Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Dec 27, 2010 4:50 pm 1st time builders here We are looking at building either a Wisdom Manhattan or Cosmopolitan Madisson. Just wondering with the building process, how easy is it to get other tradies to do work such as putting in ducted air and electrical work such as installing downlights etc? How flexible are they in letting other tradies on site to do stuff? I would imagine the tradies e.g air con people would have to liase with the site supervisor?? We are thinking we could do some stuff cheaper by getting our own quotes but things like ducted air and downlights for a double storey home needs to happen during the build. Has anyone else done this? Thanks Re: Project Home Access to Site During Build for own tradies 5Dec 27, 2010 8:09 pm There have been threads on this before and situation varies from builder to builder - some wont let anyone else do any other work at all during build, no exceptions - others, like ours, were much more obliging. We had ducted air con installed by 3rd party during the build. One thing to be aware of as well is that whatever is done other than by the builder is then not covered by the builders insurance - so if same is damaged or stolen, you either have your own insurance or take your chances. Re: Project Home Access to Site During Build for own tradies 6Dec 27, 2010 10:43 pm We took a few things out of the contract- Electrical work, other cabling, air conditioning, bathroom and kitchen cabinetry, flooring and painting. Some aspects have worked quite well. In some cases we were given ample time to get the electricians and air conditioning guys in to get their stuff done before the gyprocking was done. The electrical work hasn't been completed but they have started cutting out the holes for downlights etc and the people we organised were able to fit in nicely with the work being done by the gyprocker (organised by the builder) Just recently, however we had a few issues where there has been a cross over of trades. The building company were keen to reach practical completion prior to Christmas and there was an insane rush. Most recently the issues were surrounding tiling (organised by builder) plumbing (organised by builders) and OUR cabinetry guys. In some cases the SS contacted our cabinet guys to fit in with the builders scheduling and in other cases they took instructions from us. The tilers came from out of town and were prepared to work long hours (including over the weekend) to get the job done and go back home....which is all well and good if that is the way they wanted to operate but it meant that they weren't very flexible when it came to fitting in with other trades. They just wanted to get in- get their job done and leave. The SS contacted OUR cabinet maker and insisted that cabinets in the wet areas be done immediately to allow the tilers to get their work done. Our cabinet guys did all areas except for the laundry. They finished what they could on Saturday and were going to come back first thing Monday morning to fit the laundry cabinets and the tilers ended up turning them away and did the tiling in the laundry before the cabinets had been installed (despite the fact that they could have done the ensuite and/ or powder room instead and allowed our cabinet guys to do what they needed to do) It became quite obvious that there was a bit of "history" between the tilers used by the building company and OUR selected cabinet makers which made it quite frustrating. We then had a few minor incidents such as when the builders dropped off vanity basins and gave the cabinet makers instructions to use that basin template to cut out the holes from the bench tops. We didn't know the basin template had been dropped off. Then at late notice (and late in the afternoon) we were contacted by the builders to tell us that they hadn't been able to source enough of the vanity basins and we would need to select new ones but it then become our problem if the cabinet makers had already cut the bench tops. We were told by the SS it was OUR responsibility to contact the cabinet makers and give them instructions NOT to cut the bench tops. I stressed worrying that the cabinet makers may have already followed the builder's initial instructions. It turned out they hadn't and they had the common sense to wait to hear from us before making any cuts but it could have been a real pain if they had followed the initial instructions from the builders. It became confusing and very frustrating at some points Our SS contacted our cabinet makers when it came time to install the kitchen and told them they wanted it done immediately so that their plumbers could fit the sink (there was a big rush to get things done right before Christmas) The cabinet maker was told by someone from the building company that it should only take him 4 hours to fit the kitchen which was a ridiculous statement when you look at the size of our kitchen. It might normally take 4 hours to fit a very basic kitchen but ours certainly isn't basic. He ended up taking 3 days (working solidly) and we were happy for him to take his time to do a nice job. I am not sure of the details but I think at one point there must have been some sort of disagreement between one of the tradesmen organised by the building company and our cabinet maker. The cabinet maker had to politely tell this person that he wasn't employed by the building company and that he took instructions from 'us' as the clients. Our house has "apparently" now reached the point of 'practical completion' and we need to sort out our own painting, finishing electrical work, air conditioning, flooring and window treatments. There are still quite few things they need to complete (eg. mirrors in the bathrooms, architraves that weren't completed in the ensuite, I don't think the vanity basin in the ensuite has had the plumbing done and the list goes on.) We were also unhappy that the SS originally told us that he was happy to wait for us to organise painting of the wet areas BEFORE installing the shower screens but this basically didn't happen as the gyprocking hadn't been completed properly by them so it wasn't possible to paint and then they went ahead and installed the shower screens stating they had given us enough time for painting. It is now going to be a nuisance having to cover these up while we paint and we wish they had given us the flexibility we had been promised. I am pleased that we took things out of the contract so that we had more control over our choice of airconditioning, placement of power points and kitchen cabinets and light fittings, etc. Just as an example we are really thrilled with the quality of workmanship from the cabinet makers and I don't think I would have been nearly as happy if we had organised this directly through the builders. I certainly don't regret our decision to remove things from the contract and organise it ourselves but it hasn't always been smooth sailing and there were quite a few occasions where we were given the impression that we would have more control over the timing of things and it didn't happen the way we would have liked it to happen. All in all though I would prefer the hassles and inconvenience and be happy with the end product rather than having to go with the limited choices offered by the builders. Re: Project Home Access to Site During Build for own tradies 7Dec 28, 2010 10:12 am Nice post Miss. Antho, I'd be very cautious about this, as your builder could blame any damage to the house on your contractors. If you are going to do this, I'd have a walkthrough or similar with the SS immediately beforehand and afterwards to agree on the condition of the house. Re: Project Home Access to Site During Build for own tradies 8Feb 11, 2011 11:53 am Miss We took a few things out of the contract- Electrical work, other cabling, air conditioning, bathroom and kitchen cabinetry, flooring and painting. Some aspects have worked quite well. In some cases we were given ample time to get the electricians and air conditioning guys in to get their stuff done before the gyprocking was done. The electrical work hasn't been completed but they have started cutting out the holes for downlights etc and the people we organised were able to fit in nicely with the work being done by the gyprocker (organised by the builder) Just recently, however we had a few issues where there has been a cross over of trades. The building company were keen to reach practical completion prior to Christmas and there was an insane rush. Most recently the issues were surrounding tiling (organised by builder) plumbing (organised by builders) and OUR cabinetry guys. In some cases the SS contacted our cabinet guys to fit in with the builders scheduling and in other cases they took instructions from us. The tilers came from out of town and were prepared to work long hours (including over the weekend) to get the job done and go back home....which is all well and good if that is the way they wanted to operate but it meant that they weren't very flexible when it came to fitting in with other trades. They just wanted to get in- get their job done and leave. The SS contacted OUR cabinet maker and insisted that cabinets in the wet areas be done immediately to allow the tilers to get their work done. Our cabinet guys did all areas except for the laundry. They finished what they could on Saturday and were going to come back first thing Monday morning to fit the laundry cabinets and the tilers ended up turning them away and did the tiling in the laundry before the cabinets had been installed (despite the fact that they could have done the ensuite and/ or powder room instead and allowed our cabinet guys to do what they needed to do) It became quite obvious that there was a bit of "history" between the tilers used by the building company and OUR selected cabinet makers which made it quite frustrating. We then had a few minor incidents such as when the builders dropped off vanity basins and gave the cabinet makers instructions to use that basin template to cut out the holes from the bench tops. We didn't know the basin template had been dropped off. Then at late notice (and late in the afternoon) we were contacted by the builders to tell us that they hadn't been able to source enough of the vanity basins and we would need to select new ones but it then become our problem if the cabinet makers had already cut the bench tops. We were told by the SS it was OUR responsibility to contact the cabinet makers and give them instructions NOT to cut the bench tops. I stressed worrying that the cabinet makers may have already followed the builder's initial instructions. It turned out they hadn't and they had the common sense to wait to hear from us before making any cuts but it could have been a real pain if they had followed the initial instructions from the builders. It became confusing and very frustrating at some points Our SS contacted our cabinet makers when it came time to install the kitchen and told them they wanted it done immediately so that their plumbers could fit the sink (there was a big rush to get things done right before Christmas) The cabinet maker was told by someone from the building company that it should only take him 4 hours to fit the kitchen which was a ridiculous statement when you look at the size of our kitchen. It might normally take 4 hours to fit a very basic kitchen but ours certainly isn't basic. He ended up taking 3 days (working solidly) and we were happy for him to take his time to do a nice job. I am not sure of the details but I think at one point there must have been some sort of disagreement between one of the tradesmen organised by the building company and our cabinet maker. The cabinet maker had to politely tell this person that he wasn't employed by the building company and that he took instructions from 'us' as the clients. Our house has "apparently" now reached the point of 'practical completion' and we need to sort out our own painting, finishing electrical work, air conditioning, flooring and window treatments. There are still quite few things they need to complete (eg. mirrors in the bathrooms, architraves that weren't completed in the ensuite, I don't think the vanity basin in the ensuite has had the plumbing done and the list goes on.) We were also unhappy that the SS originally told us that he was happy to wait for us to organise painting of the wet areas BEFORE installing the shower screens but this basically didn't happen as the gyprocking hadn't been completed properly by them so it wasn't possible to paint and then they went ahead and installed the shower screens stating they had given us enough time for painting. It is now going to be a nuisance having to cover these up while we paint and we wish they had given us the flexibility we had been promised. I am pleased that we took things out of the contract so that we had more control over our choice of airconditioning, placement of power points and kitchen cabinets and light fittings, etc. Just as an example we are really thrilled with the quality of workmanship from the cabinet makers and I don't think I would have been nearly as happy if we had organised this directly through the builders. I certainly don't regret our decision to remove things from the contract and organise it ourselves but it hasn't always been smooth sailing and there were quite a few occasions where we were given the impression that we would have more control over the timing of things and it didn't happen the way we would have liked it to happen. All in all though I would prefer the hassles and inconvenience and be happy with the end product rather than having to go with the limited choices offered by the builders. Hi, Do you mind sharing 1. Who were your builder? 2. Where were you building? 3. Did they deduct amounts from for the jobs that your took off the contract? How and how much? The only thing to add to these comments is that where possible it's always good to try and work with people than just say "no" because you can. Having someone… 4 17107 For reference, this is the Austlii reference. My take on this is, that they would be breaking the law denying access to a homeowner in Victoria, or their agent from having… 1 9070 Elvis has left the building... The site supervisor quit after 2 month on the project. I guess he was just instructed to bark at people, but didn't like when he was… 26 20864 |