Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 20, 2014 9:43 pm We selected Clarendon to build our new house in Hornsby NSW 2077. We faced few of the issues time to time as any other owners faced other builders. I assume that is normal. But just before house handover we encountered major failure of planning/supervision. Our land had the driveway up to planned house. But Clarendon build the house 30cm down of the driveway and we cannot get the car to Garage. We put this as a major item in the PCI list and Clarendon later confirmed that it's a mistake done by one of their contractors. We moved to house on 3rd of Feb and almost 47 days gone and still they haven't fix the issue. They are going to remove part of the driveway (near house) and make it down so that car can be drives to garage. But with new plan, driveway has a level gap keeping kurb in one level and other part in a different level (with current dirveway, new design is ugly). Also last 47 days we are struglling with all the hassle of, - Reversing the car to Pacific Highway as we cannot complete turning round near house due to this problem. it's too risky reversing car to motorway - Living with mud front area in raining days - Hassle with levels and gaps in the front area as we cannot do anything until clarendon fix the driveway problem. I know for a small planning change Claredon charge a lot from customer, but there is no any compensation/help from Clarendon even a customer face this kind of huge inconvenience and problem due to their mistakes. Considering the amount they charge from a customer as administrative cost for a change in the plan after sign the contract, they should give me a huge fee for the all the hassle we faced due to their poor planning/design/supervision. Still I don't know when they are going to fix the issue, every day they are saying still they are working with fault company. But for me single point of contact is Clarendon as my contract is with Clarendon. I was thinking whether should I take legal action if this is getting further delay. Appreciate any suggestion from views. Senal Re: Major Planning/Supervision mistakes by Clarendon !!! 2Mar 21, 2014 2:45 am I take it they have all your money?..................ie paid in Full. Hate to be a smartie but this its a risk when you are in a hurry to "commence occupancy" and relying on the assurances to rectify faults. I suspect if the final payment was witheld the fault would have been rectified much more quickly............or immediately As for your contention that you deserve a "huge Fee" for Clarendons conduct thats nearly as unlikely as your ability to successfully pursue any "common law" legal action( sued anyone else this year mate??). Heres my advice to you , be very reasonable, very very patient and start a sensible dialogue with your builder. No-one really likes doing things for people who are threatening them.(regardless of the righteousness of your case or lack therof). This is a building Forum not a complaints forum. I see this is your First post................best of luck. Saving money on quality stuff done right firstime Our Build Thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66810&p=1094349#p1094349 Re: Major Planning/Supervision mistakes by Clarendon !!! 3Mar 21, 2014 6:34 am I can't comprehend the logistics of your problem. Do you mean to say that the driveway is 30cm higher than the garage level? Re: Major Planning/Supervision mistakes by Clarendon !!! 4Mar 21, 2014 6:58 am Wandin Valley I suspect if the final payment was witheld the fault would have been rectified much more quickly............or immediately senal may not have been in a position to withhold the final payment. I know in our contract there was a 10.5% pa charge for late payments. Senal is in NSW so I don't know what the situation is there but in Victoria, Consumer Affairs specifically advises that: You should not withhold progress payments because of defects (provided that the stage has been completed). Always get legal advice before withholding a progress payment. Senal appears to have a legitimate defect and would like to know when it is going to be rectified. That appears to be the crux of the problem. The procedure should be: - inform your builder in writing - preferably by registered letter giving an adequate time for response/redress - if nothing is done (and hopefully it will be) lodge a complaint with the NSW equivalent of Building Advice and Conciliation Victoria. Is it Fair Trading in NSW? Good luck with getting this sorted out. At least 10% of builds in Australia do end up in complaints unfortunately. Re: Major Planning/Supervision mistakes by Clarendon !!! 5Mar 21, 2014 7:09 am Agree with liliana. It's been explained to us we can't legally without the payments, even if they haven't done the stage they're claiming for! We are legally obliged to pay the invoice and challenge later if need be. To the OP I would be talking to a lawyer for advice. Sometimes even a quick letter from a lawyer will be enough to get things moving. Good luck. Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: Major Planning/Supervision mistakes by Clarendon !!! 6Mar 23, 2014 7:43 pm MadamImAdam I can't comprehend the logistics of your problem. Do you mean to say that the driveway is 30cm higher than the garage level? Yes, you are right. Driveway was there from the bignining and house was build lower than driveway... Re: Major Planning/Supervision mistakes by Clarendon !!! 7Mar 23, 2014 7:58 pm Wandin Valley I take it they have all your money?..................ie paid in Full. Hate to be a smartie but this its a risk when you are in a hurry to "commence occupancy" and relying on the assurances to rectify faults. I suspect if the final payment was witheld the fault would have been rectified much more quickly............or immediately As for your contention that you deserve a "huge Fee" for Clarendons conduct thats nearly as unlikely as your ability to successfully pursue any "common law" legal action( sued anyone else this year mate??). Heres my advice to you , be very reasonable, very very patient and start a sensible dialogue with your builder. No-one really likes doing things for people who are threatening them.(regardless of the righteousness of your case or lack therof). This is a building Forum not a complaints forum. I see this is your First post................best of luck. Hi Wandin, Thanks for your comments. yes, I paid full. you are right. The problem was not a easy one to solve within 1day or 1 week. So I decided to pay full and get the key putting a comment in Final inspection report. They promised thro email that mistake was from one of their contractor (ASPECT who done survey) and they promised to fix the issue. So I accepted. Still I assume they are working to fix the issue. But here problem is they took long time. I also know it's not just a driveway. They have to get Council approval due to storm water drainage, and design by one of the storm water consultant,etc. Then getting a quote from waste mgt company to remove the driveway (it is very thick and need heavy machine to cut), etc. here only concern is they could have done this effectively, to reduce time.. And also they should keep the customer up to date as this is a their mistake and I am facing practical problem when live in this house. So they should do something to happy the customer. Think about if you want to do a small change in the plan after your sign the final papers, they will charge you admin fee. Who pay for all the hassle we face due to their mistakes. Normally I don't fight with anyone/any company, always first is do with dialogue, But if there no go, final option would be legal action. I think you also have to do that way in some situations if first path doesn't work. Cheers, Re: Major Planning/Supervision mistakes by Clarendon !!! 8Mar 23, 2014 8:02 pm Liliana Wandin Valley I suspect if the final payment was witheld the fault would have been rectified much more quickly............or immediately senal may not have been in a position to withhold the final payment. I know in our contract there was a 10.5% pa charge for late payments. Senal is in NSW so I don't know what the situation is there but in Victoria, Consumer Affairs specifically advises that: You should not withhold progress payments because of defects (provided that the stage has been completed). Always get legal advice before withholding a progress payment. Senal appears to have a legitimate defect and would like to know when it is going to be rectified. That appears to be the crux of the problem. The procedure should be: - inform your builder in writing - preferably by registered letter giving an adequate time for response/redress - if nothing is done (and hopefully it will be) lodge a complaint with the NSW equivalent of Building Advice and Conciliation Victoria. Is it Fair Trading in NSW? Good luck with getting this sorted out. At least 10% of builds in Australia do end up in complaints unfortunately. Thanks Liliana for comments. You are right. Considering the problem weight, they cannot fix it very quickly. Based on their email confirmation/promise I decide to move on. I know they are working on my issue, but only problem that I am having is, - Took long time so fare - Practical problem - Little bit ugly new design. Hopefully they will start work next week. let's see. I will update you guys. Cheers, Re: Major Planning/Supervision mistakes by Clarendon !!! 9Mar 23, 2014 8:04 pm EmyN Agree with liliana. It's been explained to us we can't legally without the payments, even if they haven't done the stage they're claiming for! We are legally obliged to pay the invoice and challenge later if need be. To the OP I would be talking to a lawyer for advice. Sometimes even a quick letter from a lawyer will be enough to get things moving. Good luck. Thanks EmyN for comments. I am waiting one more week ( Until next week Friday) and then will ask legal advise from a lawyer. Cheers. Re: Major Planning/Supervision mistakes by Clarendon !!! 10Mar 23, 2014 9:58 pm Sounds like they have offered a solution. Any legal action will be ineffective and expensive. I wouldn't go there. Saving money on quality stuff done right firstime Our Build Thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66810&p=1094349#p1094349 Re: Major Planning/Supervision mistakes by Clarendon !!! 11Mar 23, 2014 10:30 pm Hi senal, sorry to read about this.. However it is good to know that clarendon will be trying to resolve the issue. But as a customer you shouldn't have to be chasing this or waiting around for days. Basically you need someone else to step in and sort this out fairly. We experienced some minor issues in our first build and decided that chasing the builder was tough even though they were the top 5 in the state .they were slow similar to your example. We took them to fair trading in nsw .. The officers came after an agreed date had a meeting with the site supervisor and we showed the faults in the house they agreed a time to get it all fixed with the builder and thankfully it was all resolved . Otherwise the builder wouldn't be in a favourable position by not meeting the time agreed to resolve the issues. It's a simple process simply send an email on their website highlighting your experience and then their staff will provide a case id to escalate it and get it resolved this is all free .. it's there to protect consumers etc fair trading The nsw one is fair trading .nsw.gov.au you can google your states and follow through. Give Jonathan a call. Tell him you know me. He is in my opinion the best surveyor I have ever worked with. His number is 0425 285 622 All the best Simeon 3 12391 I am not based in Victoria however i had a quick look into your question to understand what you were asking. The way I read the regulations, overshadowing relates to the… 1 2233 "is it exempt or do I need to get permission from council" Call your Council and ask them 1 1558 |