Hello,
We are building with Masterton and our contract arrived today.
Is there anything in particular I should be looking for in terms of things you wish you had objected to for before signing your building contract?
I guess though really it is what it is
This is our first build so it is all very new and daunting
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Most important things are:
a) Contract is subject to finance
b) Everything you had specified for the house is included (and I mean everything, including promotion items included by the builder).
c) Costs are set out explicitly in the standard HIA build contract pro-forma (including site costs/allowances and penalty clauses for both parties)
d) The build period is set out explicitly (including allowances for weather delays and holidays/RDO's)
e) Check that they haven't tried to add any rubbish "hand-written" clauses of their own to the contract in an effort to force payment "no matter what".
It's probably not such a bad idea to get your solicitor to give it a once-over, even if it just looks like a standard HIA build contract.
Check your plans, specs that have been included on the final contract to make sure that they include your latest changes and alterations. Bear in mind, you can always raise variations later (for a fee, of course)
If I were to build again, I would definitely negotiate the following in my contract. Whether the builder would agree, is another thing!
1. build time (taking into account most projects blow out)
2. delay times and terms (IMO these terms are biased towards builder)
3. Payment amounts
(I would make the last payment a bigger percentage)
4. Late completion compensation (amount that is relative to local weekly rental rates!, not $250pw!)
Thanks very much for the replies, much appreciated
In terms of negotiating things like the build time, and late compensation payment (which is $250 per week
), is there any point in trying to negotiate better terms, I mean would Masterton really take my 'requests' seriously? How have others found it trying to negotiate a 'better' contract (with any builder)?
Thanks very much for the replies, much appreciated
In terms of negotiating things like the build time, and late compensation payment (which is $250 per week
), is there any point in trying to negotiate better terms, I mean would Masterton really take my 'requests' seriously? How have others found it trying to negotiate a 'better' contract (with any builder)?
I doubt they'll move on either point to be honest - they need to protect themselves with the build time (if they give you a more optimistic time frame and things go awry then it hurts them) and most builders will only meet the minimum obligations for compensation set out by HIA (which is why they are there in the first place).
Any change to compensation levels would also be a double edged sword - if their penalty amounts go up then you have to expect yours will as well and trust me when I say that things can go wrong at your end too, especially when it comes to finance, land titling, last minute changes, etc.
Builders just aren't in the game of exposing themselves to additional risk and to be honest if the buyers were doing the building they would think exactly the same way - the only real option for accelerating build times is an agreed upon fixed (fast) building term, but most builders will only do this for basic house designs with standard inclusions so as soon as you start throwing in upgrades or changes to the design that option pretty much flies out the window.
Bear in mind that the build time you are given is an expected maximum - you just have to hope everything goes well and you get in well before the maximum number of days specified on the contract has passed.