Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Dec 09, 2010 6:17 pm I am hoping someone can give me some advice or their opinion with our situation. We have a pool drawn up in our final plans - the pool was not being constructed by the builder but they new that is where the pool was to go. (7mx3m pool) Contact pool contractor who then advices - the meter box and gas hot water unit can not be within 3.5mtrs from these objects. We can build a wall to close of the meter box and regarding the gas hot water unit I havent got to what we can do with that... another wall along side our house... very ugly and weird... or move this items at whatever cost that is going to be who knows Also a fence isnt an option, it has to be a solid wall I personally believe the builder is in the wrong - they knew there would be a pool in that location and know all the building codes so why wouldnt of they offered to relocate this for us or at least brought it to our attention! I have contacted the builder who believe its not there fault they were not building the pool, only the house. I will go to fair trading tomorrow to see where I stand. So please help me out here good and bad opinions. NOT HAPPY! Re: Need opinions / advice... whos in the wrong - the builde 2Dec 09, 2010 6:26 pm To be fair the builder really only cares about the home being built. If there was already a pool onsite then they would have had to take care with placement of services IMO. Our building contract even had specific clauses in it regarding pool construction which basically said that the builder didn't give a hoot regarding the pool build and that we had to obtain their permission should we wish to start the pool construction whilst the home was still being built. We were lucky that we were able to coordinate with the electrical contractor doing the home as well as the plumbers to do the extra work needed for the later pool build. Not sure whether Fair Trading will stand on this one - I think that the onus would have been on you to coordinate between the pool construction and the house construction as to where everything was to be situated. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Need opinions / advice... whos in the wrong - the builde 3Dec 09, 2010 7:36 pm I'm assuming you signed off on construction drawings showing where the metre box and hot water unit were to be located. If you did, and those items have been placed correctly according to the drawings, you don't have a leg to stand on. Sorry to sound harsh, but the pool is really of no concern to your builder, it really is up to the client to be aware of any conflicts regarding placement of these things affecting post build add ons. Also, I doubt your builder would be aware of pool regulations as it isn't his area of expertise. BUT, if they have been located in a different position to what is shown on your drawings, you may well have a case. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Need opinions / advice... whos in the wrong - the builde 4Dec 09, 2010 8:49 pm ^^ agree. it's too late now if the house is already built, but you should have maybe consulted with the pool building company before construction on the house commenced. "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Need opinions / advice... whos in the wrong - the builde 5Dec 11, 2010 11:16 am When we sited on our plans "future pool" so that they would keep services clear (water pipes, electrical stuff etc", the builder recommended we take our house plan to the pool company before sign off so that we could ensure there was nothing amiss. I feel really sorry for you that your builder didn't recommend that you do that, because I'm sure the pool company would have picked it up then. Unfortunately though, I believe it was probably your responsibility to do that, albeit very frustrating for you that you sited it with your builder at the time. Sorry!! Emma Building on an acre at Teviot Downs, Brisbane Building through Hallmark - Flair 253 with a few changes Mother of two gorgeous girls Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=37178 Re: Need opinions / advice... whos in the wrong - the builde 6Dec 11, 2010 12:58 pm Thanks for the replys... I guess this one is with us.. I wish the builder recommended we take our house plan to the pool company before sign off and very angry the builder didnt recommend that to us. Re: Need opinions / advice... whos in the wrong - the builde 8Dec 11, 2010 7:03 pm Spending so much money you think the may of come across this before... just would of been nice if they suggested this. Customer Service goes a long way, My anger and disapointment will always be there, will never use the builder again Re: Need opinions / advice... whos in the wrong - the builde 9Dec 12, 2010 9:27 am Why are you so angry at the builder?? Not meaning to sound harsh, but if you didn't think of taking the house plans to the pool people, why should he?? His job, and pre-occupation is with building your house. The garden, pool etc is your project. I find it really frustrating these days how people always want to blame someone else Actually, the pool company could have suggested you bring the plans in before doing their designs Re: Need opinions / advice... whos in the wrong - the builde 10Dec 12, 2010 3:16 pm tjilpi, disapointment anger... just would of liked someone to mention it to us knowing there was a pool there - a simple mention to take our plans to the pool contractor would of been helpful. Yes in future if we construct a pool i will engage a pool contractor first - it was a bit hard to take our plans to our pool contrcator when we didnt have one! I personally dont like to put the blame on anyone else but im angry as this could of been avoided Re: Need opinions / advice... whos in the wrong - the builde 11Dec 12, 2010 4:42 pm I think what Tjilpi and I are trying to convey is that realistically the only person who the fault ****** with is yourself. As harsh as that sounds it comes down to you are the only one who has to coordinate the pool with the house build. The pool builder doesn't care about the house any more then the house builder cares about the pool. Yes in a perfect world everyone would care about everything but at the end of the day the sole responsibility ****** with YOU. As Joles said your contract and plans would have shown each and every itemised part of the house. YOU signed these documents after I am thinking carefully considering them. No-one goes into building a home lightly and without some angst. Yes we all would like the benefit of hindsight. Yes we would like everything to turn out perfectly. BUT you are the only one who can ensure that things are done as you wish. Study the plans and contracts until you can read them / quote them verbatim; carry a copy with you at all times; question question question everything and above all make sure you have everything in writing. Without these steps something will more then likely go astray. Not very many people have perfect builds. Normally there will be a stuff up or two. How you choose to deal with them and move on from them is in your control. Pointing your anger at someone who does not deserve it is unjustified. My builder went @rse up when our house was 95% completed and I was 8.5mths pregnant. Was I upset - yep sure. But he had done a gorgeous job on my house, I had done as much research as I could before we employed him and for him to windup his business came as a shock to everyone, and whilst he was building the home should something occur untoward if it was something I had in writing he was to rectify if immediately (which he did). So as hard as it is the only person to blame is yourself in this instance. I am sorry if you think this is harsh but I read so many threads where it just becomes a story of how can we bash a builder even when it is not their fault - it becomes quite tiresome. I hope the rest of your build continues smoothily and you can work out a suitable solution for your problem. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Need opinions / advice... whos in the wrong - the builde 12Dec 12, 2010 4:56 pm True, all understandable... and could of been worse... learn from the mistakes. Will know alot more for the next build. Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply. there is only 20% difference in concrete strength between 20 mpa and 25 mpa, so check with your engineer first if it fits his calculation tolerances. There are ways to… 6 18339 i imagine you also have another contract with an architect? and yeah, whatever other's said about special conditions and appendices 16 16084 2 31428 |