Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 26, 2017 8:48 pm Hi All, My builder has contacted me today to organise contract signing next week, which is supposed to be exciting, however they are refusing to give me a soft copy of the contract to review prior to this day, and will only give me a copy of the contract after I have signed and paid my 5% deposit. They have provided me with a generic HIA contract to review and told me it's the same thing that I will be signing on the day, just that they will be adding my name, address and stage claims on it. I said if that's the case, why can't they just provide me the complete contract to review prior to signing and they simply avoided this question, and instead told me they allocate enough time on the day to review it prior to signing. I am extremely frustrated with the sales person as they have not been very helpful or put my mind at ease. It just makes me feel nervous, and I find the comments contradictory to state that the contract is virtually identical to what I've already been given, yet won't provide me with a complete contract without a 5% deposit and a signature on the day. I want to get a solicitor to review the contract, and the builder has told me to give them the generic one to view, but given the expensive hourly rate, I'd rather get them to review the actual contract I'll be signing, not some generic one as I have no idea if the one I am signing on the day is truly the same as what I have been emailed. Can anyone let me know if this is standard practice with other volume builders too? This will be my first home, so I am new to this and not sure if this is normal. I am planning to call head office tomorrow and see if they're willing to be more helpful. At contract stage, need help 2Apr 26, 2017 8:52 pm Hi there, We have not got to contract stage yet, but our builder told us they will provide us with the contract to take away and read. I think you are right to be suspicious, it may be that they are saving time and money using generic contracts but I don't think that is good enough. Re: At contract stage, need help 4Apr 26, 2017 8:58 pm Usually you go in to sign, and they let you take it home then and bring it back if you want. I just went over mine with the builder and asked all my questions, then signed on the day... but I trusted my builder and we had already been working over everything for 12 months. I would go to the signing and just say your not signing until you have your solicitor review. Alternatively there may be a cooling off period in the contract, so you can sign, have it reviewed by solicitor and cancel if you need to. My contract was pretty much identical to the standard one.. we ticked the stages that I was happy with.. and wrote in a finance clause, then they just added my colour selection, quote and plan documents to the contract (that I'd already reviewed). Make sure you don't sign or pay for anything until you are happy. There's plenty of other builders out there. Re: At contract stage, need help 5Apr 26, 2017 9:09 pm aloenyx Usually you go in to sign, and they let you take it home then and bring it back if you want. I just went over mine with the builder and asked all my questions, then signed on the day... but I trusted my builder and we had already been working over everything for 12 months. I would go to the signing and just say your not signing until you have your solicitor review. Alternatively there may be a cooling off period in the contract, so you can sign, have it reviewed by solicitor and cancel if you need to. My contract was pretty much identical to the standard one.. we ticked the stages that I was happy with.. and wrote in a finance clause, then they just added my colour selection, quote and plan documents to the contract (that I'd already reviewed). Make sure you don't sign or pay for anything until you are happy. There's plenty of other builders out there. Thanks for your reply. I assumed this was the correct process also, so I was baffled when they said that I had to sign on the day. I have to get a valuation from the bank, which I cannot do without a signed contract, and a signed contract means 5% deposit. The valuation takes longer than the cooling off period, so I guess I need to make sure I can get my deposit back if things go south during valuation (probably won't, but always got to be prepared). When you say you ticked the stages you were happy with, what do you mean? The building stages? I definitely won't sign unless I'm comfortable, and right now I'm not. The account manager has not done much to alleviate my concerns, which is annoying. I would have appreciated if I was given an explanation as to why they won't let me take home the complete contract to review. Not giving me a reason makes me suspicious. Anyway, I think my building inspector does contract inspections too, so I'm going to contact them tomorrow morning and see if they can review the generic contract I've been given and if they can provide any advice for my current situation. Re: At contract stage, need help 6Apr 26, 2017 9:33 pm Yuh, there was a few options for stage payments, I just went with the first one. You can ask them to include a finance clause. Mine was 21 days, so I signed the contract, then asked bank for approval, if the bank had of rejected me then I could have broken the contract without issue within the 21 days, Once the bank approved within the 21 days, then I paid the deposit. Do you have a mortgage broker? Mine helped me with all this stuff. Re: At contract stage, need help 7Apr 26, 2017 9:35 pm I wouldn't do it! Why not give you a copy now - eeek! Re: At contract stage, need help 8Apr 26, 2017 9:46 pm Don't trust them, they do this so you can't change the builder friendly HIA contract, your solicitor would make your contract back to favour you, HIA contract is better for the builder, the standard line is salesman talk, hold your ground and I would walk away with the contract and do what you want, if they refuse, tell them to, ggf. Re: At contract stage, need help 9Apr 27, 2017 4:23 pm Thanks for the replies. I contacted their head office this morning and explained my concerns. They explained that they don't give out the complete contract as people use this to misrepresent themselves to their financial lenders, which I wasn't buying. My brother is my financial lender and he said it's the first time he's seen this happen. They have assured me in writing that the contract I will sign on the day is identical to the one I have been emailed, minus the personal details and financial figures. They have sent me this in an email. I contacted my solicitor today about the situation, gave them the generic contract to review and they got back to me saying that they can't do anything with that as it's just a generic contract, and they need the full contract to review including tender, plans, specs, engineering and soil report. I now have to go back to the builder and tell them I will not sign until I get all this. This is incredibly stressful. It's my first home, I was incredibly excited to start building and began this process 4 months ago. I would hate to have to start again from scratch, but I will if I have to. Re: At contract stage, need help 10Apr 27, 2017 8:00 pm Is the contract just for land or both with build? Our developer gave us standard land contract without any details filled in to review before we signed the contract. Then our builder emailed us draft build contract with all the specs to review before signing. Hope that makes sense. Re: At contract stage, need help 11Apr 27, 2017 8:06 pm We get our contracts to take away but we had to pay our deposit pre them been drawn up for them to asses the block and draw the house plans Re: At contract stage, need help 12Apr 27, 2017 8:13 pm Zee05 Is the contract just for land or both with build? Our developer gave us standard land contract without any details filled in to review before we signed the contract. Then our builder emailed us draft build contract with all the specs to review before signing. Hope that makes sense. Just build. I've had the land for over a year. Needamoneytree We get our contracts to take away but we had to pay our deposit pre them been drawn up for them to asses the block and draw the house plans I paid an initial deposit of 2k when I first made the decision to build. This locks in the price at the time and is generally used to cover the cost of admin fees (drawing up your plans etc...). I would assume this is what you're referring to also. What the builder is now asking for is 5% of the total house build to be paid the day I sign the contract in order to take the contract away. I just want my solicitor to review it, but I am not being given that option. Re: At contract stage, need help 13Apr 27, 2017 8:17 pm Nuri Zee05 Is the contract just for land or both with build? Our developer gave us standard land contract without any details filled in to review before we signed the contract. Then our builder emailed us draft build contract with all the specs to review before signing. Hope that makes sense. Just build. I've had the land for over a year. Needamoneytree We get our contracts to take away but we had to pay our deposit pre them been drawn up for them to asses the block and draw the house plans I paid an initial deposit of 2k when I first made the decision to build. This locks in the price at the time and is generally used to cover the cost of admin fees (drawing up your plans etc...). I would assume this is what you're referring to also. What the builder is now asking for is 5% of the total house build to be paid the day I sign the contract in order to take the contract away. I just want my solicitor to review it, but I am not being given that option. Hrmm we must get ours sorry I'm no help because the builder we have had always been open about having a solicitor read the contract and even tells us "if you plan to have a solicitor read the contract that's fine". You do always have the right to change your mind if anything comes up the the solicitor but you would have to fight for your money back through fair trading which can be a nightmare Re: At contract stage, need help 16Apr 28, 2017 7:04 am Nuri, you mention that your private inspector does pre contract review, he then would be the best to advise you. In signing a building contract there is no room for trust, its about checking and verifying. A builder must give you a full set to take home and read at your leisure, if not walk. How will you understand the implications of special conditions? I often find that builder's risk is shoved on owners. There is a lot to look at and know not only the contract but also the plans, specifications,levels, provisional sums and exclusions. A lawyer specialising in building contracts is a good choice but a review from a building consultant with extensive experience in contract administration is also good because not only will they know problem hot spots but will also be able to forewarn you about the steps ahead. A good review may lead to renegotiation of some terms, may pick up errors in documents or drawings and should always be educational and give you confidence. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: At contract stage, need help 17Apr 28, 2017 2:20 pm All good, I have spoken to my inspector and have forwarded their email onto my builder requesting the full contract to review otherwise I can't sign. The builder has now agreed to send me the full contract once the design has been approved. 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