Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Aug 03, 2012 7:51 pm I have issues with building our new home - and we haven't even gotten to the building process yet! SHORT VERSION OF THE STORY We wanted to discontinue the planning process with our builder and we are only at the design/drawing of floor plans phase. We've already placed a deposit which I thought was more than substantial to cover his work so far. He told us out of kindness he won't charge us for an unfinished agreement which were meant to include engineering reports, storm drainage, energy efficency reports, soil tests etc but would have to get back to us on billable hours by the architect. Helloo?? this is the first I've heard of this, I even had the mind to ask for part of my deposit back as the work done would only constitute half of what I paid. LONG VERSION OF THE STORY This is a bit of a complicated issue as the builder is a family friend. We met up with Builder and discussed what we wanted. We specified the house sq that we wanted.. not knowing any better about how big it would be or if we would fit what we wanted. He gave us an estimate per sq at the beginning which we thought was "whoa" but wanted to see what he could draw for us in terms of floor plans. He forwarded us a "fee proposal" by email which had a breakdown of what's required all the way to estimation of building costs. It included Preliminary Design + Architechtural Drawings and the rest is Landscape design, Colour Material selection, Soil test etc. total about $5,400 (is this even reasonable?) We paid 50% of the deposit, didn't even think twice because we really thought we were going all the way with him. He had us sign the "fee proposal" in the office. At the back of the "fee proposal" there were several terms and conditions, but upon seeing me read it.. he said "Don't worry about that, it doesn't apply to you".. and foolishly I thought, I'd never had to think about it so don't need to ask for a copy- foolishly trusting him. We only signed the page with the breakdown of fees - not any of the terms and conditions, which he didn't even go through with us to make sure we understood. We were under the understanding that we are able to alter the plans as much as needed and the fee he quoted covered that. This was verbally agreed on. He came back with a 46sq floor plan which was too big and out of our budget and NOT what we asked for. We told him we needed something smaller, he told us to take some of the rooms out. mind you, we have seen many many plans with commercial builders that could've done something we wanted for 38-41sq (which we found a more reasonable size) at a fraction of the cost he quoted. Anyway sensing that we were losing faith in him, he came back with a 38sq house that was more fitting, we did eliminate a bedroom and a living space, reducing everything else which he could've done for us in the beginning. After meeting up with a bank broker we knew we couldn't afford the house we wanted with him, but certainly could else where. The commercial builders charge about 50 - 100k less for the basic structure we wanted and we prefer to spend that extra on upgrades. We knew custom building would expensive but not by this much! So we decided to tell him we are not going with him anymore. He took it a bit personal and proceeded to tell us that there might be some outstanding charges as we are terminating early (before I could even ask if the deposit is partially refundable) I was willing to (painfully) forgo the deposit but not willing to pay anything more on top of it, knowing that we won't even use the plans. Just wanted to know what am I legally binded to, what are my rights as a consumer, am I even right to post this in the forum? -------- Found our dream home : Porter Davis Marbella 42 Me and Mojo's build thread I'm still a rookie please don't shoot me!! -------- Re: Help! What is my right as a consumer when dealing w/ Bui 2Aug 24, 2012 7:26 am this all depends on what you signed up for - sounds like a building contract? you really need legal advice. what surprises me constantly that people dont read all of the terms and conditions. it is a big thing, signing a building contract. from leighton at clark new homes Re: Help! What is my right as a consumer when dealing w/ Bui 3Sep 27, 2012 3:07 pm Hi Leighton. Thanks for your advice. I'm usually very careful with Terms and Conditions before signing contract but he was a family friend and he told us "oh, don't worry about reading that" when he saw me going through it. "It doesn't apply to you". Silly me I trusted him like a friend. It seems he has forgotten what he said because when we pulled the plug on the deal and he said "You're lucky I didn't ask you for the rest of the deposit". Expensive lesson learnt! And never trust a shifty builder -------- Found our dream home : Porter Davis Marbella 42 Me and Mojo's build thread I'm still a rookie please don't shoot me!! -------- Re: Help! What is my right as a consumer when dealing w/ Bui 4Sep 27, 2012 3:09 pm Ps it wasn't a building contract at all. It was an invoice detailing his services - he was going to draw us a plan and do a soil test etc for us. Does not lock us in to a contract to build with him. -------- Found our dream home : Porter Davis Marbella 42 Me and Mojo's build thread I'm still a rookie please don't shoot me!! -------- Re: Help! What is my right as a consumer when dealing w/ Bui 5Sep 27, 2012 3:22 pm BrownKokonut It included Preliminary Design + Architechtural Drawings and the rest is Landscape design, Colour Material selection, Soil test etc. total about $5,400 (is this even reasonable?) We paid 50% of the deposit, So you have paid $2,700? Re: Help! What is my right as a consumer when dealing w/ Bui 6Oct 21, 2012 7:42 am a re-read makes me think about the actual words used. they are so important. one has to read them and try and understand. if someone says, it doesnt matter, well, then, i reckon say, it does, and ask for the words to be changed, intial the changes. good luck I'm putting a new floor in my kitchen, slate flagging on a standard concrete slab. I have allowed for a bed thickness of up to 20mm to accommodate the different… 0 17536 They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? 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