Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 01, 2010 3:41 pm Hi I'm well into building a new house with Rossdale Homes and have included paving around the perimeter of the house in the fixed price contract. The person doing the paving has just called (the site manager asked him to ring us directly) to say that we need a retaining wall along the side of the house in order to do the paving properly and so the fence doesn't rust. He said we will need to pay extra for the retaining wall. Has anyone else run into this problem? We've paid a high price for them to do paving in the first place. I thought this was the point of having a fixed price guarantee?? Thanks Re: Rossdale Homes - fixed price guarantee 2Feb 01, 2010 6:35 pm Does it say on the plans that you need a retaining wall, i would have thought this is something that the engineer would decide not someone doing the paving. We needed a retaining wall done one side of the house and rossdale put this on the final drawings. I dont think the fixed price quote will cover this Re: Rossdale Homes - fixed price guarantee 3Feb 01, 2010 6:57 pm I agree with hoffdog. If the engineers haven't said you need one what has changed since then if everything was built to specs. You could always consider getting a refund for the paving or get a second opinion. Since you haven't paid for a retaining wall in your contract it wouldn't be covered. It is rotten when this happens but maybe you could consider whether it would be better to have the retaining wall. Handover February 2011 Happy with our home Re: Rossdale Homes - fixed price guarantee 4Feb 01, 2010 10:23 pm The plans didn't include a retaining wall - I thought the engineer would have covered those things at the start? I think you guys are right; even though they've only picked it up now I think we'll have to get it and pay extra. Maybe it fits under the 'agreed variation' part of the contract. Bugger. Re: Rossdale Homes - fixed price guarantee 5Feb 04, 2010 10:47 am sunnysideup The plans didn't include a retaining wall - I thought the engineer would have covered those things at the start? I think you guys are right; even though they've only picked it up now I think we'll have to get it and pay extra. Maybe it fits under the 'agreed variation' part of the contract. Bugger. Yep. If they want to do anything outside of the contract, you must agree. You could refuse and the paving guy must do what is in the contract, but Rossdale wont take responsibility for any damages down the track. From their point of view, they have informed you of a variation that's required and you wither accept and pay extra or refuse and take the liability. Do you know if Rossdale included the paving when they sent the plans to the Engineer? If they weren't included, this might be why the engineer has said nothing. I've had a look at ours and the path and driveway have been included in the engineers drawings with the required drainage/retaining required. Re: Rossdale Homes - fixed price guarantee 6Feb 04, 2010 1:44 pm Thanks Freddyflop. The paving has been included in the plans since the very beginning so yes that was sent to the engineer. I'm pretty confused about this. The website says "After signing the contract, you can change the price, but Rossdale can't." ??? Re: Rossdale Homes - fixed price guarantee 7Feb 04, 2010 2:04 pm sunnysideup I'm pretty confused about this. The website says "After signing the contract, you can change the price, but Rossdale can't." ??? That probably refers to the bit they cross out in the building contract that states they can charge you more if the cost increases (or something along those lines) without your consent. From what they told us, we would need to approve any additional work required that's not in the contract before they would proceed, other than the footings which they have to cover. Our CSC said that if its in the contract, they have to do it regardless of cost. So i'd say in this case, the paving guy will still do the paving, but he was giving you a heads up with possible problems that could arise later. Because you dont have a retaining wall in your contract, this is an addition that you will have to approve. Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 19601 So AFAIk the outcomes of the BAL ratings form part of a clause that allows them to pass these costs on to you. However the more relevant detail is how did it go from 19… 1 11103 My door tends to rub against the frame during winter and I'm looking to fix it so it closes smoothly. Looking online on Youtube I'm seeing methods to fix the alignment and… 0 1310 |