Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jun 04, 2010 9:56 am Seven months ago my wife and I Signed up and started paying for what we thought would be our dream home. The people at Simonds were fantastic. Helping us with extras (at a cost) and all the information we needed to build our house. Once the contract was signed everything stopped. We were told we would meet our Site Supervisor at every stage of the building and be kept informed of all progress. Seven months later we still don't know what he looks like. The only contact we have had with him is when we have called him to point out mistakes made with the building and voice our concerns about other problems. Times I tried to organise a meeting on-site I was told how busy he was and everything was going well. We made most of our progress payments when we were told too. This appears to be a mistake. When I questioned Simonds about site meetings I was told late payments would only delay the building at our expense. We have one payment left and our dream is now a nightmare. The building is a long way from complete. The brickwork is not finished nor the roof tiles. Most of the plaster walls that back onto the brick work have water damage due to the missing roof tiles. The combination of pink, green,white and black mould growing on the plaster walls and window frames does not look very nice. I have been trying to organise a manager from Simonds homes to inspect the site with me for almost two weeks. The poor Customer Service Officer is tired of me calling every day and has told me she has done everything she can. It is now up to one of the managers to find time to deal with me. The problems overall with the building are to numerous to mention here. Besides the roof and brickwork they range from rooms being up to 3cm out of square to window winders being different colours. I have tried to get authorisation for an Independant Building surveyor to inspect the damage and poor workmanship of this building but Simonds will not return the authorisation form. Can anyone tell me where to go from here. I have reached my wits end and don't know if I should be consulting a solicitor or contacting one of the Current Affair's Television shows. Thank you MDH0209 Re: Simonds Homes Nightmare 2Jun 04, 2010 12:03 pm I empathise with your situation ... not good at all by the sounds of it and it must be a very traumatic time for both you and your wife. Sounds like you have done the bulk of your communications by phone - I would suggest that you use email and/or hand-delivered written communications from now on, so that you have date and time-stamped proof of contact with them. As frustrating as it sounds, I think you need to exhaust every avenue with Simonds first; talk to your CSO. If they won't assist, then get their Manager's details. Same with the SS - they probably report to a construction manager. And so on. And so forth. Continue up the chain until you've got the CEO's attention if you have to. If it continues to go bad and gets into a dispute situation, you will need to unequivocally prove that you have raised your concerns numerous times and that they have been ignored. If you simply say that you called them, the actual content of the phone calls are not documented anywhere and therefore no good for your case. There should be an item in your contract about the SS providing reasonable access to the site; I wouldn't tell him/her that you are going to bring an inspector with you. I'm surprised that you need to get their permission to bring an inspector along at all to be quite honest. For all they know, the inspector might be your brother / dad / long lost uncle etc etc who just happens to work in the building industry. Built a Tribeca 44 with the Big M Sales Accept 15/06/09, Contract Signed 24/09/09, Site Start 23/11/09, Slab 11/12/09, Frame 12/01/10, Roof 20/01/10, Lock-up 30/03/10, Fixing 30/04/10, Handover 27/08/10. Re: Simonds Homes Nightmare 3Jun 04, 2010 12:16 pm Thanks Jimmalenko, It took a call from a friend to the State Manager of Simonds Homes just to get a reply from the Northern Region Manager this morning. These problems have been well documented on paper and in e-mails as well as phone calls. I have also been told today the site supervisor has been sacked for not doing anything. I never met the man so it will be hard to find out for sure. I don't know how true this is as it came from someone at Simonds homes. So far the authorisation forms for an indipendant engineer to examine the building have been faxed twice but ignored. I will be hand delivering within the next few days. Re: Simonds Homes Nightmare 5Jun 04, 2010 12:50 pm Can you get an independent inspector in at your own cost? They are only a few hundred, and will provide you with a written report (from someone who knows what thwy're talking about, not just a pesky customer) to send back through to your builders. I know that it is unfair that you should have to pay for this, but I think it is a very worthy investment given what you have described above. Re: Simonds Homes Nightmare 6Jun 04, 2010 12:57 pm Thanks Somewoman, I have contacted and am more than willing to pay an indipendant engineer. Simonds will not return the forms to allow them on to the building site. Unfortunatly the company I contacted will not get involved until they have permision from Simonds to inspect the place. They are worried Simonds will try to claim they caused the damage rather than their contractors. Re: Simonds Homes Nightmare 8Jun 04, 2010 1:02 pm MDH0209 Thanks Somewoman, I have contacted and am more than willing to pay an indipendant engineer. Simonds will not return the forms to allow them on to the building site. Unfortunatly the company I contacted will not get involved until they have permision from Simonds to inspect the place. They are worried Simonds will try to claim they caused the damage rather than their contractors. right. Gotcha. What an absolute nightmare... =( I hope you get some resolution (to your satisfaction) soon Re: Simonds Homes Nightmare 9Jun 04, 2010 1:13 pm MDH0209 Can anyone tell me where to go from here. I have reached my wits end and don't know if I should be consulting a solicitor or contacting one of the Current Affair's Television shows. Thank you MDH0209 Hi MDH0209 Please check your H1Forum pm ..... hoping the information might assist. Re: Simonds Homes Nightmare 10Jun 04, 2010 1:54 pm I'm not very knowledgeable in the whole building process and how things are done, but from my (limited) understanding I thought that the bank actually inspects each stage of the build. If the lock up stage wasn't completed, like the brick work and roof being unfinished, they would not have allowed the payment to be made. I'm not really sure how it works so don't take my word for it. I'm just stating my thoughts. What stage are you actually at? If the bricks and roof tiles were not done then it's not exactly "locked up" - I'm not sure. Anyway, it's a horrible situation you're in. I hope it all works out ok. Re: Simonds Homes Nightmare 11Jun 04, 2010 2:06 pm What a horrible situation, I am very sorry to hear you are going through all of this. We have a 2-storey Simonds home being built behnd us which seems to be going very slowly. They did the site scrape around Christmas time. As I write this they have still not completed the bricking and there is no internal plaster yet from what I can see. Under normal circumstances, I would have expected it to be finished or nearing completion by now. I have no idea what the delay is... perhaps it is even your house??? Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: Simonds Homes Nightmare 12Jun 04, 2010 2:17 pm Hi Hels, Our house is a single story. They started it late October last year. We were warned in advance that they were busy so it may take a while. Just didn't expect the problems they have caused all the way through. Thank you MDH0209 Re: Simonds Homes Nightmare 13Jun 04, 2010 2:22 pm Hi lealicious, The bank is really only interested in the finished product. When I contacted the Site Supervisor and Customer Service Officer asking what I should be able to see for these payments I was told that not paying would delay construction and could cost us more money. A little bit silly but we were scared into just making the payments. Thank You MDH0209 Re: Simonds Homes Nightmare 14Jun 04, 2010 2:39 pm Hi MDH0209, sorry to hear about all the dramas, here are a couple of threads you may want to read. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=27755&start=0 viewtopic.php?f=31&t=9460&start=0 I don't know what you can do, do a search for Simonds on H1 and see if you come up with anything. Can you contact the Building Commission? Don’t know if they can help, but they might have some advice for you. Current status: Busy making the house our home Built PD Francis 29 on our 576m2 block at Reflections in Tarneit Reflections Estate Thread Our Build Thread Re: Simonds Homes Nightmare 16Jun 05, 2010 9:13 am You need that independent inspection done ASAP, and if it was me, I'd then be getting some legal advice, pronto. Send your authorisation form by registered mail, and pay the extra small charge to have delivery confirmation sent to you by Aust Post. They cannot reasonably refuse your request to have the building inspected. Multi-coloured mould? Re: Simonds Homes Nightmare 17Jun 05, 2010 9:24 am I def agree, you need a independent site inspection now. It will assist you in determining if you have real concern, and support of your concerns. You said SIM won't return the authorisation form, call an inspector (or a couple) tell them your situation, ask what they suggest. My bet is they will go in without permission and just do the report, forget the legalities of that, they will give you perspective of the viability of their visit. They may be able to get permission where perhaps you've failed too. Either way, call them now. Great to hear you have everything in writing, his is prudent to taking further action. I know you said you signed up 7mths ago, but I'm wondering what was the agreed start and finish dates, because that is really the guide to use if they are behind etc... Our neighbour here built with SIM, said never again. I'm pretty sure I've never heard a good word about them on H1. When we go thru their display homes (which are gorgeous), and the staff are so lovely, I think to myself "it's just an act, as soon as I sign with them I will rue the day later!!!!" thank god for H1 A thankful person is a happy person. [/color]My hobby design blog: http://aviewondesign.blogspot.com/ Re: Simonds Homes Nightmare 19Jun 07, 2010 8:27 am Hi Annietom, The official start date was the 16/10/2009. We still have the certificate we were given when we payed our deposit. That gives them about 8 months from that date to finish. In a few days they have gone over the normal time. Re: Simonds Homes Nightmare 20Jun 07, 2010 8:46 am People should really do a quick google on a prospective builder. You are giving these people a couple hundred thousand dollars, some research would help. I research which toaster has the best reviews and that is only a $100 purchase. Ask for references and speak to them. 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