Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Oct 28, 2009 8:24 pm Hi
I'm building a double storey 33 square house including garage and alfresco and my build time has gone over the 284 build days specified in the contract. I was just wondering how others have coped when this has happened to them. My liquidated damages are $250 per week but this does not even cover my rent never lone the mortgage repayments. Besides from the financial aspect, i'm finding the stress and emotional side of things the hardest. Overall my build has been good, although very slow and frustrating with delays in bricking and then there were issues to be fixed before the plaster could start. I go to the house every day as I live 2mins away and get very upset when nothing seems to have happened. ATM there are red dots all over the house and has been for days and there are a few other bits and pieces that need finishing off. My ss has been very good in that he has fixed things up along the way with no fuss, but i'm thinking I should escalate this up the ladder. It's very disheartening! Re: Building days have gone over 2Oct 28, 2009 8:44 pm Angel I cannot imagine how stressful this has been on you. If I were you I would be more assertive and pushy with the builders. $250 a week is NOT proper compensation, so obviously you are going to stress paying rent AND a mortgage. I really hope they get their act together quick smart.... hang in there. Re: Building days have gone over 3Oct 28, 2009 9:07 pm Thanks Bek I am so sick and tired of waiting! Just want to be in my beautiful new home. Right now its hard to get motivated to even pack...don't know when the move is to be, can't even give rental notice!! Geez. I'm supposed to be on leave but had to cancel that Sorry for the vent!! Re: Building days have gone over 4Oct 28, 2009 10:18 pm Have they admitted they are over and started paying you the compensation? My contract is 180 working days. When was your slab poured? Re: Building days have gone over 5Oct 29, 2009 7:09 am We've been there (different builder) and it certainly is a stressful experience. $250 a week won't cover expenses, but it's all you get under the standard HIA contract. If that's what you agreed to in your contract, then you don't have a legal leg to stand on to claim more, unfortunately. Our build ran over by 110 days ....the compensation was nice, but the whole thing is still having financial and emotional effects on us, almost a year down the track. BTW, you won't get a cent of the liquidated damages until the final sums are worked out at handover. Stay on your SS's back and push for completion ASAP. Hopefully, you'll have a handover date soon. Re: Building days have gone over 6Oct 29, 2009 9:06 am Yup, we're at 63 days over our contract end date (9 weeks). Our PCI is tomorrow, though -- so the end, while vague, is in sight. But, like you we only have a $250/week damages payment and we also haven't given notice for the rental or anything. It's annoying as all hell, but we've become fairly zen about the whole thing. It'll happen when it happens and all that. Otherwise we just expend too much energy being angry and that doesn't resolve anything. We're also careful to try and not resent the house itself, considering we'll have to live in it soon! Re: Building days have gone over 7Oct 29, 2009 7:30 pm Hi, Buildingwithhamra, yes my build days were discussed a few weeks ago and the date was confirmed verbally. My slab was poured on the 4th Feb and the site scrape was 15th Jan. The build days start from the site scrape date. Kek and Djelibeybi, i'm sorry to hear that you've both have had such a long delay....Djelibeybi, hope your PCI goes well tomorrow and that you're in your home very soon. I spoke to my SS today and he has assured me that everything has been booked in with the tradies to get the house finished asap. He is trying for the week after next for PCI. I think the hold up this time is because I am getting an indendant inspector in for the pci. He said he was trying to get everything spot on for the inspection. The construction manager is going to ring me tomorrow to confirm everything. Djelibeybi, I think your attitude is spot on, and no matter what the wait will be worth it in the end!!!! Thanks for your replies Re: Building days have gone over 9Oct 31, 2009 9:31 pm Gee Angel, the 4th of Feb, really was a long time ago. I dont get anything if mine goes over, it was not in the contract and I forgot to add it. Good luck for handover. Re: Building days have gone over 11Nov 02, 2009 7:04 am hi guys, my build is well over the comp date and apparently we get no compensation at all. I wonder , what is the point of having a standard HIA contract, if there is little protection for consumers. Seems we have no power to make them finish by the completion date. The date is meaningless, furthermore , if the HIA contract is standard, why does the amount vary from $0 ....to $250 or more. Doesn't seem standard in any way Re: Building days have gone over 12Nov 02, 2009 7:09 am angel I think the hold up this time is because I am getting an indendant inspector in for the pci. He said he was trying to get everything spot on for the inspection. I know what you are saying, Angel, but I'm getting tired of my builders blaming my use of an independent inspector for slowing down the progress of the build. My inspector did not cause a slab blow out, nor did they allow the bricklayers to cut the bricks for the lower courses, weakening the structure, so they could get the brick work up and move on to the next job. My inspector did not forget that our house has bricks above the windows, hence the frame needed to have the jack studs installed so that brick ties could be used. My inspector did not get the bricklayers to lay bricks above the windows when they were not able to use brick ties to ensure that the work met the required Australian standards and would be structurally sound. My inspector did not install the roof trusses the wrong way around. My inspector did not forget to install a moisture barrier above the meter box. And I could keep going for some time. I'd think of it more as "We cut some corners and hoped you wouldn't notice because most people don't. Now we know that you are getting someone in who will notice, we'd better cover ourselves as best we can." If the job had been done well in the first place, and if the builder's inspectors had done their work properly, why would they need more time to prepare for an inspection by your inspector? I think a raw nerve might have been hit. Pfiff Finally making progress again, with a clothesline (yippee) and some much needed little things being attended to over the holidays. 40 C on New Year's eve? We love our a/c! Re: Building days have gone over 13Nov 02, 2009 7:24 am zaphod hi guys, my build is well over the comp date and apparently we get no compensation at all. I wonder , what is the point of having a standard HIA contract, if there is little protection for consumers. Seems we have no power to make them finish by the completion date. The date is meaningless, furthermore , if the HIA contract is standard, why does the amount vary from $0 ....to $250 or more. Doesn't seem standard in any way Isn't that why we all get our own independent legal advice before signing contracts? Pfiff Finally making progress again, with a clothesline (yippee) and some much needed little things being attended to over the holidays. 40 C on New Year's eve? We love our a/c! Re: Building days have gone over 14Nov 03, 2009 11:32 am You can get legal advice, but if the builder doesn't want to change the contract, the choice is lose the deposit (which mine was 2.5k) or go with it. My builder changed some things the contract, but there were some components where they refused. The HIA contract part is usually the same for everyone, but the builder puts in their own schedules which basically takes away some of your rights. My builder is now trying to charge me for items shown on the contract plans but not included in the contract (how convenient). If your getting $250 per week I would consider yourself very lucky. Re: Building days have gone over 15Nov 03, 2009 11:53 am I thought that if you walk away from a builder before signing the contract they don't keep the whole deposit, just the amount they are able to show has been used to in preparing the contract. Besides, do you really want to sign with a builder if they have no financial incentive to complete the contract within the time frame? As has been discussed in other threads on this forum, some people are happy to place deposits with more than one builder so they are not in a position where the builder can totally dictate terms when it comes to signing the contract. Builders know that by this stage, most people feel emotionally and financially 'locked in' to them, and hence the builder can dictate terms. In the grand scheme of loans for hundreds of thousands of dollars, a few hundred dollars lost on a deposit with a builder that doesn't want to be helpful is very minor, and if it saves you thousands of dollars paying both rent and mortgage if the builder goes over the contract length and feels no pressure to complete, you will be better off financially. My contract has $250 per week in it and I'd don't feel lucky as this will not cover our continued rent if the builder does not finish within the contract time. Fortunately for us, it looks like the builder is making good progress. We've caught up and passed the Si/\/\ons house next to us, and that with a delay as problems spotted by our independent inspector were rectified. Pfiff Finally making progress again, with a clothesline (yippee) and some much needed little things being attended to over the holidays. 40 C on New Year's eve? We love our a/c! Re: Building days have gone over 16Nov 03, 2009 12:08 pm Problem is 2.5K doesn't go to far, so if they do a soil test (they usually won't accept an independent one), survey the site, make modifications to the plans, resite the house, make changes since its not in accordance with the Council overlay, it gets eaten up pretty quick. If your happy with a standard house and don't have a Council overlay on your land (i.e. if your building in one of housing estates and land is generally flat) you maybe able to get away with a small deposit say $800 to 1K. I guess what you need to do is view an example of their contract before signing, but hey I would have thought builders would be hesitant to do this and there is no guarantee they won’t change it later. Also there is no point just reading the HIA section since everyone signs this, its all the extra schedules they add in. Its also not just about the deposit, its about the time and effort and also most big builders are as equally as deceiving as each other just maybe in different ways. Also, I would love to have the funds to put deposits with several builders, but may not be a reality for everyone particularly in my case where I wanted to have a mortgage with a deposit sufficient enough not to pay mortgage insurance. Re: Building days have gone over 18Nov 03, 2009 6:21 pm We had 262 days in the contract and got our certificate of occupancy after 311 days, so that was 7 weeks overdue. However, we still probably have another week to week and a half before settlement, which sadly doesn't count. But, I must say that after all that delay, the builder really did pull their finger out in the past two weeks, got their **** together and got the house finished. And pretty well, too. Re: Building days have gone over 19Nov 03, 2009 6:31 pm I'm glad everything has worked out for you Djelibeybi, after speaking to the CM I know that they are doing everything they can to finish it off asap and a top quality job. Just have to hold on a bit longer trying to be positive and not let it do my head in!! 8 6154 I'll be here once a week, lets make that Mondays. If you have a question, this will be the day I will log in for a look around.. If your lucky, sooner. Ask away...… 0 6368 I think you are getting different numbers because they all just based them on "other jobs" even though each job is unique. Often, with builders, unless you're speaking to… 3 3234 |