Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 17, 2007 11:23 am Just thought that i'd ask the question to all our users:
How often did your builder (or builders representative) communicate with you? More than once a week, Once a week, Fortnightly, Monthly, Was it enough? Were you satisfied with their levels of communication? Did they do what they promised they would do? Firthy26 also requests that i also ask "when was the first contact with your site supervisor?" Open slather people, please divulge........  Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 2Oct 17, 2007 11:31 am Maybe once a week on average. Sometimes our supervisor, sometimes our CSR. Having said that, sometimes we knew more than the CSR about the progress!!
The best communication was from the accounts department  So much more speedy and efficient that the rest!!  Built Porter Davis "Dromana" 2007. Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 3Oct 17, 2007 11:32 am Hey Perryr, i liked the idea of the online system PD are using called 24/7 to update their clients. Do they still contact you verbally on a regular basis with updates or does having this system make personal contact a thing of the past? Also is it updated regularly or is there a delay?
Builders take note, the way of the future? Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 4Oct 17, 2007 11:38 am Vanderlay, is that because you visited on a regular basis?
Of course the accounts department are on the ball....everyone wants to get paid! Whether the job has been done correctly or not i would say?  Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 5Oct 17, 2007 11:43 am We would normally visit 2-3 time a week.
Just to answer your question about the 24/7 - from our experience they're still in the early stages of using it - there are some features that arent used yet. During construction the supervisors update it every wednesday when the are in the office - sometimes they will check things off in advance, so its not always correct/or finished by the date they nominate. Built Porter Davis "Dromana" 2007. Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 6Oct 17, 2007 11:52 am We check our site everyday as we live just about 200m away. Normally it's us who contacting the CSR by phone/email to ask questions.
Supervisor only visits our site once a weekly and we rarely met him on-site, probably twice or 3 times in past 10 weeks. As there's another site not far from ours, sometimes we met him over there. CSR only calls when it's time for next stage, which means time to prepare next payment. It would be nice if they can provide some sort of weekly/fortnightly update. So far they have been quite open and honest in fixing problems, luckily only a few minor ones so far...  28 Aug 2007 42 Junior Member Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 7Oct 17, 2007 11:57 am We hear nothing from our building company AT ALL unless we:
a) ring our administrator b) Literally stalk our site supervisor on another site!! or of course c) receive an invoice in the letterbox Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 8Oct 17, 2007 11:58 am Allan & Jac08, i'm sure you have the right to ask for an update at least every 2 weeks from your CSR?
It's good that you are so close, but they should still be proactive and keep you informed. Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 10Oct 17, 2007 12:14 pm I think our CSR has already picked up that we or should i say i, might be a handful.  (now how did they work that out?) 
I am on top of everything, or i try to be...that's just me though.
We were advised that once building starts, they prefered to contact us every 2 weeks instead of weekly because issues can happen week to week so it's probably not worth it. Not to worry, i will be at the site just about every day... as we are moving to a new area, my son is enrolled in a local school from Jan 08. So guess what, i'm going to make sure i know everyone on site on a first name basis. I am gonna be their best friend, try to keep an esky on site to "look after" the tradies on a regular basis if i can. I'm sure they know what they are in for with me... we've been through a lot even to get to contract signing, so i'm sure communication will not be an issue, from my side anyway. Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 12Oct 17, 2007 12:27 pm As usual Les, the PD system is only as good as the people who use it and information that is loaded into it i suppose. Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 13Oct 17, 2007 12:51 pm At Adenbrook the CSR contacted us once a week but we would visit the site a few times a week. I was happy with the level of contact. We did not hear much from the site supervisor until the house was almost finished. Our Adenbrook home was completed in September. 19 Mar 2007 4,245 Sydney Gold Member Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 14Oct 17, 2007 1:33 pm I would think that a weekly written report is the right balance. Not too onerous on the builder and not too long between updates to the customer.
On top of that a couple of site visits a week would allow you to check on progress and take those all important photographs so you know where service are run for future reference. I'm not sure what the typical site supervisor to building sites ratio there is, but assuming each site supervisor is responsible for 5 buildings that's roughly eight hours per customer per week. Half an hour to write a written weekly report sounds good to me. Of course there's also the communication that happens between reports for issues that come up (hopefully very little). You'd hope that the appropriate person would get back to, say your email, within 24 hours (48 hours max). I get the feeling this doens't happen, particualry with the large volume builders. Which is a pity since I think with good regular communication there will be less problems and the site supervisors will actually have less work to do overall. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 15Oct 17, 2007 2:10 pm  Casa2I'm not sure what the typical site supervisor to building sites ratio there is, but assuming each site supervisor is responsible for 5 buildings that's roughly eight hours per customer per week. Half an hour to write a written weekly report sounds good to me. According to our supervisor, the "industrial standard" is 20 sites per supervisor. Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 16Oct 17, 2007 2:56 pm Still haven't been introduced to our supervisor.
Site start was over a month ago & no contact with him yet. Got a name from our CSR about 2 weeks ago & insured that a meeting will take place the following week... Would have thought by now there would at least be a phone call / e-mail from him to let me know what we're up to. Luckily we only live a couple of km's away from the block, otherwise we have no idea on what's happening. Another question to add to this topic (sorry for that **Pheonix**). When was the first contact with your site supervisor?? I think after the frame is complete is not acceptable. Thoughts? Cheers, Mike. My Blog... http://ahouseonthehill.blogspot.com/ Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 17Oct 17, 2007 3:02 pm I'd be chasing that up with the builder Mike, but that is just me....
If it's important to you, chase them up and request a meeting when suitable to both parties. But a.s.a.p. for your piece of mind i would suggest. 23 Feb 2007 637 VIC Gold Member Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 18Oct 17, 2007 3:25 pm  Firthy_26Another question to add to this topic (sorry for that **Pheonix**). When was the first contact with your site supervisor?? I think after the frame is complete is not acceptable. Thoughts? Cheers, Mike. We heard from ours the day before site start was scheduled and then again the day before the slab was poured. 06 Jul 2007 21 Junior Member Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 19Oct 17, 2007 3:56 pm the customer service we have received from our builder has been terrible, although in saying that our actual job has come along really well so far (touch wood) - Like you firthy we only live a few km's away so we are driving past every other day, however we would have never spoken to our Site Manager had we not contacted out CSR and demanded a contact and phone number - although our supervisor has now changed 3 times and the roof has just been completed - have been promised an update every two weeks although i have had to chase them everytime! I think its ridiculous for the amount of money we are all spending with them! but it seems as though many of you have also had the same problems! So, after all that i think a short email or phone call once a week shouldnt be too much to ask! Re: HOW OFTEN DOES YOUR BUILDER UPDATE YOU? 20Oct 17, 2007 5:09 pm I go and see ours on site every day  9 6464 In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Desiderius Erasmus This proverb implies that even a little knowledge or experience can… 45 22617  Question for people who build decks for a living: If a prospective client approached you for a deck build, & they had plans drawn & a building permit, would this make you… 0 5856 |
