New Living Homes

I have heard that NL's site supervisors aren't very helpful as far as good communication goes. Well not compared to other builders

How helpful is your SS?

I'm starting to feel like building with NLH is getting pretty frustrating. We're at 5 weeks with the sales staff and no contracts yet......

I don't understand how a private company can be this slow! Do they even have that much red tape to slow them down? I'm a public servant so I know all about red tape! At least we tell our customers WHY it's taking forever.

I rang the office and they have me the details to contact our site supervisor.
He was quite responsive and updated us on progress .
I will say though, after handover - once they have the final cheque from you - they seem to not care much about you. There were several maintenance issues to rectify, don't get me wrong - they fixed the important ones straight away. That was with me ringing every couple of days, leaving emails etc. There are still things which weren't fixed and I seriously got over chasing them. Why must you ring every day and keep annoying them to fix issues?
Let me tell you all now, do not give the final cheque over until they fix every little detail that you aren't happy with.
The new living painters are * chinese painters, the brickies are **** - but what are you going to do. At the end of the day you pay a decent price. House is overall built well. The finishing touches could be better. I don't see why you should have to accept some low quality workmanship because "that's just the way these tradies are".

Hi NLH

Just wondering when you say "validation documents" , what documents are you referring to ?? Does it include any documentation from Sydney Water/Endeavour Energy or council approvals or is it only documentation from us(clients)

Please list all required documents.
Thanks.

Hi there GK_No1, I'm guessing the documents you'd need to pass onto NLH include one that shows you are the owner of the land (once the land becomes registered, ask your conveyancer for the most appropriate documentation to pass onto NLH) and a letter from your bank advising the builder they can start construction (this is usually referred to as an Authority to Commence letter from your bank). From NLH's side, the would also have to receive all the relevant approvals from council, developer, etc which they would organise.

Thanks dotgif

If I understand this correctly, tell me if I'm wrong. From the day that builder receives clients documents they have got 20 days to start construction as all other documents are their responsibility.
Have you death with NLH or are you one of their employees??

Thanks for that little tip @ JnSWILLOWDALE ... will definitely keep that in mind.

@GK_No1 - I am basing this off my recent build through Clarendon Homes and it seems to be a similar process across different builders. Once the builder has both sets of documents (yours is usually the last to be asked for), they then send your file onto construction and it is on this day when the 20 days countdown commences.

And no, I do not work for NLH, but I have purchased a H&L package at Greenway Living to be built by NLH (still waiting for the land to register, at this point).

At what stage did everyone have contract with the electrical contractor? I have currently gone through validation and expect to be released into construction within the next week (hopefully in the next couple of days)

@JordanSpringsNovice ... we got a phone call from Jade Electrical about two weeks or so after we were told excavation was commencing. I was surprised to find we don't meet face to face with them to discuss our requirements. We just marked out our extra requirements on a floor plan and emailed it back to them and they provided us with a quote.

We had the same thing happen with us....

How was your quote?

We're wondering if we should shop around or just go with them...

Ours is just for install as were supplying our own lights and fans etc

Ours ended up coming in at $3,500 (inc GST)

We are having them install 3 ceiling fans, about 23 downlights, 3 pendant lights we have previously purchased, a hardwired door bell, a couple of extra powerpoints, up/down lights to front pillars and a sensor/security light to the side of the house.

We are also having additional tv aerials installed in the other bedrooms but this is done through a different contractor.

I didn't think we would have the option of shopping around if they are responsible for doing all the other electrical work in the home.

Ah k nice!

Ours come in at about $2500 for about 30 down lights 6 fans a sensor and 3 pendant lights I think that's it unless I've forgotten something lol

Thanks for the into. BTW @Mel_2302. Did the TV aerial contractor contact you or did you have to chase that one up yourself?

I had to organise that myself. I thought Jade Electrical would be the ones installing it but not the case.

They provided me with the info for Sentinel and I contacted them directly. From memory it was $88 (inc GST) per aerial, figured its better to have them put in now rather than down the track. We get 2 included as standard with the house however only 1 was marked on our floor plan.

Thanks @Mel_2302 We want one or two extras installed and like you I thought Jade Electrical would be the ones doing it.

That price seems quite reasonable.

Welcome

If you would like the details for Sentinel, let me know

I haven't even thought of TV aerials! We bought in Emerald Hills, Leppington where we will be NBN ready. I thought free to air would be through the NBN box and then I could get the electrician to install TV data points to the bedrooms?

I'm sure we will end up getting Foxtel and netflix anyway, but its nice to have the free to air option.

I've looked through my current paperwork but it doesn't make mention of TV aerials being included.

Hi GK_No1

Validation documents:
- Letter of commencement which you get from your bank - which is a letter stating that we can now commence claiming money against your home loan.
- Construction plans - these are the final plans authorised by the certifier to build the home - to be signed and returned
- Kitchen plans - this is the final layout of the kitchen - to be signed and returned
- Any post contraction variations that have been requested by you or the certifier for any changes made to your home after contract signing to be signed and returned.

If you have any other questions please call 1300 366 766 - our staff are happy to answer any other questions.

Thank you

Just wondering how much contact each of you have had with your site supervisor throughout the building process? I text and email our appointed supervisor but rarely get a response from him.

I'm starting to find this very annoying.

@Newbies and @JordanSpringsNovice - I presume we all have the same one, have you had much luck with him?