@hejazs Write a letter to the builder explaining you believe they have breached the terms of your contract regarding variations. Ask them to respond in writing within 5 days as to why they feel they are entitled to the additional $6.5k including supporting evidence such as the original copies of the...

@SuzK Welcome to the forum! There are so many considerations building a new home. Take it slowly and carefully. I went with the basic interior tile package on my recent build which looks fine, not cheap at all. These were Chinese made tiles imported by National Tiles Company. Surfaces such as tiles ...

Most quality residential specification LED down lights are rated to last 30,000 hours before their light output diminishes to 70% (L70) of what is was when they were new. Based on an average 4 hours running per day they should last about 20 years until they get to this point. Given these lights typi...

Demand for residential home builders has been decimated recently and consequently the 'real' building prices will go down significantly. List pricing is just a guide because, like Bing Lee says, "everything is negotiable". If you are out and about look at the current petrol pricing as an e...

@chokyulate Basically Wisdom Homes is selling you a house design and a contract for other companies to build your home. Once you have signed it, Wisdom Homes then splits this 'master' contract up into about 125 smaller sub-contracts, adding their approx. 35% mark up as 'builders margin' onto each. W...

I’m not sure you will have much luck with them I’m afraid. After handover from Montgomery last year we had a tiler on site two days a week for 4 months repairing the hundreds of defects in our bathrooms. Dealing with them and Tile Direct (now rebranded as Thynk) put me on the verge of a breakdown a...

@hi5 if your builder is using a HIA or MBA contract template ask them to send you a preliminary 'generic' version which includes any of their variations. Most builders will do this prior to contract presentation to assist you. These documents are quite straightforward, although are heavily weighted ...

@hi5 the builders response "it is a standard policy for all KDRB projects" is disrespectful to you as well as unprofessional. They are proposing spending $23k of your money on site services and adding their $7k or so profit margin, and they will not explain to you why! ‘Standard Policy’ is...

@Bhaumik The builder needs to put in a steel lintel above the door and lay bricks above it. Its not a big or difficult job and they can cut bricks as necessary to fit. Again, I had a similar issue with my front door which Metricon fixed after I pointed it out to them. The builder is BSing you about ...

@Bhaumik I had the same issue identified during the frame inspection and Metricon easily fixed it by moving the frame studs and noggins slightly. What's detailed in the plans should be what's built. If the 50mm is important to you get them to fix it, ideally before the waterproofing and tiling. You ...

Just send them a letter disputing their invoice because job is not yet done, explaing the reasons why. Ask for a written response as to what they intend to do, and when. Don't pay anything until it's done properly. Give them a reasonable chance to do it properly before you get a professional in to f...

Agree, i had the same crooked frame defects on my Metricon Build. Best to identify a crooked frame and other major issues before the fixing stage. If you leave such inspections to PCI thats too late to practically fix it according to NCAT, VCAT and QBA, even before considering your own extra costs. ...

@M4bath Your Wisdom Homes site supervisor’s job is primarily as an contract administrator to schedule materials and contractors via their workflow software for about 20 houses at a time, about 12O contracts per house build. He does not have the time to check the quality of the contractors work. Unfo...

@westbourne have you checked there is actually a moulded sealer installed between the roofing sheets and the flashing? I reckon Rawson Homes is just fobbing you off you with BS and there is none installed. It appears this is their standard approach with customers for such such issues. 2 months ago t...

@Jriz Metricon’s refusal to allow customers reasonable site access for inspection is a breach of the building contract. This practice is opportunistic in the current environment, aimed at limiting their potential costs of rework and expediting their cashflow from your progress payments. They know ty...

@Ambassador36 check if there is brick mortar stuck to the window glass. This can etch the glass surfaces and powder coated window frames and these will need to be replaced before practical completion. If there is excess mortar stuck to the bricks this will need to be cleaned of with a hydrochloric a...

I think a concern of some forum members currently in the construction phase is that, due to some builders‘ COVID-19 site restrictions, they will be unable to inspect their homes, or to even pay professional private inspectors to do this on their behalf. The volume builder business model and their pr...

@GrahamB HIA contracts state that the owner must be provided access to the building works at reasonable times and after giving reasonable prior notice. In addition, by state building laws, the builder must allow the owner and/or the owner’s inspector ‘reasonable access’ to the site during constructi...

@luxbuild yes, the 'Macsim' brand plastic window packers are in exact thicknesses denoted by different colours and clearly demonstrate the gaps under a 2m straight edge level placed on walls and ceilings. This identifies unsightly waves and bows, in excess of building standards. The black window pac...