Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 14, 2009 10:26 pm OK, so we're building in Evadene in Tarneit with Porter Davis. Our home was in the Smart Living range (has been moved into Access and renamed Lisbon), and our land settled in July. Now, our contract has a few things in the fixed price tender that make me a little wary. When we signed the contract originally we were told we had a fixed site start date in September. That it was guaranteed for September, period. Site did not commence until the 5th of October and it looks like the slab has just been poured in the last day or two. Originally they "booked it in" for September 25 but that was a Friday, it was rained out, and I contacted the CSC the following Tuesday (the 29th) who said the papers were just being sent over to the building end in the "next few days" and would be "booked in" within 14 days. All the admin was completed by this time though. The Sept 23 start date had nothing to do with us... basically they just booked us late in the month for no real reason (had decided to book other people in earlier) and never explained why. The building permit was issued quite a while back, actually, and so were all the variations etc. So, this is what worries me... First page of tender: This price is fixed and is subject to the entering of a formal contract, the completion of all relevant documentation and obtaining of all necessary approvals required for construction by September 30, 2009. Should this not occur by this date this price will be subject to change. I further acknowledge that the builder is not obliged to start before September 1, 2009. Later on, we also got... Under the house price and then facade price on the second page of the tender: 3. The Porter Davis Access Fixed Price Guarantee Porter Davis will guarantee your fixed price for a site start on or before 30th September 2009 -- $4000 So... we're a bit concerned. The site definitely didn't start before 30th September, simply because PD apparently got too busy to finish scheduling it after booking it late in the month. Our understanding when we originally signed was that if we started building within 2 months of contract, there were no costs in the fixed price guarantee. If we started building 2 months or more, there was a cost around $2750 to guarantee. But building in September as a fixed price house and land package, it was $4000 to guarantee that prices would not change. The Site Start Guarantee is often promoted as "we promise we'll start by X time", but what it really means is "we promise to keep all overall prices the same as long as we start building by X time, if you pay this big fee here". So in reality, we have no guarantee the price isn't going to change because they haven't managed to make themselves start before September end. It doesn't seem like the fee is applicable because site didn't commence until October 5th, but if it's not applicable then it means they have the ability to change prices. What gives? Building the home formerly known as the PD Lawson II (Barwon) in Evadene, Tarneit Site commenced: 05/10/2009 | Base complete: 19/10/2009 | Frame complete: 23/10/2009 | Lockup complete: 23/11/2009 | Fixing complete: 08/12/2009 Re: "Guaranteed site start in September" -- $4000 2Oct 15, 2009 7:43 pm We were supposed to have a Feb start and it went into March but we didn't get charged any extra. It was the builder who caused the delay, not us. I think you should be pretty right. Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: "Guaranteed site start in September" -- $4000 3Oct 15, 2009 8:22 pm I'm totally confused. From the moment we first sat down with the PD sales agent we were told we would need to pay $1000 ASAP to guarantee a site start in December. We were under the impression that by paying that $1000 our house would begin that month - isn't that why they offer a guaranteed site start? Re: "Guaranteed site start in September" -- $4000 4Oct 16, 2009 3:18 pm We were in a similar situation with an August start. What was explained to me is that the "site" had started, in that the administration, etc was being completed and that this was not related to the actual site scrape. Regardless, we weren't charged anything and they didn't start anything on site until late September. Somehow I see myself receiving weeks of "penalty" payments from PD Re: "Guaranteed site start in September" -- $4000 5Oct 16, 2009 6:40 pm My site start was for May but didn't start till the first week of June - I think you will only get charged if YOU are the cause of the delay by the land not being ready etc 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure I am not sure whether Perth has its own way of doing things in regards to this. Most of Perth has class A (sandy soil), except for some areas near rivers or hills. 2 13098 We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 37142 |