Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 21Mar 08, 2009 6:52 pm I think it's a sign of a good builder that they acknowledge that it's your house and that you are entitled to see it whenever you want. They should be happy to show everything they are up to to their customer. Some do. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 22Mar 08, 2009 8:12 pm We didnt get a key either, but like house-to-be we used a child to climb through a window. Our front awning window is always left ajar, so I just unwind it a bit to let DS in..... lucky he is skinny and small, so is able to fit through such a small opening! Dont know what we will do when the flyscreens go on.
What a great builder to give you a key though... I dont think we are meant to be onsite (or inside) without the SS there either, but I am sure they know that people do it. Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 23Mar 08, 2009 8:35 pm hi kylie, yeah the form is for the insurance, coral has to be covered just in case your air con installer falls off his ladder or something! it would also have to do with acknowledging that if your tradie damages anything then coral is not responsible... 2014 - Prepping to build the Soho 4 with Plantation homes, industrial style 2009 - Built the Brampton with Coral Homes viewtopic.php?f=31&t=15399&start=280 Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 24Mar 08, 2009 8:40 pm how lucky you are. no key for us and our SS said although he knows we will go onsite afterhours he doesn't want us there when tradies are unless he is there as well. Which is fair enough I guess since he wouldn't want the tradies complaining we distracted them, annoyed them or hassled them about items in the house etc. Though if we'd had a tradie we wanted to reuse later I guess we could find a way to get their name.
Don't know what will happen once we get to lockup. I suspect we won't be able to get access unless really lucky to catch a tradie who doesn't mind us having a peek. We should be at lockup any day. Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 25Mar 08, 2009 8:43 pm WOW that is pretty cool. Our last house we built once we were at lock up we could only go in when there was a tradie there...
Masterton we cant even get close to the house when no body is there as they lock the fence up.Which i have to say there are other mastertons around and they dont get locked :S John, Tarin and the Kids Built and moving in to the Regent Grande with Masterton homes http://thebrownsaremovingtothecountry.blogspot.com Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 26Mar 08, 2009 8:50 pm Although we didn't get a key, the builder was quite Ok with us comeing on site to check out progress, in theory a key wouldn't have got us into the house anyway as the whole estate was inside a temporary perimeter fence ( I say in theory as the fence was often left unlocked ), if tradies were working on the house we just asked if we could come in and see how it was going or take photos or measure things, never had a problem with this.
Builder was also OK with 3rd parties coming on site, we had a quote for pergola and shed and air con was installed by 3rd party during construction, just negotiated times for fence and/or house to be open as required. Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 27Mar 08, 2009 9:41 pm Casa - yep, it is great that they respect that it is our house after all...and l think it benefits them as well, in that, if we didn't have access or could only have limited access, then any stuff-ups might be discovered way after the fact and not nipped in the bud straight away.
monkeytree - you may have to try HTB's Medicare card trick Oh of course they know people go and look (and break in if they have to ) it's only natural. Building a house is such a huge thing, time and money wise, of course you need to see exactly what is going on...you do your head in otherwise! kex- yeah by going with the replies, it seems that we are very lucky indeed. I can understand the reasons for other builders requiring the SS being there. Although we wil have a key, l'll be making sure that l don't abuse the priviledge. Hope you manage to be able to peek at your house after Lock-up....bringing some home-baked goodies for the tradies might do the trick J&T - so how often do you get to check out your house, must be hard if your both working?? helyn - lucky you had good tradies...lucky the fence was left unlocked too, it's a bit of double edged sword....fences locked - keep thieves/vandals out but also you! fences unlocked, you get access but so does people who shouldn't either. Our builder is very strict on no third parties coming on site...if it ain't in the contract or haven't already given permission (like my BIL who is doing the electricals) it's a no go...... l kind agree with the policy but it would be nice to at least have the window furnishings people come in and measure up so that the blinds/romans get installed straight after handover and before we move in. Ah well, l can't really complain can l Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 28Mar 16, 2009 9:25 pm We got a key at lock up when we built about 7 years ago. It was extremely rare then, but it was the best thing - made it easier for all because we could pick up on issues as they happened, rather than leave it to end (when it may also be difficult to fix a problem). It gave us a real sense of ownership at that time - that this was in fact our place, that we were paying for it. Probably the single best thing about our experience with our builder. Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 29Mar 16, 2009 9:42 pm Princess Bandicoot We got a key at lock up when we built about 7 years ago. It was extremely rare then, but it was the best thing - made it easier for all because we could pick up on issues as they happened, rather than leave it to end (when it may also be difficult to fix a problem). It gave us a real sense of ownership at that time - that this was in fact our place, that we were paying for it. Probably the single best thing about our experience with our builder. Hi princess ....(gosh, now where have l seen that username before??, were you on the AI forum?) And they are exactly the reasons why l think it's awesome getting a key...and of course, being able to take a heap of pics So are you building again now? If so, are you using the same builder? Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 30Mar 16, 2009 9:55 pm LOL!! Yeah that's me!
Nah not building again, though I would like to...so many things I would do differently. We were lucky with our land - got a big block (1/2 acre) at a very good price only 35km from the CBD. Would struggle to be so lucky these days, so we will stay where we are. Just discovered this forum - would've been an absolute godsend when we were building. It's fantastic. We have a number of house projects going on - some concreting, some decking, a big shed, etc, so I am hunting for some info. Probably wouldn't use the same builder again if we were to build. The lock-up thing was fabulous, but they are based a long way from where we built and which caused some big challenges that we wouldn't want to revisit. I think I would always look for a builder who was prepared to give the key at lock up though (having experienced the benefits of it). Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 31Mar 16, 2009 10:08 pm Princess Bandicoot LOL!! Yeah that's me! Nah not building again, though I would like to...so many things I would do differently. We were lucky with our land - got a big block (1/2 acre) at a very good price only 35km from the CBD. Would struggle to be so lucky these days, so we will stay where we are. Just discovered this forum - would've been an absolute godsend when we were building. It's fantastic. We have a number of house projects going on - some concreting, some decking, a big shed, etc, so I am hunting for some info. Probably wouldn't use the same builder again if we were to build. The lock-up thing was fabulous, but they are based a long way from where we built and which caused some big challenges that we wouldn't want to revisit. I think I would always look for a builder who was prepared to give the key at lock up though (having experienced the benefits of it). ah don't be embarassed...l can't remember who you were a fan of anyway.... and remember l was on there too obviously Well you found an awesome place...l haven't looked into many reno threads at all (don;t need to of course, lol) but l hope you find some helpful info for all your projects you have got going. Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 32Mar 17, 2009 9:53 am This is really topical for us as we just this morning had a meeting with the supervisor on site to discuss various things now that we are lock up. We were told we can get a key from the office, and come anytime when no trades are there and start doing things like sealer coats for the walls (once the ceilings are painted) on weekends, measuring up windows for window treatments, doing wardrobe shelving etc as well as any landscaping to the backyard that we want.
Having a key is going to make all the difference for us in terms of moving in quicker - we took a fair bit out of the contract to do ourselves so having access before the handover is fantastic for us. Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 33Mar 17, 2009 10:10 am Becster we were exactly the same - we took many things out of the contract and so access to the property was essential. Also, we were living about an hour away from where we were building, so we really needed the flexibility to come and go when we wanted to rather than on the builder's timetable.
We picked up on so many things when we visited at night after work and on weekends. The key was absolutely priceless in terms of what we gained from having it. Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 34Mar 17, 2009 10:19 am Look in the meter box. Most of the tradies leave the key there.
Funnily enough a few years after my build I had to do something in my meter box and the key was still there! Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 35Mar 17, 2009 3:05 pm House-To-Be Gee you guys are so lucky to get given a key. We weren't even supposed to be onsite unless it was with the SS for a meeting. We did however keep the pantry window unlocked and one of the kids used to climb in and then open the sliding door. Also found that my medicare card came in handy on the few occasions that the pantry window had been locked lol H2B thats exactly what we do.. although in our instance DH helps give me a lift to jump in through a window we keep unlocked and then open the alfresco door... Built PD Beaumont 35 - One year down in the new house.. still so much to do.. Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 37Mar 17, 2009 6:18 pm Becster This is really topical for us as we just this morning had a meeting with the supervisor on site to discuss various things now that we are lock up. We were told we can get a key from the office, and come anytime when no trades are there and start doing things like sealer coats for the walls (once the ceilings are painted) on weekends, measuring up windows for window treatments, doing wardrobe shelving etc as well as any landscaping to the backyard that we want. Having a key is going to make all the difference for us in terms of moving in quicker - we took a fair bit out of the contract to do ourselves so having access before the handover is fantastic for us. Re: Does your builder provide you with a key at Lock-Up? 38Mar 17, 2009 6:29 pm Be@umonde.
I think the baked goods I made for our supervisor at Christmas time have paid dividends. Seriously, we were told about the key when we were doing the pre-start this time last year. Good that they came through with it as we aren't going away over Easter and hope to really get stuck into the painting, undercoats, sealer etc over the 4 days. Well my husband and father in law, I should say. Your house should come in "as new" condition. It should be clean, and without stains 1 4550 1 4678 Sorry but you have a crap builder. Probably too late now. For our last build I only spoke to builders who would allow me easy access (at no cost). I used my own sparky… 10 9804 |