Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 07, 2009 1:18 pm Hi All, we signed our building contract the other day and we were caught up in the excitement of the event.. but now I have sat back and thought about a few points and its got me worried. Firstly we were advised in an email from the builder that the house cost would be turn key at 170K with the slab being classed as a H slab. before we signed , we reviewed the contract ( a standard HIA contract) it was worded the inclusions were being based on an M Class slab. We questioned the builder about this and he then hand wrote in the additional terms section that the contract is a fixed price and will not differ regardless of soil type which he then signed and we signed as well . Are we covered here? We have now been told verbally that the land is worse then expected.. didnt know you could get worse then H with this wording they cant charge us more right? Dont get me wrong they have been fantastic with getting the price within our tight bidget with generous inclusions! And have had great customer service! Just very afraid of being burnt... Oh wells Re: Just signed our building contract and now I am worried, 3Jul 07, 2009 1:59 pm I think a P class is worse and I know we could have been charged more but luckly ours came back as a H class slab. Get a solicitor to look at it if you are concerned. There is a cooling off period on all contracts too. Maybe check when that expires. Good luck. Forum thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22300 Re: Just signed our building contract and now I am worried, 4Jul 07, 2009 2:45 pm Yeah thats the thing.. we were told by the builder that being a standard HIA contract we didnt have to worry about a solicitor.. yes we were very naive. Like I was saying it may not be a problem just abit nervous. The bed has been made and now we may have to sleep in it as the cooling off period is 5 days. its been 8. Should of googled along time before now Well I will start a BLOG as we go so stay tuned it may be the best experience of our lives or it might end up being the worst lets hope its the first of the two.. Cheers Re: Just signed our building contract and now I am worried, 5Jul 07, 2009 3:19 pm It sounds like a good thing cost wise if you end up needing a more expensive slab again for an E or P class site (& piers even...). Just make sure that if you do have a site report to indicate worse than a H class that he then upgrades/modifies the slab & footing design accordingly. http://aqua-blog-building.blogspot.com/ ... mostly done, hand over to come...Nov 9th!!!! Re: Just signed our building contract and now I am worried, 6Jul 07, 2009 3:35 pm Hope it all works out for you! I don't have any idea about whether or not you're sufficiently covered legally, but it sounds okay to me and it seems like the builder really wanted make sure you felt a measure of comfort about the situation. Either that or he was being downright dishonest - hopefully that's not the case!! But I can understand your nervousness. We've got concerns about our land as well - it's classified P (Problematic) but hopefully once the site cut has been done we will only need a modified M slab. Site/slab costs can be so variable and it's especially hard when you're on a tight budget! Like Aqua said - the worst thing would be if the foundations weren't appropriate for the site. Hopefully your good experience with the builder continues for the rest of the build! We're home!!! Site start: 13 Aug 09 Handover: 29 Jan 10 Hubby & I are building the Santorini 26 with M3tr!con My thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20570 Re: Just signed our building contract and now I am worried, 7Jul 07, 2009 3:38 pm You need to get a solicitor to look over the contract, it is th biggest contract you will sign so everyone should fork out a little bit and get their solictor to look at it for sure. DA approved Waiting on a few more Builder's quotes. Re: Just signed our building contract and now I am worried, 8Jul 07, 2009 4:15 pm Given that you both signed the variation to the contract, I would have thought you would be covered. Put it this way, very difficult for the builder to hit you for more money based on the soil type and then try and argue that they are not bound by the terms of the contract which they signed off on. Re: Just signed our building contract and now I am worried, 10Jul 07, 2009 5:41 pm With the addition of "he then hand wrote in the additional terms section that the contract is a fixed price and will not differ regardless of soil type" to the contract, your covered. No need to worry and no need for a solicitor. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Just signed our building contract and now I am worried, 11Jul 08, 2009 9:37 am Casa2 With the addition of "he then hand wrote in the additional terms section that the contract is a fixed price and will not differ regardless of soil type" to the contract, your covered. No need to worry and no need for a solicitor. HI Casa, thanks for the reply thats what I was hoping would be the case Land settlement is the 3rd of August... Re: Just signed our building contract and now I am worried, 12Jul 08, 2009 9:51 am Casa2 With the addition of "he then hand wrote in the additional terms section that the contract is a fixed price and will not differ regardless of soil type" to the contract, your covered. No need to worry and no need for a solicitor. In all honesty that is just bad advice for anyone who reads. Are you a solicitor? I dont mean to sound rude but it is the biggest contract you will sign, especially for FHB's, now the cost isnt that great in the scheme of things. Re: Just signed our building contract and now I am worried, 13Jul 08, 2009 10:04 am I just now spoke to our Solicitor who is handeling the land sale and they have advised that if the change has been made in the additional terms and has been signed by all parties we are safe as houses... excuse the pun. Re: Just signed our building contract and now I am worried, 14Jul 08, 2009 11:54 am Good news! We're home!!! Site start: 13 Aug 09 Handover: 29 Jan 10 Hubby & I are building the Santorini 26 with M3tr!con My thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20570 Re: Just signed our building contract and now I am worried, 15Jul 08, 2009 12:31 pm Noob I just now spoke to our Solicitor who is handeling the land sale and they have advised that if the change has been made in the additional terms and has been signed by all parties we are safe as houses... excuse the pun. See elastic, I told you so Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Just signed our building contract and now I am worried, 16Jul 08, 2009 1:23 pm Things to check: Did he hand write it on your contract document or his and did you and he initial the change on both documents. Always keep all e-mails as they may be the only link to the truth (verbal is as good as not having any agreement) If it is verbal, get him to send an e-mail to you with the items listed. or vice versa. I would even go as far as recording the conversations during contract time (it keeps them honest and you then know where you stand) I have lost in excess of $8000 in agreements that never came to fruition because they were all verbal. Re: Just signed our building contract and now I am worried, 17Jul 08, 2009 1:49 pm Casa2 Noob I just now spoke to our Solicitor who is handeling the land sale and they have advised that if the change has been made in the additional terms and has been signed by all parties we are safe as houses... excuse the pun. See elastic, I told you so With all due respect the answer was given by a solicitor, not joe blogs sitting on a keyboard giving advice to a forum. They got the answer the right way. BTW, I did know the answer, Re: Just signed our building contract and now I am worried, 19Jul 08, 2009 4:38 pm Just wading in to say when I am not building houses and raising 3 young children I am a lawyer, and my advice would always be to check with a solicitor, taking with you all the documentation etc. It is very difficult to give proper advice on forums, and people certainly shouldnt rely on quasi-legal advice from bush lawyers. The response I posted earlier in this thread wasn't 100% "yes, you WILL be covered" - it will always depend on a number of factors, eg who signed the variation on behalf of the builder - was it the temporary receptionist or the CEO of the building company etc? And I agree that you should always keep a written record of all conversations, where necessary send to the builder an email confirming the details of important conversations and asking them to confirm that they have the same understanding of conversations etc. This is regardless of how good a relationship you have with your builder - as things can change quickly. We have kept a running journal of when things have happened on the site, as well as conversations etc with the front office and the building supervisor about issues on site. On one occasion this has saved us a fair amount of money and heartache as we have been able to dredge up the email conversation setting out everyone's understanding of the event (when the construction supervisor had since left the company). You talk about deletions, are they variations or PS and PC adjustments? pleas list them 1 17033 https://form.jotform.com/240284569218058 Please spare a moment to fill out this survey form for a project. 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