New Build with Omnia Homes

Hi guys,

I am currently building our home in Rockbank with Omnia Homes.

Was wondering if anyone who had built with them or is building with them, were you provided with your site supervisors contact details during the build or were you only given access to a Building Co Ordinator in their offices??

I'd also like to hear of your experiences with the building process.

Thanks 😃

HI Rivers76,

How is your home building going on? Can you share your experience building with Omnia? Currently I am looking for builders in Melb. West and Omnia is one of the choices.

We are currently building with Omnia homes.
The build is still in progress so I cannot give a complete review yet. However, I can provide some information based on my experiences by far.

The initial experience of selecting a floor plan from their catalogue and customizing it as per our needs was great. Even before signing the contract with them, they spent a good amount of time with us understanding our requirements and customizing the floor plan. Unlike other builders, they accommodated our requests (change of mind) for edits multiple times and did not charge us (administration fees) additional money for those changes. Also, we did not feel that they were pressurizing us to sign with them quickly, as other builders often do.

Initially, we were given a tentative site start date of mid-August 2020 and were told it will take between 6-8 months to complete the build. The building permits got delayed due to the pandemic and restrictions and the site finally started by third week of October 2020 (site cut).

The foundation concrete was poured in the last week of November 2020 (5 weeks after site cut).
We have hired a private inspector for all building stages. We had shared the details of the inspector well in advance and were in constant touch with Omnia homes to let us know about the concrete pour date in advance so that we could book in a pre-pour inspection. However, we were told about the concrete pour on the morning of when it was being poured. By the time we reached the site along with the inspector, the concrete was already poured.
This kind-of threw us off a bit. We enquired why weren't we informed of the pour date in advance, to which we were told that it was our responsibility to get-in-touch with them and know the dates. This is when we were in frequent touch with them, by both phone and email. As the concrete dried, it developed a large numbers of plastic shrinkage cracks, that we have been told were non-structural defects at that time.

Material for framing has been delivered on site but we are waiting for the carpenter to start the frame (as of date - 10th Feb 2021).
We're unsure on what is holding back the progress. It has been around 2.5 months since the foundation was poured. Taking into account the end of year breaks (4 weeks), it is still 1.5 months since the completion of slab stage.

To be honest, I feel that the build is progressing at a slow speed.
I believe these delays are not covid related. Houses on the street that started around our same time as ours are way ahead and are nearing their lock-up stage.

I will keep on posting updates as we proceed with the build. Hopefully this will encourage other customers to share their experiences too.

Hi , yes I did end up building with them. I couldn't be happier. I decided on a single storey home with lots of upgrades and it came up perfect.

During the build , the service was great , easy to contact and they were always helpful.

They did everything except the Landscaping which I wanted to do myself.

That's great to know Terry.
In how many months did you get the handover of your house?
Did you hire a private building inspector?

Hello, I am progressing with Omnia Homes - with finalised floor plans and approaching colour appointments. However, I am noticing that communication is quite slow. Do you mind sharing your experiences in terms of transparency? And if you have finished a build, could you please share some images of finishes?

Hello,
I'm sure you will be fine, I found they actually really care about the customer not only during the build but even afterwards.
Happy to send you some photos of my place - if you can give me an email and I'll send them.

Hi Sid16, it took just over 5 month from start to having our final walk through. Then about 2 weeks later we got the keys.

I was lucky enough to have a friend who is a construction manager at one of the large volume builders to keep an eye on things and he was very impressed.

Hope your build goes well.

That's great to know Terry33.
I hope from here, my experience goes on as smoothly as yours was.
Until now, the pace of our build has been slow (we started in last week of Oct 2020). Framing has not started yet.
I hope the pace picks up from here to complete the build on time, as was promised to me.

Hi team,
I have just decided to go with Omnia too,

can you please share some feedback on what to expect, we have yet to do the colours selections. Are they having a lot of options like other builders? Are the usually on time with building
Can you guys share some photos from your projects?

Thanks

Hi Kuc,

They do have fairly decent upgrade options. It's not overpowering/confusing to choose from (having said this, we still took a long time to make up our mind on our selections). As far as I know, most of their suppliers/vendors are businesses that either manufacture stuff in Australia or have got a good support network here. This is very important for after sales services in my opinion.

After we had our color appointment, it took a long time for us to receive the selection document. We kinda felt that the communication broke down there, somehow.

When we applied for a building permit, the dimensions of the house had to be changed a bit to be compliant and to get a building permit.

Overall there have been multiple delays until date, and we are way off than the 6-8 months timeline that was given to us verbally. We are just about to complete 7 months since the build started and we are currently in progress with the lockup stage. Achieving completion of this stage itself is at least a few weeks away, and from there all internal work - insulation, plaster, paint, tiles, carpet, stairs, electrical work, cabinetry and appliance installation, etc is still pending.

Don't go by the build completion time-frame you get by word. You'll get notified about a "practical completion date" when the site cut happens.
Our practical completion date is around 9-10 weeks away. I hope all this work gets completed in the mentioned time-frame.

If you choose to go with a private building inspector, be sure to get the slab-pour date from Omnia's office well in advance, and be in touch with them phone/email consistently, so that the inspector can carry out a pre-pour inspection and can also be present during the slab pour.

I hope your build goes smoothly. Please do share the progress of your build and your experience too.

Sometimes, I have observed that people ask questions here but do not share their experiences with their build.

I hope this helps!

Thank you so much for this update
Its an exiting and scary at the same time
We have just paid the initial deposit and we still have finalized the contracts and everything else that comes with it
I'm hoping for a smooth and timely process.
Our house plan is completely custom build as we needed to make sure it fits in to our block size and shape, so building permit might be delayed also. We are building a double story house in Fraser Rise and thankfully there is no Covid delays at the moment hoping for completion next year this time
So far our experience has been good, they are very nice to deal with and hoping to stay this way
Did you have a private inspector? We haven't thought about that yet?

Thanks

I hope your build goes smoothly.
I totally agree, it is exciting yet a scary time. I have had some sleepless nights, not kidding.

Our initial experience regarding selecting the floor-plan was great as well.
Their building coordinator with whom you'll mostly be in touch with, after signing the contract and after the colors appointment is responsive as well, no complaints with her.

We're are building a double storey home too, but in Truganina. As this is our first home, we have learnt a lot along the way.
Yes, we do have a private building inspector, and I would highly recommend hiring one. Having a second pair of eyes on the construction progress is beneficial. The detailed report that the inspector would provide you, would not be given by the builder at then end of each stage. This report can serve of importance in identifying and rectifying defects, and would be an invaluable resource in future, if and when some problem with the build arises. Obviously, the things that the inspector can/will check are limited but still very useful.

I'm enlisting a few of my learnings:

Starting the build in winter is better (learnt after mine started in summer), as the concrete dries slowly and it cures well.

There are three parties mainly involved in a build process - an engineering company that designs the slab/plumbing/framing, a surveyor who checks and signs off all major build completion stages, and the builder. Knowing that a surveyor is involved, it might give a sense of surety and that someone is keeping an oversight on building works, but you (as a home owner) will not receive any communication from them. That is, as before the build commences, you'll sign a document giving the builder "authority to act" on your behalf during the entire build time. Thus, the surveyor communicates with the builder only, and you as an owner do not receive any inspection reports from them. This might explain the importance of hiring a private building inspector for all building stages.

Based on the site soil classification (for highly reactive soil), do ask the builder about site drainage and do ask your inspector to check that as well, after the slab gets poured.

Always remember that it's your hard earned money that is going into this build. Never hesitate to ask questions to the builder. If you have doubts about some work that is carried out, ask your inspector to check if it is as per building code during various stages of build.

Thank you so much for this insight, i really appreciate it
Considering Omnia is not a large builder, we were a bit concerned, but happy that e can get some information from you
i will keep you updated on our progress. I know it will be a slow one but will get there eventually.

No problems, happy to help.
Since they do not have a display home, you may ask for a few addresses of their current ongoing projects, and can drive past to have a look.

yes that's right, I was think about asking them for that. Would love to see some of their work
Do you have any address that you can provide me with (not yours of course, if you do no not feel comfortable providing) , but some other ones in the area
We can drive by on the weekend and have a look

Thanks

Unfortunately not, you'll have to ask them about current ongoing projects.
Also, I believe me providing any addresses would be like stepping over the line.

Not a problem, totally agree
I will ask them and hopefully they will help with that information
I will also keep you updated on our progress and where we are
Thank you so much for this update , i hope the end is near for you and you can finally move in and enjoy your new house

Sounds great!
Thank you, yep, we've been eagerly waiting for it to complete now.
My journey of getting a block of land and then constructing on it has stretched far too long, longer than I would have liked. Initially the developer delayed title by 14 months, and then the build. Anyways, i'll stop my rant.

I hope your build goes smoothly.

I made a visit today to see the progress of the build.
Portions of the frame wood have been exposed to rain/sun since mid of January this year. Even though the roof has been installed, rain water enters from the first floor frame as outer walls/cladding have not been installed yet and the house is not water tight. Thus, in the last 5 months, it has started developing surface mold at various places. Though this is surface mold, from the looks of it, but it still would need to be treated before the drywall are installed.

It is therefore important to avoid any delays during the build, as delay adds to such problems.

I have notified Omnia homes about it, did mention to the site supervisor as well when we met. Hopefully they will rectify this soon.

Attaching pics.