Porter Davis homes

I'm hoping I don't have trouble with my site costs! Mine is a PD H&L package on the Simplicity Promo. My block is very flat, and one of the only things I can understand from the soil report is that I only need an M Class slab which is included.
I have asked one other person that has built with PD in this same estate and they said their site costs were only $5,000.
But now I will worry until I find out! lol

Hi humble,
That’s great news! Hopefully the weather holds out! Cheers, Ebony

Hi All
long time so speak - we haev finally mvoed in and we are dealing with maintenace a lovely bunch of people Catherine is great

Hi Fingers Crossed,

Have you hit the 3 months maintanance?

I have to agree, the maintenace team have been fantastic. They have been exceptional to deal with

Does anyone know how many amps you get your electricity supplied to the house. Ive tried asking this question to PD and they said its up to the authority. Is this right? My understanding is PD will need to ask authority to provide connection to the house, hence, they need to let authority know how many supply amps required up to a maximum of 63Amps for Victoria. I tried to let PD know that I wanted this much amps to go into the house and not the lower one which is 40Amps. Somehow, they didnt want to let me know and i found this very annoying!! this is standard process that one have to go through when applying for a new electrical connection. I am considering installing 25amps power ducted AC 16kW single phase. With 63 amps supply, I should have enough power to do this without the need to upgrade to a 3 phase supply. Any thoughts guys?

You have to apply to the network for the additional supply capacity. Depending on the area you are in will determine the network you are on. For example Powercor maximum standard is 40amps. If you want the 63amps you would make an application for increased capacity supply that you would submit. DH who is an electrician just yelling out from loungeroom for your answer

Thanks bigbuild! I will be building in the west. It might've been powercor supplying power to the estate. Will give developer and powercor a call. I thought powercor max standard is 63amps?

Just started pd kitchen thread. Never know what we could ask for so hopefully this will help, sharing pics etc.

Hi Guys,
Just wondering what you need to do to get your internet / phone connected?
We already have phone and internet points in the house. Do PD also connect the wires from our house to the network and then we just have to call telstra to have the service provided or to we have to get telstra to connect the house up?

Thanks!

You will need to contact Telstra who will connect you at the exchange and set up your service, which will cost you about $300

Yes 3 months in and loving it - still have little isssues, also heard that the Bundoora office has closed -

Awesome thanks I've read where other people have been charged about $1000 for them to dig a trench and lay cables. As long as PD does this as standard then I wont have the extra charge by telstra!

In my Tender Doc they quote for "Telstra underground trench" - $308 and of course you are able to add points for extra cost. Once finished you call Telstra to connect you ($300) but they don't have to be your ongoing provider.

Strangely enough the telstra connection from the street pit to the side of your house isn't standard, and as JLD said that's a further $308 as described. Talk to your BC about getting it added in...

Thanks![/quote]

You will need to contact Telstra who will connect you at the exchange and set up your service, which will cost you about $300[/quote]

Awesome thanks I've read where other people have been charged about $1000 for them to dig a trench and lay cables. As long as PD does this as standard then I wont have the extra charge by telstra![/quote]

Strangely enough the telstra connection from the street pit to the side of your house isn't standard, and as JLD said that's a further $308 as described. Talk to your BC about getting it added in...[/quote]

Can someone please let me know under what section I can locate this charge in my contract, We have only been charged for "Telstra Smart Wiring Light Package" $1623. Does this seem correct!

It's a completely separate line item in the contract, and is not 'bundled' with any other pack (like the smart wiring one for example). Nor is it included in the standard services connection item, which is only for water, gas, elec and waste.

You will need to ask your BC to add it in, as it is not a standard item they include (beats me as to why not!)

Ours is written as "provide Telstra underground cable trench up to 20m" $308.

Not sure what heading it would appear under in your contract as ours was done as a PCV

Hey Rups & Leanne,
When is your land scheduled to title? I can’t wait to watch your land transform into a home. Also can’t wait to see all your inclusions, the house is going to look really nice from what I have read on your blog.
Keep us all updated pls....

Hey there T,

Just posted an update on this over on the Saltwater thread, but we got a letter from our solicitor yesterday advising that the land had received council compliance and was now at the Titles office...! So, hopefully settlement will be scheduled somewhere in the next 2 weeks. The last 4 letters we've had from the solicitor have been to advise of delays, so this was very welcome and turned the excite-o-meter up a notch!

One of the advantages (and to some degree, a disadvantage) of being land delayed is the opportunity to scrutinise every option, selection and decision made and continually validate them. As painful every conversation my wife and I have had that started with "I've been thinking about...." or " I don't think I like the...", we're now 100% happy with the spec of our house, and our BC has been VERY accommodating of our many changes, although most of them have ended up with a lot more money in PD's coffers

Friends of ours are building a Churchill just around the corner, so their buid has been a surrogate build for us while we wait!

So... just need to complete settlement, get the council building permit and finalise the construction drawings and away we go... Bets on for a (concrete) slab this side of Christmas

Btw, your house is looking fantastic and is coming along at an incredible rate of knots!!!

+1
I think if my build were to have started straight away I would still have been happy, and probably saved some money too!
I think reading on here doesn't help either, now I want to add the trench as discussed above, but I'm too scared to email my BC again as I think she's probably sick of me!