Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 11, 2021 3:13 pm Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅
Hi, Sorry if I'm doing this wrong. It is my first time using Homeone. We have purchased a land in Rousehill with Century21. Were told we could only use Noble Home Builders as they own the land? Annoying but fine whatever. Picked out a home build design ($280k fixed cost) and paid for the premium upgrade package (29K which doesnt include much tbh) minus landscaping (landscaping on the packages in writing included fencing, drive way, some pebble walkway and some plants. No retaining wall mentioned. They did say however, this landscaping would include a retaining wall for the fencing. We didn't chose as it was an extra 23K+ and we can't afford it at this time.) Today got our pre-submission drawings and it says retaining wall around a house (not for fencing) is 'by owner'. There is no mention of retaining walls in our contract. We talked with Noble Builders and they said we need to pay for it. Totally panicking as we can't afford it. We know nothing about building a home (first home buyers) and I assumed if it's needed it should of been in the building contract? Please please advise, we are so lost. I've been googling frantically and cannot find any real answers. Edit: We were told without the retaining walls we wont get the occupation certificate and therefore won't be able to move in once it's finished being built. Re: Retaining Wall 2May 12, 2021 1:01 am Have you purchased the land, or house & land package? Don't listen to what people tell you (especially builder/RE salespeople), read all the clauses in the contract to see if that's true or not. Same goes for what's included in the contract. It's hard to say whether retaining wall is needed or not without the drawings, but if they say 'by owner usually it means they'll build the house and leave it up to you to decide what to do about it. Re: Retaining Wall 3May 12, 2021 9:42 am voievoda We didn't chose as it was an extra 23K+ and we can't afford it at this time.) Hey @@voievoda Welcome to the forum. People conveniently leave things out, make mistakes and then blame you for whatever reason, eg you didnt understand the contract? (humour), Unfortunately you've invested time and money and the builder knows that you aren't likely to pull out and start all over again... Start planning the retaining options post handover. Costs are skyrocketing be prepared for other builders increases before they actually start the work on site...be mindful there is only so much you can put on the credit card OT Frydenberg says net debt will peak at 49 per cent of GDP in 2025 voievoda Please please advise, we are so lost. I've been googling frantically and cannot find any real answers. Don't believe everything you see on Google and FAKE Websites Always check for Data/Proofs, compliance, costs,etc You not buying a BBQ Oven/smoker/firepit, that you can return, if faulty nor do you need a permit for such Approvals for retaining Cheers Chris Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Retaining Wall 4May 12, 2021 10:06 am strannik Have you purchased the land, or house & land package? Don't listen to what people tell you (especially builder/RE salespeople), read all the clauses in the contract to see if that's true or not. Same goes for what's included in the contract. It's hard to say whether retaining wall is needed or not without the drawings, but if they say 'by owner usually it means they'll build the house and leave it up to you to decide what to do about it. Hi, It is a house and land package. I just added to my OP that without the retaining walls we wont be able to get the occupation certificate which means we wont be able to move in once it's built. I really think in that case it should be part of the building . Seems like a pretty big thing to miss. I'll see if I can upload the drawings. Thank you for your reply. Re: Retaining Wall 5May 12, 2021 10:14 am StructuralBIMGuy voievoda We didn't chose as it was an extra 23K+ and we can't afford it at this time.) Hey @@voievoda Welcome to the forum. People conveniently leave things out, make mistakes and then blame you for whatever reason, eg you didnt understand the contract? (humour), Unfortunately you've invested time and money and the builder knows that you aren't likely to pull out and start all over again... Start planning the retaining options post handover. Costs are skyrocketing be prepared for other builders increases before they actually start the work on site...be mindful there is only so much you can put on the credit card OT Frydenberg says net debt will peak at 49 per cent of GDP in 2025 voievoda Please please advise, we are so lost. I've been googling frantically and cannot find any real answers. Don't believe everything you see on Google and FAKE Websites Always check for Data/Proofs, compliance, costs,etc You not buying a BBQ Oven/smoker/firepit, that you can return, if faulty nor do you need a permit Approvals for retaining Cheers Chris Hi Chris, Thank you for your reply. We had a solicitor go through our contracts for us, as we knew we didn't truly understand it. There is nothing about retaining walls in the contract beyond the one about needing it for the back fence. And we've been told without these retaining walls we cannot get occupation certificate Re: Retaining Wall 6May 12, 2021 10:22 am [quote="voievoda"]And we've been told without these retaining walls we cannot get occupation certificate /quote] and that's the issue Battlers are running out of time, options and money. So get it done immediately once you take possession back from the Builder. BTW, That's the lending authorities putting pressure on the Councils... at worse the banks don't want to repossess uncompleted homes ... imo that's their problem Got to luv the double standards, If you were renovating I doubt you'd find a rental to move into while Building... you are occupying the build/renovation? It's Bull$!t and they shouldn't take it out on you... carefully plan / get quotes and build the retaining yourself when time and budget permits at least get the plans in for Council Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Retaining Wall 7May 12, 2021 10:02 pm voievoda strannik Have you purchased the land, or house & land package? Don't listen to what people tell you (especially builder/RE salespeople), read all the clauses in the contract to see if that's true or not. Same goes for what's included in the contract. It's hard to say whether retaining wall is needed or not without the drawings, but if they say 'by owner usually it means they'll build the house and leave it up to you to decide what to do about it. Hi, It is a house and land package. I just added to my OP that without the retaining walls we wont be able to get the occupation certificate which means we wont be able to move in once it's built. I really think in that case it should be part of the building . Seems like a pretty big thing to miss. I'll see if I can upload the drawings. Thank you for your reply. Ok so the way I understand house & land packages, it's usually a builder buying land from developer, and onselling it along with the house you want to build. So they are right, you can't go with a different builder. Now as far as retaining walls go, I see there are 3 walls there. 2 on the lot side boundaries, and one half way to the back. I can't see what the height difference is there, but if it's not too much, you can just slope the back one instead of doing the retaining wall. The side ones you may be able to split costs with the owners of neighboring lots. I don't know which state you're in, but in QLD for example the side boundary retaining walls are responsibility of the person that has to modify their lot. So if you're building on a street that goes down the hill, you'd be responsible for one side, but not the other. Unless you have to do both cut and fill. Which normally isn't something you have to to do unless you're building to the boundary. We had similar situation with our house, where the lot had about half a meter drop. So we ended up having neighbor on the lower side paying for the retaining wall, cause they cut their lot, and we got the builder to slope the other side. But eventually I ended up building retaining wall myself so we can have small garden there. Thank you again Simeon.. I will call my certifier for that. Have a good day 4 5196 Thanks for the insights, that makes perfect sense, and yeah, I will be leaning on the experience of the excavator operator entirely. 6 16157 Hi All, I engaged a tradie to install concrete retaining wall 600-800mm high over 32 meters in Victoria. Sleepers are 200*75*2000 mm installed over 17 steel posts. I… 0 6917 |