Allcastle Savannah- Gregory Hills

Week 39 - Painting still continuing, builder has stated it will be finished early this week, not convinced at the current speed as there is still work outside and we can see some walls/woodwork inside that still needs to be painted.
The only other thing completed this week was the range hood & ducting was installed...

Wednesday of this week was also the contacted completion date, so we are now into the added days for rain, I only estimated 15 days from the information on the BOM website, but I am sure they will class days that had 0.1mm of rain at 2am as a rain day that meant they could not work. I am sure they will do anything to get out of paying a penalty.

Still can't get any date for Practical completion, the customer service person seems to be very good at dodging that question. I am just getting so frustrated as today the 4 double beds we order for the kids are ready and snooze want to deliver, they would hold onto them for another couple of weeks, but not until the end of June. So the cars will now have to be parked outside so we can store the beds in the garage, and when we will move it will probably take us 2 journeys with the removalist, so will add another $400 to the cost. Thank you Allcastle.

I think the penalty for going over was something like $50 a day. Not really much compared to rent and other inconveniences. I hope things speed up for you.

Yes it is $50 per day, but that is after the Contract, Shutdown and rain days are counted. The annoying thing is the rain days will probably cover them so they don't have to pay, but at the end of the day the rain has not caused this delay, it is the painter taking 6 weeks to perform a job that should have taken no more than 2 weeks...

Week 40 - Painting looks though it is finally finished, the electrical finish off is completed, the door handles seem to be on most doors (was missing from the laundry door) and the Fly screens have been installed (will have to be removed so the Windows can cleaned, would have made sense to clean first).

Was expecting the flooring to be have started this week, but a change in process was sprung on us. Not sure why they would change the process on a build that is almost complete. But the change is in their favour. We have been told that a walk through with the Site Supervisor is required so any issues can be identified and fixed before the flooring is done...

My opinion, they had to delay the flooring due to not being ready on the 20th, so they are trying to cover up that delay by getting a walk through and issues fixed first.

I have asked the builder for the date for the walkthrough, that was done this morning as they have a bad habit of sending through responses days laters, but after 5pm on a Friday, so there is nothing you can do until Monday...Giving them until 3pm and will then start calling... All that is left is cleaning, so there is no reason the walkthrough can't be done in the next few days...Then the flooring can be done as any none critical issues can wait until the 90 day period...

Great thread Wazza773! I have been enjoying following the progress of your build with Allcastle. We too have found our build progress with them slow and pretty frustrating.
With the rain days claimed (and something that has really annoyed me) not sure if your contract has the clause but they claim 2 drying out days for every rain day, so really every rain day is worth 3 days of extension time

Will have to check that tonight, can't remember seeing it, but it could be hidden somewhere...

I felt though the Progress in the early stages was OK, but I wasn't really monitoring them too much against other builds, most houses near us are Single so would be expected to complete quicker

That changed a couple of weeks ago it really hit me how slow Allcastle are compared to other builders...

In February I needed to meet the Site Supervisor on-site to inspect the frame before the Gyprock was installed, a few houses away a slab was being poured, a couple of weeks ago when we visited on the weekend the owners of that house where moving in. I was just gobsmacked that they had gone from Slab to Completion in the time it has taken Allcastle to go from Gyprock to Painting.

Yes the house was a small Single story but to build that in less than 16 weeks, compared to Allcastle's 40+ weeks.
I think Allcastle are going wrong somewhere...

Update - no response from the builder regarding a date for the Walk Through, call was made at 3:30pm yesterday and request made to call us back, no returned call either...

It annoys me that they think customers pay $400,000+ to build a house and it is OK to just ignore our emails and phone calls, when in most cases they would take less than a minute to respond to, even if it is just to let you know they are looking into it or they will get back to you in a day or two...

Very frustrating. Yes HollieLot is correct about rain days. It's another 2 additional days for drying out.

I felt the same at the beginning also, I was pretty happy with how the progress of the build was going. We had built previously and in comparison things seemed to move quite fast.

Our build went downhill from when the bricks stated and just is getting more and more drawn out. Our build started in Dec just before the xmas shutdown and i can't believe we are nearly in June and we have just had the scaffold removed today to be able to complete the bottom level roof (which knowing them won't be done for another week or so).

I always had in the back of my mind that it was OK as they only have until the end of the contract but after finding out about the rain / dry out days, I'm totally shocked! They really can take as long as they want

Yes, you are correct it does include 2 drying out days for adverse weather only, so that would be only if it rained heavy in the proceeding days. That is reasonable, but what is not reasonable is that statement at the end that the 'Builder is not required to notify the owner until after practical completion' of any days added. That is a change from the HIA standard contract and is what allows Allcastle to finish when they like and add as many days as they need.

The HIA contract is fair to both sides, but I would advise anybody building to really take more attention to any 'Special Conditions' as they are changes to the HIA contract, that will always favour the builder.

Allcastles definition of adverse weather is ANY day of rain recorded on the BOM website is classed as a rain day, even 1mm. To normal people adverse weather would yes be heavy rain but that is where they get you. So any day of recorded rain equals 3 days that can be added onto you contract and they don't have to advise you until the contact end.

What bugs me is they can add
the rain days even if they didn't have any work scheduled for that day.

I certainly missed the 'special conditions' page and really focused on what was said in the specific clauses which was incorrect. So annoyed now but not much that can be done, I guess it's in their hands and that's it.

Hopefully with your house so close to finish they get a move on for you

Was informed early in the week that Quality Assurance is scheduled to start before the end of the week and would take up to 2 weeks to complete. Was not very happy about this, I just felt though they just keep adding additional work, delaying everything further, and don't give you much warning of this.

Ended up just telling Customer Support to get a manager to contact me..

The Allcastle Construction manager called, he explained the reason for the QA process, as they are trying to lift the quality of houses that are handed over. I made him aware of the issues the delays have cause and specifically pointed out the 6 weeks it took to complete the painting, which he was not aware of. He said he would look into what is left and call me back.

I got the call last night, and our house has been inspected, which does not have many issues, so he has confirm that this process will be completed early next week, at which point with the exception of flooring we will be at Practical Completion (Estimated Thursday 2nd June). He is going to follow up on the flooring, and let me know early next week when that will happen. If this all happens then it is still possible we could have the keys to the house in about 3 weeks , but I will need to see it before I believe it .

I will admit that from what we have seen the quality of the work is quite good, and much better than when we last built with Beechwood. So they may have improved the quality, but the timeframe has been impacted by this, and the customer service has been shocking...

Week 41 - House has been cleaned and all the rubbish from outside has been removed. The house is starting to look good. Blinds have also been installed. The builders QA process started this week, and I could see Blue and Green stickers over parts of the house...Didn't seem like too many, kitchen and Stairs seem to have the most, but no idea what upstairs looks like...
It also looks like they are repainting the weather board at the back as the joins have been plastered again...
It is just finish off the fixes from the QA and flooring, Construction Manager is scheduled to let us know early this week when the flooring will go in, but still looking good for practical completion this week...

Week 42 - The Blue and Green stickers have gone so assume they have been fixed, only issue we could see was a missing door handle in the laundry.

No practical completion this week, but we have the first walkthrough with the builder scheduled for 7:30am on Wednesday 8th June... This is basically Practical completion and we should receive the final account payment to send to the bank the same day.

The flooring is scheduled to go in on Friday (not part of Practical completion), and we have been told we should have handover 1-2 weeks after the first walkthrough, it is dependant on the bank as well, but looks through we could have the keys by the 22nd June... Then the fun begins...

Still waiting on the Power to be connected, was due last week, but the rain probably delayed that, waiting for the company to contact me, but at the moment the area around the electrical box is a few inches deep in water, so may need to be drained and dried out first...So could be next week now, which will be OK...

Walk through update - Walk through was performed today, only 1 issue was identified, which was a crack to a window. Other than that the only other issues they was already aware of, and are due for fixing today.

The Hardwood floor is scheduled for Tomorrow and the Carpets for Tuesday next week. Power is also due to be connected tomorrow...

Final 'Practical' Completion invoice was received today, and has already been sent to the bank for payment. At the moment we are on track to have the Keys by the end of next week.

Electrical days are already scheduled as well for the 22nd/23rd June, the latter being the date we plan to move in....

Week 43 - Flooring has started, and about 70% of the hardwood floor has been laid, this should be finished and the carpet laid today. Power has also been connected.
Inspection by the bank is schedule for 9am Wednesday 15th June, so final payment should be made Wed/Thu. Our bank and Allcastle's is the same so funds should clear very quickly. So looking possible to be on track to do final inspection on Friday and then to the office to do the handover...

Week 44 - Collected the keys on Friday and finally started the move into the house

Main move will happen middle of the week...

In the end everything came together, and Allcastle did pull out all stops to finish and do the handover late on Friday...

That's great news Wazza.

Congrats!! Hope you are enjoying you new place

Moved into the house on Thursday last week, the interim occupation certificate was received on the Monday (driveway and Landscaping needed for the final). Electrical day was also Thursday, but did not go entirely to plan...

- A/C installed and working OK
- Oven installed, Electric connection in the morning and gas in the afternoon. On Friday realised that the oven part was not working. now waiting fro Smeg to come an look at this on Friday, so a week with no oven.
- Dishwasher was delivered with a broken top, so was replaced with a new one on Friday, and the plumbers will be back today to install.
- Microwave installed on Thursday and no issues so far.
- Hot Water - was scheduled for Thursday, but hot water system was not delivered to the plumbers so they arrived thinking it must has been delivered to us. We did not have so after the plumbers and Allcastle could not locate it, a new one was sourced and install on the Friday, so had to spend a night with no hot water.