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?
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
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...
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