Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 30, 2008 4:07 pm Afternoon all,
At our contract appointment it was mentioned by our CSC that we could have no variations after that appointment. Before hitting her up for some color changes, i though i would check how much further down the track people have changed colors etc with PD? Thanks in advance. Re: Variations with PD 2Nov 30, 2008 9:58 pm Good question....I'd like to know the answer to that too! Our CSC told us the same thing...no changes after 7 days. BUT....I hear people talking all the time about their 'PCV's'....are these changes made by the builder ( ie if tiles or bricks or something get discontinued )...or can you make changes to things like colour selections/taps etc after the contract but b4 the build starts??? Thanks for bringing this up ifyareckon...I'll join u in looking forward to hearing from someone who knows what they r talking about! Re: Variations with PD 3Nov 30, 2008 10:24 pm The only PCVs we had were a couple of extra power points, an upgraded controller for our heating/cooling and some minor tiling that was basically overlooked (by PD) at our colour selection appointment.
Other than that, we had a few discontinued things (bricks, taps, bathroom fittings, some tiles), so PCVs were raised for the replacement items for those. I think we were lucky that our tender was delayed thanks to access not being available to the land for soil tests. That meant that we ended up doing colour, electrical and tile selections BEFORE we finalised our tender. So pretty much everything was included in the contract, and we had plenty of time to change our minds about things in the meantime. We were told it was "too late" when we wanted to change one or two little things way before construction began - like the power points. But then our CS girl made a big deal of allowing it anyway. Personally, I think it was no drama, but they just like to discourage you from doing it too often. I'm sure there are customers who change their minds about things daily. Re: Variations with PD 4Nov 30, 2008 10:36 pm We are post contract and pre build at the moment.
They have said no to changes that we have requested after the 7 days. We have had some variations: PD have had to put through a variation for our architrave selection as it has been discontinued, we have had some "clarification" of things in our contract, and we have had a credit for insulation that PD has to cover as part of the 5 star rating. Which is fair enough. They are up front about "no changes", told us repeatedly and it is in bold on the last PCV you sign before the cut off. It makes sense really, because if there was not a cut off, I'd be changing things as we went long which would make it a nightmare to build. I changed my mind on kitchen colours at least twice a day for about two weeks. Re: Variations with PD 6Dec 01, 2008 11:55 am Hi Grace16,
I'd still ask the question... the worse they can say is no. We were told by PD that no structual changes were allowed after tender sign off, but when we asked our CSC she was able to include the bi-fold doors we wanted at contract. I know you are in a different situation, but it woudln't hurt asking. Re: Variations with PD 7Dec 01, 2008 12:36 pm i would still ask...we made changes AFTER contract to our kitchen (i wanted an apron edge) and i also changed some colours (splashback and kickboard colours) and the extra powerpoint here and there...and a PCV was just raised....
having said that, we were given a deadline (just before contruction drawings were sent off to be drawn) to make no more changes... It can't hurt to ask good luck! Re: Variations with PD 8Dec 01, 2008 1:37 pm They're pretty strict on structural changes - I doubt you'd get them to budge on that. We wanted to add sidelights to French doors, and they said NO - it's structural!!!
As Newbies said, for other stuff, it doesn't hurt to ask! Solidarity, not solidity.......The Lexicon of Life Re: Variations with PD 9Dec 01, 2008 1:53 pm Thanks girls for giving me a little glimmer of hope!!! Wouldn't dare ask for a structural change, they were quite adamant that wouldn't be do-able. Just a couple of teensy weensy colour changes, like the colour of the stain to our timber windows and doors....nothing that would even alter the price of the contract. Will have to get up the courage to put it to our CSC - fingers and toes crossed! Re: Variations with PD 10Dec 01, 2008 2:00 pm If it's just that sort of thing, I'd def ask - I'd argue that surely they don't order things like paint and stain this early on. Things like taps, or skirting boards, I can understand , as they would order them as soon as you go to construction, but paint would surely not be made up until closer to when it's ready to be delivered! Solidarity, not solidity.......The Lexicon of Life Re: Variations with PD 11Dec 01, 2008 3:41 pm yea, def ask! hehe colour of stain should be easy peasy!
jsut make sure they update the colour selection, and that ur SS has the updated version of ur colour...cos that mite stuff u up (our SS didnt have our latest, and our kitchen door handles had to be re-done...grrr) Re: Variations with PD 12Dec 01, 2008 4:53 pm Quietly getting my hopes up now.....! I can sort of understand why they say no more changes ( so they don't have people ringing to change their minds every second day! )..... but I don't really see why this should be such a biggie...surely it's just a matter of making a computer/paperwork adjustment??? Hell, charge me for your time and effort if you really want to.. just let me feel settled and happy with the colour selections, and let me look forward to building this house!
Re: Variations with PD 13Dec 01, 2008 5:14 pm hello everyone
our tender only passed with 3 working days (including today), and i asked for a facade change this morning adn adding eaves. my CSC emailed me saying that i cannot. i am sure the drawing has NOT been made. At tender when i mentioned that i wanted to take tender home to discuss with DH, teh tender girl streesed that "it is just to fix your prices and you will surely be able to make changes, also it is subject to entering into the contract". so i signed my cheque and now i regret. anyway i emailed back and stated my reasons why they shoudl allow the change and will see what happened. the first taste of infelexibility after i handed over my money nh Re: Variations with PD 14Dec 01, 2008 5:21 pm Oh nh, what a shame!! Especially knowing that you had requested not to sign or pay up on the day...how very ** of them! And having been told that changes in your situation would probably be allowed!!! Sounds like they got you sucked in to get you more or less stuck. And I'm sure they haven't done your working drawings yet...ask them!! When is your site start?? Re: Variations with PD 16Dec 01, 2008 6:21 pm Facade and eaves are pretty major things, though!!! Both major structural items - including changing the shapes of the rooms/windows, etc, as well as effecting 5 star requirements, so I'm not surprised they wouldn't let you change those. Colours is a different story... Solidarity, not solidity.......The Lexicon of Life Re: Variations with PD 17Dec 01, 2008 7:57 pm WE were able to change a window for a sliding door after contract but that was ONLY because the draftsman drew in the wrong thing.
Personally i think the fascade and eaves are one of the biggest things..sorry We changed internal thing not a problem post contract. Good luck Sharon & Paul ********************* Creating Youngs Castle Heywood 29 in Craigieburn http://youngscastle.blogspot.com/ Re: Variations with PD 18Dec 01, 2008 8:23 pm nh, what roof did you put in your tender??? They might not let you even upgrade to colourbond now anyway!!! But if they do, at least you can spend the money you saved on not getting eaves on your new roof!! Re: Variations with PD 19Dec 02, 2008 8:36 am hi
mine not contract yet, just tender, my reason is that they surely have not started the drawring yet. and had they said no more changes at the tender, i would not sign on that day, (i indicated to them beforehand) but the theme they played on the tender (when i hesitated to sign and indicaetd i wanted to think about it adn discuss it with DH) was like "this is just to fix the price and PD will have a price increase very soon, you surely can change things, blah blah...." i don't want to sound to be bitter, but a sense of them deliberately not emphasizing what they should be saying to me, rather saying something to distract you and get you to sign. grace, roof may be okay, i emailed the CSC friday and she said just put down on your colour appoitment, so i take it as okay. roof tiles, i want flat tiles, but after being told teh price to upgrade, i thought i might go with Colourbond. they should give customer time to make their decision, not just tell you on the spot and expect you to accept and sign while you were there (that's what they seem to be doing!) also could anybody tell me do we have to sign contract on the day? or we can take it home and sign on another day? nh Re: Variations with PD 20Dec 02, 2008 9:13 am For us, they were very adamant that we COULD NOT take the contract home, but I have heard of others doing so. You have a 'pull out' option, you can always take it to your solicitor to check it over if you are in any way unsure. It seems very clear to me that your contract states that a security account does NOT need to be established so the answer to the builder is NO. If in doubt find a contract… 1 8501 The fastest thing a builder will do is bank your cheque, those systems work perfectly with lightning speed, everything else is slow burn. Just the way it is. 1 8702 Can someone please offer some advice? Im DESPERATE. Because I'm completely and utterly exhausted. How long are variations taking with other companies at the moment? We… 0 18435 |