.
Wouldn't you guess it? The Builder is denying these claims, sending constant and rude emails insisting we pay the total (with no credits for all flooring / bathrooms / etc) and saying "you got what you deserve"???? What?
Fuck! Now where do we go? I've contacted the Master Builder's Association (whom our contract is through) and they're writing another letter of Dispute, essentially asking him to pull his head in. I'm arranging mediation (do you think the Builder will go halves in it? LOL) and looking into tribunal.
In the mean time nothing is happening on site. I'm really upset about this. I feel unsafe and hurt. My husband is angry. We're both so tired of fighting. God, this hurts.
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
a regular day in the life of someone having a house built by a builder..
7am - Tiler arrives on site and starts laying balcony tiles which I ordered and paid for in advance (Builder will reimburse me some day soon).
8am - I check to see how Tiler is going. He is not laying tiles with the 20mm edge as requested to Builder (so the water drips off the edge). Ask Tiler to move them with the appropriate edge.
9:15am - Tiler realises he is 3 tiles short to complete the job. While cursing the Builder for not calculating this correctly, I call the tile distributor to source more tiles before the Tiler leaves (not sure when he'll be able to come back and finish the job).
9:30am - Find tiles available at factory 45 mins away. Jump in my car and race to the factory to pick them up.
11am - Return to site and Tiler is still there (phew!). Hand over the tiles and go home to pick up baby (lucky for Grandma!) and go shopping for down lights.
12:30pm Arrive home with 50 LED down lights plus 4 wall lights for a bargain $1000. Builder's allowance is $16 a light (which covers fluros only). I'm able to chip in an extra $2 per light and get LEDs - so much cheaper than the Builder's quote for $25 per LED downlight. Feeling pretty good. Baby to sleep.
2:30pm Back out shopping for fans and external lights at Bunnings.
4pm Return to site with goods for electrician and to clean up tradies' mess (electrical wiring / McDonalds rubbish / plaster on floors / scrap material scattered every where).
6:30pm Dinner, domestic duties and bed. Phew! This house-building stuff is tiring!
You're probably asking where the Builder is, and why he isn't onsite to organise trades? We ask ourselves this too...often. We're so close to completion that we do whatever it takes to see this through...writing lists of items to be completed, emailing the Builder to hurry up the build, briefing trades on jobs to be done on site, and asking them to return when jobs are incomplete / poorly finished.
What have we got ourselves into? A big mess. But it's nearly finished...
8am - I check to see how Tiler is going. He is not laying tiles with the 20mm edge as requested to Builder (so the water drips off the edge). Ask Tiler to move them with the appropriate edge.
9:15am - Tiler realises he is 3 tiles short to complete the job. While cursing the Builder for not calculating this correctly, I call the tile distributor to source more tiles before the Tiler leaves (not sure when he'll be able to come back and finish the job).
9:30am - Find tiles available at factory 45 mins away. Jump in my car and race to the factory to pick them up.
11am - Return to site and Tiler is still there (phew!). Hand over the tiles and go home to pick up baby (lucky for Grandma!) and go shopping for down lights.
12:30pm Arrive home with 50 LED down lights plus 4 wall lights for a bargain $1000. Builder's allowance is $16 a light (which covers fluros only). I'm able to chip in an extra $2 per light and get LEDs - so much cheaper than the Builder's quote for $25 per LED downlight. Feeling pretty good. Baby to sleep.
2:30pm Back out shopping for fans and external lights at Bunnings.
4pm Return to site with goods for electrician and to clean up tradies' mess (electrical wiring / McDonalds rubbish / plaster on floors / scrap material scattered every where).
6:30pm Dinner, domestic duties and bed. Phew! This house-building stuff is tiring!
You're probably asking where the Builder is, and why he isn't onsite to organise trades? We ask ourselves this too...often. We're so close to completion that we do whatever it takes to see this through...writing lists of items to be completed, emailing the Builder to hurry up the build, briefing trades on jobs to be done on site, and asking them to return when jobs are incomplete / poorly finished.
What have we got ourselves into? A big mess. But it's nearly finished...
Wednesday, 31 July 2013
advanced diagnostics in plumbing
Ummm...where to start...there are so many things wrong with this picture.
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
plumbing: 101
So we're talking brand new plumbing here - no converting old plumbing or working around difficult spaces - it's all built to plan. Let's get started with the basics:
Lesson 1
Remember to read the plan and place the pipes in the correct position before the slab is poured. This way you won't need to dig into the freshly-laid slab to adjust.
Lesson 2
Pipes need a fall in them to ensure the water / waste water / sewerage can empty out of them. Having a negative fall means the water travels back and/or lays stagnant in the pipes - not ideal.
Lesson 3
When your client specifically states they have purchased wall mounted basins / vanity units, this means that the plumbing should come through the wall (therefore concealed) and not through the floor.
Lesson 4
Shower heads should be located in the shower (where you can splash around) - not near the entrance to the shower.
Lesson 5
Ensuring all connections (joins) are sealed properly prevents leaks onto new flooring / walls / etc.
Lesson 6
Stink pipes are important.... I think you get the picture.
Ok. Got it? Great! Could you please tell our plumber this?
Luckily we've been on site a lot lately to paint and install the new kitchen (saving a few $$) and have picked up on these issues before they've became major problems.
Our builder tells us everything's fine. This happens all the time, he says. Righhhhtt...
Lesson 1
Remember to read the plan and place the pipes in the correct position before the slab is poured. This way you won't need to dig into the freshly-laid slab to adjust.
Lesson 2
Pipes need a fall in them to ensure the water / waste water / sewerage can empty out of them. Having a negative fall means the water travels back and/or lays stagnant in the pipes - not ideal.
Lesson 3
When your client specifically states they have purchased wall mounted basins / vanity units, this means that the plumbing should come through the wall (therefore concealed) and not through the floor.
Lesson 4
Shower heads should be located in the shower (where you can splash around) - not near the entrance to the shower.
Lesson 5
Ensuring all connections (joins) are sealed properly prevents leaks onto new flooring / walls / etc.
Lesson 6
Stink pipes are important.... I think you get the picture.
Ok. Got it? Great! Could you please tell our plumber this?
Luckily we've been on site a lot lately to paint and install the new kitchen (saving a few $$) and have picked up on these issues before they've became major problems.
Our builder tells us everything's fine. This happens all the time, he says. Righhhhtt...
Tuesday, 2 July 2013
29 days to go
Yep, you read right. We've been guaranteed to be in by the end of this month (or else!!!!).
It's been a whole month since my last blog and every time I go to sit down and write a new entry it feels like a massive task...but here it is. Here's what's happened over the last four weeks...
Week 1
Weather: mostly fine
Trades on site: 1/2 day of brick cleaning
Result: we issued a Notice of Default and a Notice of Dispute to the Builder concerning variations made without permission / not meeting the contract completion date / failure to communicate on these items as is specified in the building contract.
Update: urgent mediation meeting requested by Builder where all outstanding items were discussed. Promises were made on completion dates / items to be fixed / more progress to be made / amendment to contract.
Week 2
Weather: some showers, mostly fine
Trades onsite: 1 day for plumber to fix-up botched job (you wouldn't believe me if I told you). 2 days of concrete cutting and remedial work on slab. 2 hours of labour on house frame.
Result: house failed Council inspection (again). Turned away insulation installation due to inspection failure.
Update: email to Builder on failure to deliver on last week's promises. Sent email list of all items to be completed (again).
Week 3
Weather: some showers, mostly fine
Trades onsite: 2 days of brick cleaning. 1 day of house frame work. Completion of slab cutting. 1 day of insulation installation on lower level (as the installer doesn't 'do' ladders). 2 days of insulation installation by us to finish the job. Waterproofing of all wet areas. 2 days of gyprocking. Some cladding fix-ups.
Result: Council inspection passed. Another meeting onsite with the Project Manager. More excuses why delays have occurred. More promises on future trades. Finally we now have a completion date. WOO HOO!
Update: we are producing a near-daily list of all items that require attention before the house can progress to next stage (and the next progress payment can be made). Yes, I know this is the Project Manager's job...it's just that he's only here once a week for an hour. Therefore, it's become ours.
We also found a crack in the slab from the cutting. It's only tiny but it's below the most load-bearing wall of the house. F%&K!!!!
Week 4
Weather: rain pretty-much every day
Trades onsite: 3 days of gyprocking. Shadow-line cornice installation (by us). 1/2 day of wet area screeding. Garage door installed.
Result: Council inspection of waterproofing (passed). 2nd mediation meeting with the Builder to cover the remaining issues (it's still quite a big list). Still no amendment to the contract.
Update: the required time frame for the Builder to respond to the Notice of Default has expired. We are now in the position where we can exit the contract, engage a new builder and the old builder must pay any financial difference incurred to complete the job.On the flip side, we are now 4 weeks to getting into our new house...what to do?
Do we persist with the goal posts in sight? Or do we cut him off before anything else goes wrong (incurring further delays to find a new Builder)? Oh, and our lease expires on the handover date...guess we're sticking with him for now...
It's been a whole month since my last blog and every time I go to sit down and write a new entry it feels like a massive task...but here it is. Here's what's happened over the last four weeks...
Week 1
Weather: mostly fine
Trades on site: 1/2 day of brick cleaning
Result: we issued a Notice of Default and a Notice of Dispute to the Builder concerning variations made without permission / not meeting the contract completion date / failure to communicate on these items as is specified in the building contract.
Update: urgent mediation meeting requested by Builder where all outstanding items were discussed. Promises were made on completion dates / items to be fixed / more progress to be made / amendment to contract.
Week 2
Weather: some showers, mostly fine
Trades onsite: 1 day for plumber to fix-up botched job (you wouldn't believe me if I told you). 2 days of concrete cutting and remedial work on slab. 2 hours of labour on house frame.
Result: house failed Council inspection (again). Turned away insulation installation due to inspection failure.
Update: email to Builder on failure to deliver on last week's promises. Sent email list of all items to be completed (again).
Week 3
Weather: some showers, mostly fine
Trades onsite: 2 days of brick cleaning. 1 day of house frame work. Completion of slab cutting. 1 day of insulation installation on lower level (as the installer doesn't 'do' ladders). 2 days of insulation installation by us to finish the job. Waterproofing of all wet areas. 2 days of gyprocking. Some cladding fix-ups.
Result: Council inspection passed. Another meeting onsite with the Project Manager. More excuses why delays have occurred. More promises on future trades. Finally we now have a completion date. WOO HOO!
Update: we are producing a near-daily list of all items that require attention before the house can progress to next stage (and the next progress payment can be made). Yes, I know this is the Project Manager's job...it's just that he's only here once a week for an hour. Therefore, it's become ours.
We also found a crack in the slab from the cutting. It's only tiny but it's below the most load-bearing wall of the house. F%&K!!!!
Week 4
Weather: rain pretty-much every day
Trades onsite: 3 days of gyprocking. Shadow-line cornice installation (by us). 1/2 day of wet area screeding. Garage door installed.
Result: Council inspection of waterproofing (passed). 2nd mediation meeting with the Builder to cover the remaining issues (it's still quite a big list). Still no amendment to the contract.
Update: the required time frame for the Builder to respond to the Notice of Default has expired. We are now in the position where we can exit the contract, engage a new builder and the old builder must pay any financial difference incurred to complete the job.On the flip side, we are now 4 weeks to getting into our new house...what to do?
Do we persist with the goal posts in sight? Or do we cut him off before anything else goes wrong (incurring further delays to find a new Builder)? Oh, and our lease expires on the handover date...guess we're sticking with him for now...
Sunday, 2 June 2013
roller coaster ride
There have been plenty of ups and down in the last month.
Ups include: cladding to the exterior being installed, all electrical cabling going in, and near completion of all brickwork.
Downs include: an engineer's report highlighting all of the faults / incomplete items in the build, nasty emails from the builder threatening to drag out the build, suspension of works and the realisation that our contract was not filled out properly (no liquidation damages / delay costs stated - basically leaving us with little-to-no recourse for our builder's slack approach to schedules).
Again, it's been an awesome month of little rain and plenty of fine days, but very little trades on site. This has been a major point of contention as we are 6 months into the build and not yet at lock-up. Our builder states that the contract started when he first stepped on site (January), though the contract was signed in November...this is not in the contract.
He uses a website that records (general) rainfall data to record rainy days - even though some of these are Sundays or days when the slab was curing (great for rain), but tells us that according to the Department of Fair Trading, he is entitled to take these days as extensions...this also, is not in the contract.
In a stupid act of admission, he's noted that wet weather has not held up our build, but is using these 'entitled' days anyway (because he's so terrible at project management and has to use them to finish in time).
Our contract is a standard contract through Master Builders Association and geared towards the builder - I understand this and am not debating it. Unfortunately, we were rushed through the signing of this document by the Home Designer and many pages were not filled in. The Home Designer is not on the contract, they just facilitated the process. The builder who signed the contract is not the builder we deal with day-to-day. In fact both the Home Designer and the signing builder are nowhere to be seen...un-contactable...missing in action...you get the picture.
So now it's down to the builder employee and us. He's not happy with the vagueness of the contract and neither are we. He feels that his boss under quoted on the job and is not making any money, hence his lack of attention to our job (he actually told us this!). We feel that he should take this up with his boss, not us.
We contacted the Master Builder's Association (FYI you have to be a member to get any advice....how many regular mums and dads building a house are members of the MBA???), luckily we knew someone who is a member and asked them about our builder's conduct. They've recommend we send the (signing) builder a Notice of Default and Notice of Dispute for their wrongful actions. Is this just fanning the flames? Will this work in our favour and have the house built quickly, or drag it out even further if they react badly?
They also pointed us in the direction of the Office of Fair Trading, which is geared towards the consumer. I'll let you know how I go with this next week.
While I'm on it though, this back-and-forth with the builder, engineer, MBA and contract has sucked hours of time. Everyday my husband, or I, or both of us are spending time researching products, speaking to experts or writing letters...all in an effort to just get this house finished. I won't even start on the sleepless nights....
The independent engineer's report has been...um, insightful? No less than 17 items have been highlighted requiring immediate rectification, including a massive wooden structure built in our garage roof. Our builder told us the house had been "built to plan", but he'd put in a few extra beams "so the floors don't squeak upstairs" - like he was doing us a favour. Until this report was written, we were unaware that there was meant to be a big steel beam in our house that he'd omitted to put in, and instead installed this bulky, ugly mass that takes up vital ceiling space - that isn't even strong enough! (cue hair pulling out).
When we confronted the builder on this, he told us he had taken the more expensive route by installing the timber beams, allowed us to have level flooring upstairs and given us more headroom in the garage...all bullshit. Just another lie to cover his incompetence and obvious lack of experience.
We are so disappointed by all of the compromises we've made along the way due to his poor project management...and it keeps on going. Can you actually believe he suggested we cut our kitchen cupboards to fit the overhang of the slab (see last post), instead of fixing his mistake and letting us install our kitchen to plan? Totally lazy.
An unusual insight came from our window manufacturer yesterday...he said he often sees people having major, and continuous issues when building their house. He sees them in love with the idea of the house in the beginning, fall out of love during the process, then back in love at the end.
I hope he's right...I hope we fall back in love with our house in the end, because there's not a lot to love right now.
Ups include: cladding to the exterior being installed, all electrical cabling going in, and near completion of all brickwork.
Downs include: an engineer's report highlighting all of the faults / incomplete items in the build, nasty emails from the builder threatening to drag out the build, suspension of works and the realisation that our contract was not filled out properly (no liquidation damages / delay costs stated - basically leaving us with little-to-no recourse for our builder's slack approach to schedules).
Again, it's been an awesome month of little rain and plenty of fine days, but very little trades on site. This has been a major point of contention as we are 6 months into the build and not yet at lock-up. Our builder states that the contract started when he first stepped on site (January), though the contract was signed in November...this is not in the contract.
He uses a website that records (general) rainfall data to record rainy days - even though some of these are Sundays or days when the slab was curing (great for rain), but tells us that according to the Department of Fair Trading, he is entitled to take these days as extensions...this also, is not in the contract.
In a stupid act of admission, he's noted that wet weather has not held up our build, but is using these 'entitled' days anyway (because he's so terrible at project management and has to use them to finish in time).
Our contract is a standard contract through Master Builders Association and geared towards the builder - I understand this and am not debating it. Unfortunately, we were rushed through the signing of this document by the Home Designer and many pages were not filled in. The Home Designer is not on the contract, they just facilitated the process. The builder who signed the contract is not the builder we deal with day-to-day. In fact both the Home Designer and the signing builder are nowhere to be seen...un-contactable...missing in action...you get the picture.
So now it's down to the builder employee and us. He's not happy with the vagueness of the contract and neither are we. He feels that his boss under quoted on the job and is not making any money, hence his lack of attention to our job (he actually told us this!). We feel that he should take this up with his boss, not us.
We contacted the Master Builder's Association (FYI you have to be a member to get any advice....how many regular mums and dads building a house are members of the MBA???), luckily we knew someone who is a member and asked them about our builder's conduct. They've recommend we send the (signing) builder a Notice of Default and Notice of Dispute for their wrongful actions. Is this just fanning the flames? Will this work in our favour and have the house built quickly, or drag it out even further if they react badly?
They also pointed us in the direction of the Office of Fair Trading, which is geared towards the consumer. I'll let you know how I go with this next week.
While I'm on it though, this back-and-forth with the builder, engineer, MBA and contract has sucked hours of time. Everyday my husband, or I, or both of us are spending time researching products, speaking to experts or writing letters...all in an effort to just get this house finished. I won't even start on the sleepless nights....
The independent engineer's report has been...um, insightful? No less than 17 items have been highlighted requiring immediate rectification, including a massive wooden structure built in our garage roof. Our builder told us the house had been "built to plan", but he'd put in a few extra beams "so the floors don't squeak upstairs" - like he was doing us a favour. Until this report was written, we were unaware that there was meant to be a big steel beam in our house that he'd omitted to put in, and instead installed this bulky, ugly mass that takes up vital ceiling space - that isn't even strong enough! (cue hair pulling out).
When we confronted the builder on this, he told us he had taken the more expensive route by installing the timber beams, allowed us to have level flooring upstairs and given us more headroom in the garage...all bullshit. Just another lie to cover his incompetence and obvious lack of experience.
We are so disappointed by all of the compromises we've made along the way due to his poor project management...and it keeps on going. Can you actually believe he suggested we cut our kitchen cupboards to fit the overhang of the slab (see last post), instead of fixing his mistake and letting us install our kitchen to plan? Totally lazy.
An unusual insight came from our window manufacturer yesterday...he said he often sees people having major, and continuous issues when building their house. He sees them in love with the idea of the house in the beginning, fall out of love during the process, then back in love at the end.
I hope he's right...I hope we fall back in love with our house in the end, because there's not a lot to love right now.
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
slow as a....sunny week?
I was rather ambitious thinking we'd be up to lock-up by now. Over the past 2 weeks we've had tradies in 3 out the 12 possible dry days: 1 day of roof finishing, 1 day of brickwork, and 1 day of air conditioner installation. This could actually have all happened on the one day without anyone bumping into each other, but here we are, waiting for this house to be finished....still.
The 2nd estimated move-in date is in 3 weeks. What a joke!
We seem to be playing a game of: no action, we chase up the builder, he comes back to us with items that need decisions to be made, we make quick decisions to prevent any slow-down, then no action, then some action, then blame from the builder that he's been waiting on us for the entire time. What????
Quotes from the builder on cladding took 6 weeks. Simultaneously we were being blamed for holding up the build (?!). Finally, yesterday the quotes came through and a decision was made within the hour. No doubt he will now come back with an extra charge for some extra part that we have to pay in order to continue progressing...all in an effort to get in relatively soon.
Yes, I know what you're thinking...we're getting screwed.
If we could fire him, we would. But we can't. The completed finish date in the contract is looming and one small upside is that he will have to pay our ongoing rent until we get in. This is so frustrating. We're loosing sleep worrying, missing work to follow-up on the builder, going over budget, and still, we have no idea of when we'll get into our new house.
I really hope this doesn't continue in the same fashion.
4 weeks ago, we asked him for measurements on flooring (as we have a contact who can get it cheaper than he can). We've asked (in writing) 2 more times. Though we're not up to the flooring stage, I predict that when we are, he'll give us little notice and we'll be scrambling to make it happen. Meanwhile, he'll be sitting back blaming us for not having the flooring ready and holding up the build. I hope I'm wrong on this...
One more thing...I'd love for someone (anyone) to tell me if it is normal for a slab to be amended in so many places. I should be clear and note that the plans have not changed at all since the pour. We have not changed our minds, and all materials / plans were available for measurement prior to the slab being poured.
The 2nd estimated move-in date is in 3 weeks. What a joke!
We seem to be playing a game of: no action, we chase up the builder, he comes back to us with items that need decisions to be made, we make quick decisions to prevent any slow-down, then no action, then some action, then blame from the builder that he's been waiting on us for the entire time. What????
Quotes from the builder on cladding took 6 weeks. Simultaneously we were being blamed for holding up the build (?!). Finally, yesterday the quotes came through and a decision was made within the hour. No doubt he will now come back with an extra charge for some extra part that we have to pay in order to continue progressing...all in an effort to get in relatively soon.
Yes, I know what you're thinking...we're getting screwed.
If we could fire him, we would. But we can't. The completed finish date in the contract is looming and one small upside is that he will have to pay our ongoing rent until we get in. This is so frustrating. We're loosing sleep worrying, missing work to follow-up on the builder, going over budget, and still, we have no idea of when we'll get into our new house.
I really hope this doesn't continue in the same fashion.
4 weeks ago, we asked him for measurements on flooring (as we have a contact who can get it cheaper than he can). We've asked (in writing) 2 more times. Though we're not up to the flooring stage, I predict that when we are, he'll give us little notice and we'll be scrambling to make it happen. Meanwhile, he'll be sitting back blaming us for not having the flooring ready and holding up the build. I hope I'm wrong on this...
One more thing...I'd love for someone (anyone) to tell me if it is normal for a slab to be amended in so many places. I should be clear and note that the plans have not changed at all since the pour. We have not changed our minds, and all materials / plans were available for measurement prior to the slab being poured.
 |
| The slab is too short in this section |
 |
| ...and too long in this section (it needs to be cut back to the frame in the picture). |
 |
| This waste pipe was intsalled in the wrong position |
 |
| ...so was this one |
 |
| ...and this one. |
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
cool and calm
Ok, after my last heated post, I've simmered down (and written some firm emails along the way).
The issue of how the house is to be built has been resolved. A third party (and representative of the manufacturing company) will be installing the weatherboard. We're just waiting for quotes.
The issue was that the builder did not believe that brick could be vertically joined to weatherboard. As our house has different sections of both, he gave us the ultimatum of full brick or only horizontal joins (1/2 brick 1/2 cladding). This was not how the house company designed it or how we envisaged it. It took lots of researching on our behalf (to find other examples, manufacturer's specifications and cladding companies) to finally get the builder to properly look into it. Now it can be done, we're just getting quotes on finishes.
So the frame is completely finished (including outside area roof), the roof is on (and looking fantastic), the plumbing is all roughed-in, all windows have been installed, and the brickwork is going up. We should only be a week or 2 away from lock-up.
Unfortunately the gutters were bent when the roofers installed the big sheets of colourbond. I hope we're not up for another battle to get this repaired / replaced.
We've come to the realisation that we cannot "win" when it comes to meeting our allowances. Our house building company (on a fixed price contract) has given us set dollar amounts to spend on items (doors / carpet / taps / etc.) so we can choose what we'd like to have in our home. In retrospect we should have specified particular brands / models in the inclusions list and / or shopped around with the proposed allowances. Instead we're now spending our weekends and evenings scouring the internet and renovation warehouses trying to find items for our home within this small-medium budget.
Don't get me wrong, we could leave it all up to the builder to pick these items, but when it comes to tiles / vanities / carpeting, we'd like to see a larger range and try to get a good deal for our $. In the instance of the bricks and floorboards, we've managed to come in under budget with really massive savings on beautiful finishes. On others, like carpet, we're going to have to chip-in to have natural fiber carpet as the allowance only covers the super-synthetic stuff. It's our choice, so we pay extra.
Ultimately, the allowances are set low for us, and without a trade discount / contacts in the industry, we're having to pay more in certain areas to achieve the finishes we're after. The upside? The house is finished to our specs. The lesson? Be more specific early-on during the negotiation stage. This is our first house build and we thought specifying "reverse cycle air conditioning throughout" was specific enough...not so. Brand / model / extras would have been good...more time consuming earlier on, but better in the long run.
With the few rebates we've received from finding absolute bargains (check out: www.lightinthebox.com), we'll put these towards some little luxuries like a bigger bath, extra cabinetry, etc. We'll still be quite a bit out of pocket after this build is finished...can you believe I actually thought with a fixed price contract, that's all we'd be paying??? Huh, what a novice!
The issue of how the house is to be built has been resolved. A third party (and representative of the manufacturing company) will be installing the weatherboard. We're just waiting for quotes.
The issue was that the builder did not believe that brick could be vertically joined to weatherboard. As our house has different sections of both, he gave us the ultimatum of full brick or only horizontal joins (1/2 brick 1/2 cladding). This was not how the house company designed it or how we envisaged it. It took lots of researching on our behalf (to find other examples, manufacturer's specifications and cladding companies) to finally get the builder to properly look into it. Now it can be done, we're just getting quotes on finishes.
So the frame is completely finished (including outside area roof), the roof is on (and looking fantastic), the plumbing is all roughed-in, all windows have been installed, and the brickwork is going up. We should only be a week or 2 away from lock-up.
 |
| (inside view) |
 |
| (outside view) |
Unfortunately the gutters were bent when the roofers installed the big sheets of colourbond. I hope we're not up for another battle to get this repaired / replaced.
We've come to the realisation that we cannot "win" when it comes to meeting our allowances. Our house building company (on a fixed price contract) has given us set dollar amounts to spend on items (doors / carpet / taps / etc.) so we can choose what we'd like to have in our home. In retrospect we should have specified particular brands / models in the inclusions list and / or shopped around with the proposed allowances. Instead we're now spending our weekends and evenings scouring the internet and renovation warehouses trying to find items for our home within this small-medium budget.
Don't get me wrong, we could leave it all up to the builder to pick these items, but when it comes to tiles / vanities / carpeting, we'd like to see a larger range and try to get a good deal for our $. In the instance of the bricks and floorboards, we've managed to come in under budget with really massive savings on beautiful finishes. On others, like carpet, we're going to have to chip-in to have natural fiber carpet as the allowance only covers the super-synthetic stuff. It's our choice, so we pay extra.
Ultimately, the allowances are set low for us, and without a trade discount / contacts in the industry, we're having to pay more in certain areas to achieve the finishes we're after. The upside? The house is finished to our specs. The lesson? Be more specific early-on during the negotiation stage. This is our first house build and we thought specifying "reverse cycle air conditioning throughout" was specific enough...not so. Brand / model / extras would have been good...more time consuming earlier on, but better in the long run.
With the few rebates we've received from finding absolute bargains (check out: www.lightinthebox.com), we'll put these towards some little luxuries like a bigger bath, extra cabinetry, etc. We'll still be quite a bit out of pocket after this build is finished...can you believe I actually thought with a fixed price contract, that's all we'd be paying??? Huh, what a novice!
utterly frustrating!
(written 2 weeks ago - only published now)
I'm sick of this! Another sunny day and no movement on site. Again.
On Monday we had a meeting with the builder and home company to discuss the many issues that needed addressing. 3 hours later, I felt like we hadn't resolved a whole lot and I'm stuck writing the minutes and emailing them to everyone.
Let me list the things I'm really frustrated about (it's my blog, I can vent if I want to!):
1) Everything is costing more $$$$. What happened to the fixed price contract?
2) The slab has to be cut. Why wasn't it poured correctly the first time? Builder says the plans were wrong (they're not, we checked).
3) The framer didn't have the right set of plans and framed up some of the windows incorrectly. Now itcan't won't be changed and we're stuck with dinky windows.
4) The home company didn't merge two sets of drawings, hence, point 3.
5) The outside roof wasn't built. Now it is, but why wasn't it done the first time?? Why do we have to draw their attention to things that are on the plan?
I should be clear here...we haven't changed the plans since they were lodged to council last year. We'd just like our house built to plan...that's all.
6) The builder only received our list of inclusions for the house this week. Yep, that's right, his boss signed the contract back in November and he only found out what was included in the build cost on Monday.
We wondered why he was confused when we were discussing flooring / fences / tiling - all things we'd negotiated in the beginning.
Now we've got no one on site because the house builder doesn't believe the house can be built to plan (this info would have been handy 5 months ago). The home company is looking into an effective solution (to be honest, a lot of houses are built this way, I don't know what the builder's problem is). Until both parties find a solution, we're just watching an empty work site. Utterly frustrating.
No doubt, (another) compromise will have to be made (by us) and the cost will increase (again).
I'm sick of this! Another sunny day and no movement on site. Again.
On Monday we had a meeting with the builder and home company to discuss the many issues that needed addressing. 3 hours later, I felt like we hadn't resolved a whole lot and I'm stuck writing the minutes and emailing them to everyone.
Let me list the things I'm really frustrated about (it's my blog, I can vent if I want to!):
1) Everything is costing more $$$$. What happened to the fixed price contract?
2) The slab has to be cut. Why wasn't it poured correctly the first time? Builder says the plans were wrong (they're not, we checked).
3) The framer didn't have the right set of plans and framed up some of the windows incorrectly. Now it
4) The home company didn't merge two sets of drawings, hence, point 3.
5) The outside roof wasn't built. Now it is, but why wasn't it done the first time?? Why do we have to draw their attention to things that are on the plan?
I should be clear here...we haven't changed the plans since they were lodged to council last year. We'd just like our house built to plan...that's all.
6) The builder only received our list of inclusions for the house this week. Yep, that's right, his boss signed the contract back in November and he only found out what was included in the build cost on Monday.
We wondered why he was confused when we were discussing flooring / fences / tiling - all things we'd negotiated in the beginning.
Now we've got no one on site because the house builder doesn't believe the house can be built to plan (this info would have been handy 5 months ago). The home company is looking into an effective solution (to be honest, a lot of houses are built this way, I don't know what the builder's problem is). Until both parties find a solution, we're just watching an empty work site. Utterly frustrating.
No doubt, (another) compromise will have to be made (by us) and the cost will increase (again).
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
taking shape
Lots to report on since my last entry. Though things have felt like they're moving in slow motion, as I put this blog together, I can see lots of work has been done. Best of all, we can really see our house coming together...and it looks great!
After the slab was poured, the brickwork around the garage door and big column at the front were built to first floor level. After this was in place, the framing guys came on site (for a around 5 days in total) to build the entire frame of the house. This part was awesome. After they'd leave for the day, we'd walk through the site seeing our rooms coming together, along with views from windows and shapes of ceilings.
Now (some) windows are in, the plumber has "roughed-in", and scaffolding is up to complete the brickwork around the house (I think this will start tomorrow - weather pending). Soon the roof will be on and we'll be much closer to lock-up.
This hasn't been without some major hiccups...we're still to resolve some window sizes (due to the framer using the wrong set of plans), have the slab cut (due to the concreter's f*%# up) and get the roof re-measured (due to a misinterpretation of the elevation drawings e.g. missing an whole section of our roof!).
I cannot imagine what our house would be like if we weren't paying attention to every detail. I can only imagine it would be very different to the one we planned and designed. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a professional builder / architect / engineer by any stretch of the imagination, I just know what this house should look like and what we negotiated in our fixed price contract (more on that another day!).
If you're going down this same path of building a house, or thinking about building, my advice would be: document everything! Changes agreed upon and suggestions made...it all needs to be documented and signed off by both parties.
After the slab was poured, the brickwork around the garage door and big column at the front were built to first floor level. After this was in place, the framing guys came on site (for a around 5 days in total) to build the entire frame of the house. This part was awesome. After they'd leave for the day, we'd walk through the site seeing our rooms coming together, along with views from windows and shapes of ceilings.
Now (some) windows are in, the plumber has "roughed-in", and scaffolding is up to complete the brickwork around the house (I think this will start tomorrow - weather pending). Soon the roof will be on and we'll be much closer to lock-up.
This hasn't been without some major hiccups...we're still to resolve some window sizes (due to the framer using the wrong set of plans), have the slab cut (due to the concreter's f*%# up) and get the roof re-measured (due to a misinterpretation of the elevation drawings e.g. missing an whole section of our roof!).
I cannot imagine what our house would be like if we weren't paying attention to every detail. I can only imagine it would be very different to the one we planned and designed. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a professional builder / architect / engineer by any stretch of the imagination, I just know what this house should look like and what we negotiated in our fixed price contract (more on that another day!).
If you're going down this same path of building a house, or thinking about building, my advice would be: document everything! Changes agreed upon and suggestions made...it all needs to be documented and signed off by both parties.
Friday, 8 March 2013
slab time!
OK, so the slab is down. "About time!", I hear you exclaiming. I know, I know, this build is going really slowly. With less then 6 weeks from our deadline, we've had to reassess our lease and figure something out 'cause with the pace of this build, we could be here for a while...
After the initial brickwork was laid, the plumbing waste pipes were fitted (1 week later) and formwork put in place (2 weeks later). Finally, we were ready for concrete!
It took about 4 trucks and 6 hours to pour the slab.
After the initial screeding (smoothing of the concrete), we scattered some white stones into the patio areas so we can polish them at a later date...should look great!
So here's what it looks like 2 weeks later...(I didn't catch the tumbleweed rolling across the slab).
Does it usually take this long to get to this stage? No. So what's the hold up?
Weather has been one delay. The builder went off to finish another job / go on holiday for a week or two. We delayed it for a couple of days by trying to be there when the slab was poured to scatter in the stones...then they ended up doing it themselves :(
The builder has been trying to talk us into using oregon in the frame instead of pine. Pine was fine for us (though we can see the benefits of oregon) as we couldn't afford the extra $7000 expense. Then the cost went down to $5000, then $2000, and now they've decided to put it in anyway...for free. Personally, I think they've gone ahead with oregon as they could get it a lot faster then pine. It was ordered it 3 days ago. Yes, that's right, the slab was poured 2 weeks ago and the frame was ordered just this week.
We (almost) spat the dummy this week at the estimated time frame to complete the build. In November last year we signed on with the builder as they assured us they would be finished by mid April. Now it looks to be the beginning of June.
It doesn't seem prudent to get off side with the builder, after all, we still want this house to be built quickly and expertly (and we're locked into a contract), so we've vowed not to cause any further delays and decisive on any queries that arise.
Tomorrow should be a busy day as the frame arrived today, along with 10 pallets of bricks and a truckload (literally) of sand. Can't wait to see it all come together. I've been told the most difficult part has been done already. Let's hope that person was right!
After the initial brickwork was laid, the plumbing waste pipes were fitted (1 week later) and formwork put in place (2 weeks later). Finally, we were ready for concrete!
It took about 4 trucks and 6 hours to pour the slab.
After the initial screeding (smoothing of the concrete), we scattered some white stones into the patio areas so we can polish them at a later date...should look great!
So here's what it looks like 2 weeks later...(I didn't catch the tumbleweed rolling across the slab).
Does it usually take this long to get to this stage? No. So what's the hold up?
Weather has been one delay. The builder went off to finish another job / go on holiday for a week or two. We delayed it for a couple of days by trying to be there when the slab was poured to scatter in the stones...then they ended up doing it themselves :(
The builder has been trying to talk us into using oregon in the frame instead of pine. Pine was fine for us (though we can see the benefits of oregon) as we couldn't afford the extra $7000 expense. Then the cost went down to $5000, then $2000, and now they've decided to put it in anyway...for free. Personally, I think they've gone ahead with oregon as they could get it a lot faster then pine. It was ordered it 3 days ago. Yes, that's right, the slab was poured 2 weeks ago and the frame was ordered just this week.
We (almost) spat the dummy this week at the estimated time frame to complete the build. In November last year we signed on with the builder as they assured us they would be finished by mid April. Now it looks to be the beginning of June.
It doesn't seem prudent to get off side with the builder, after all, we still want this house to be built quickly and expertly (and we're locked into a contract), so we've vowed not to cause any further delays and decisive on any queries that arise.
Tomorrow should be a busy day as the frame arrived today, along with 10 pallets of bricks and a truckload (literally) of sand. Can't wait to see it all come together. I've been told the most difficult part has been done already. Let's hope that person was right!
Monday, 11 February 2013
more bricks, more rooms
All of the brickwork (prior to the slab being poured) has been completed. Now we can actually see all of the rooms / levels / outdoor spaces / views from each room. It's fantastic! I think the earth will be removed tomorrow ready for more formwork. Can't wait!
We're still having to be onto the builder constantly. The brickies weren't aware that there was a different brick for the column (see last blog entry) or that we were after a flush mortar finish...just as well we live close by!
We're still having to be onto the builder constantly. The brickies weren't aware that there was a different brick for the column (see last blog entry) or that we were after a flush mortar finish...just as well we live close by!
Sunday, 10 February 2013
brickies bricking
Finally we're moving ahead! We've had 3 weeks of delays due to silly negotiations...hopefully that's the last of the messing around and we can now get on with the build.
As I started this blog to help others, I'll tell you what happened so hopefully you can avoid our mistakes...(if you don't want to hear the drama, skip to the last paragraph).
Our home building company gave us an allowance to choose a brick style ($1 per brick). Our builder gave us the number of bricks required to build the house, including a break down for the front column - the main focal point of the house from the front. With this information we went shopping.
We selected a house brick and a feature brick for the column. At $3 per feature brick, we would need to pay the difference for the quantity required. We were happy to pay this extra expense as we thought the column would look awesome in a retro glazed brick.
Upon detailing our selection to the builder (just in time of his deadline for ordering), he changed the quantity of feature bricks required - from 1000 bricks to 2500 bricks, bringing our out-of-pocket expenses from $2000 to $4500...totally out of our budget.
We questioned the change (how could he miscalculate by this much???), had an engineer check the quantities (who came up with another, much lower number), then entered 3 days of back-and-forth negotiations of actual numbers required (disappointing and frustrating).
To add insult to injury, the builder tacked on an extra charge to lay the glazed bricks ($300 per 1000 bricks)...adding even more to the overall cost. By this stage we decided to drop the idea of a feature brick and just go with a slightly different tone to the house brick.Worst case, we can just tile over / render if we don't like the finished look. Not a good start, but at least a final decision was made.
Unfortunately by this stage, the builder's tradies were onto another job and we had no choice but to wait until they had finished.
So finally we've had some movement!!! The slab should go down this week (weather permitting) and we can get a real move on. My husband and I have vowed to keep ahead of any product / building decisions to prevent any further delays. We just hope it's not the start of ongoing changes and hidden charges on what is supposed to be a fixed price contract.
On the upside, we LOVE the look of the bricks we've chosen! With the foundations in place we've got a firmer idea of the house / yard space and it feels good. It's really happening now!!!
Friday, 18 January 2013
a week of dirt and diggin'
Monday's works included the sewer line encasement. Tuesday the concrete was left to cure. Wednesday our yard was filled with trucks and utes when the builder marked out our house and the foundations and piers were dug out using an excavator (see pic above of big piles of dirt).
Thursday new tradies were on site to receive a truckfull of reo, form it into long rectangles to fit into the channels and then pour concrete over the entire thing. As you can tell from my articulate explanation, I'm not a subject matter expert on this caper...but you get the idea! It's now Friday and no one is here, so I guess the concrete will cure over the weekend.
It's interesting to note the difference between our site works last year and the builder's this year. Council made us follow sediment control, erosion planning and cyclone fencing to the letter. Apparently as a builder, all you need is some plastic tape strung up between two bins!
At least I we no longer have to deal with council / Principal Certifying Authorities / surveyors / arborists / etc. Although it is worth noting that along the way, we will have a third party (of our choosing) to certify all works prior to advancement / next progress payment. It's good to have someone looking out for us.
Monday, 14 January 2013
breaking ground
Hooray! It's the start of our new home.
With high hopes of beginning before Christmas, we were told in December that we would start last week. Unfortunately the builder could not coordinate the start date with Sydney Water *sigh*, therefore works commenced today.
So what are we looking at? The new house is to be positioned over an underground sewer line. This means digging down to locate the line, replacing the old pipe, encasing the new pipe in concrete and covering it over to make way for the new house foundations. It's hard to tell from the picture but the pit is around 2m deep.
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