Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 16, 2011 7:17 pm Hi all, First time poster, looking for some feedback on an issue i'm having with my builder at the moment regarding an incorrect paint colour... Story goes as follows - when we had our colour selection appointment in July, we chose a colour for our media room Dulux "Fanfare" a really deep purple... When our house was painted in February, we found that it had been painted Taubmans "Fanfair" a hideous candy pink... Of course we said this was a mistake and needed to be fixed, which they did immediately... Our builder has now said that we will need to pay for the change in colour, and have said the cost is the princely sum of $1,705. Thats right, one thousand, seven hundred and five dollars The reason they want to charge us for the mistake is because our colour selection shows only "Fanfare A306" and doesn't specify that it's a Dulux colour. My counter-argument is that the Taubmans colour they ordered is not only spelt differently but is a completely different paint code "Fanfair T48-4W"... My thought is that if the code selected and the code ordered were completely different, the least they could have done would be call or email to confirm which was the correct colour before they ordered it (and painted the entire room, and feature wall in another room). On the flip side, we never received a copy of our colour selections, I know I should have followed this up but we were confident in what we had chosen as being correct. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this, or what we should be expected to pay for? And whether that charge is reasonable?? (I really think not!) Thanks all in advance for your help, i'm getting to the end of my rope and just want it to be over with already... Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 4Mar 16, 2011 11:04 pm We are going through something very similar at the moment, but with our grout colour... We chose grout #64 (charcoal), have signed contract to prove it. The pre-start lady wrote #49 (white) on their purchase order , which we also signed. But it is their error, not ours. Ended up sending a preliminary notice to them that we intended to go to the builders tribunal and after a lot of emails and phone calls back and forth we won - I think because they knew that we would have a better chance of winning. I too never got a copy of their purchase order and even if I did - I wouldn't have known what the codes meant. You should be able to make a choice, and have it applied to your home. Saying that, the builders are human and we all make mistakes - in this case, not your problem! I would suggest if you have no luck then do the same thing, go to the dispute tribunal- they are bullying you into trying to fund their mistake. If anything it scares them into thinking that you mean business and you aren't just going to cough up this ridiculous amount of money because they said so. Here is the link - http://www.buildingdisputes.wa.gov.au/ (FOR THE WA SITE) The road to success is always under construction House completed April 2011 - slowly making it a home... Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 5Mar 17, 2011 6:57 am Definitely their mistake. I just can't imagine why builders go ahead and do these things without confirming with the customer first. All it does is make more work for themselves later. BTW I searched for Fanfare and A306 on the Dulux website, and got the following: Fanfare A430 - deep purple Skyway A306 - light blue The obvious course of action for the builder should have been to confirm the colour with you, not to find something that sounds the same. Metricon Riva 33 - http://herlihy-riva.blogspot.com Site start 15/03/2010 - Handover 23/12/2010 9 months and 8 days (284 calendar days) from site start to handover Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 6Mar 17, 2011 7:37 am This one is interesting. From what I can gather: 1) At the builder's colour selection session, you selected Dulux A306 Fanfare 2) The builder used Taubman's T48-4W Fanfair My main question is, did the builder bring the colour selection samples or did you? The reason for this question is if the builder brought along the colour samples they initiated who's colour it is. That is, were they in charge of the process at all times? Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 7Mar 17, 2011 7:39 am Do they use one company as their default supplier? ie our builder used Wattyl so any colour chosen had to be from their range. If your company's default was Taubmans then unless it was specified that the feature colour was meant to be from Dulux (ie in the contracts) then it would be an error on both your behalfs. If all else fails offer to pay half the costings. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 8Mar 17, 2011 7:46 am Never offer to pay half of a builder's cost. They are notorious at doubling the cost and after some argument "settling" on half. Nice one! Find out who is wrong and get them to pay the full amount. BTW, when I look at the Dulux Colour Atlas I get the code P45A8 for Fanfare. No mention of A306 anywhere. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 9Mar 17, 2011 7:52 am Casa - I said costings! Get a copy of the paint invoice and also the painting contractors' bill. Yes some are notorious for bumping up the prices - but not all. It is going to be hard pressed to find actual "fault" in this case. Unless the brand was specified in the contract not sure how you will assign blame. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 10Mar 17, 2011 8:25 am its their fault. The argument i use all the time is that they are professional, you are hiring them because of there expertise. They shouldn't expect you do understand code etc its not your job. If they were professional they should have asked for the brand also. Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 11Mar 17, 2011 11:52 am kyton Casa - I said costings! Get a copy of the paint invoice and also the painting contractors' bill. Yes some are notorious for bumping up the prices - but not all. It is going to be hard pressed to find actual "fault" in this case. Unless the brand was specified in the contract not sure how you will assign blame. Even be weary of invoices. The painters work for the builder and can easily double the real figure. If I had a situation where I think half the fault is with me, I would look at what it costs to do something and pay half of it. I would not use an invoice that the builder may have been able to influence. In your case hparis, it looks like the fault is entirely with the builder so your share would be nil. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 12Mar 17, 2011 12:03 pm I believe that if they honestly thought it was your mistake, they would have pointed this out, before repainting the wall. They should have advised that it was your fault (not that I'm saying it is) and that they would fix it but it would cost you $1705. Given they never advised that there would be an additional charge and you never signed off on an additional charge, I think they know it is their fault and they are just seeing if you agree to pay the amount. contract signed: Nov 09 Released to Construction: 23 Jul 10 Slab poured: 9 Aug 10 Frame completed: 30 Aug 10 Windows & Gutters: 7 Sep 10 Bricks: 15 - 23 Sep 10 Roof: 24 Sep 10 Gyprock: 20 Oct 10 Lockup: 25 Oct 10 Kitchen: 27 Oct 10 Tiling: 6 - 9 Nov 10 Painting: 17 Nov 10 Carpet: 30 Nov 10 PCI: 15 Dec 10 Handover: 17 Dec 10 https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=35943 Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 13Mar 17, 2011 12:16 pm carlswil I believe that if they honestly thought it was your mistake, they would have pointed this out, before repainting the wall. They should have advised that it was your fault (not that I'm saying it is) and that they would fix it but it would cost you $1705. Given they never advised that there would be an additional charge and you never signed off on an additional charge, I think they know it is their fault and they are just seeing if you agree to pay the amount. thats a good point. I would be pushing it. Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 14Mar 17, 2011 12:58 pm Hi all, Thanks for your feedback. I also ran it past a friend of mine who has previously worked for 2 big name builders doing colours and she has said that we should not be responsible to pay, as in all cases the painter should have confirmed the code prior to ordering the paint. She also checked the Dulux colour atlas and came up with the code P45A8 as someone else mentioned in an earlier post. The paint chip that we took to the meeting shows A430 (I don't know where I got A306 from in my original post!). On our colour selection sheet it shows "Fanfare A430" but doesn't specify Dulux. However, the builder himself wrote the name and the code off the chip that I handed him. We were advised (verbally only) that they use Taubmans paints but that the Dulux colour was ok to choose. We were not advised that we could only choose from the Taubmans colour range. We weren't expecting Dulux paint, just that colour. I am drafting a response to the builder saying that we supplied the colour name and colour code in good faith which were recorded correctly on our selection sheet. If the painter did not confirm the code prior to ordering, when they are so vastly different (A430 compared to T48-4W) then I don't see how we are responsible for the error. We supplied the correct name and the correct colour code to our builder. We have no control over the ordering of the paint! And that if there was any confusion over what the correct colour was, why were we not contacted to verify the details? Failing this, had we been notified at the time this happened that we would have to pay, we would have said leave it as is and we'll organise our own painter to fix it after we move in. As it is, we only noticed it was the wrong colour when I drove past one afternoon and noticed a glowing pink aura radiating from the windows! Thankyou again for all your help I just hope it gets resolved soon (without us having to pay!) Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 15Mar 17, 2011 2:20 pm If they took the color code from you at selections, how can it be your fault? If I were working for them and had to order that paint, first thing I would notice would be the different code! and the next thing I would have done, was contact you to double check the color and code. I wouldn't have went ahead and painted, thats for sure. Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 16Mar 17, 2011 3:48 pm It doesn't specify it being Taubmans either. Don't give in, it is their fault. Built with New Generation (Summit Homes) We own land!... with a slab on it! Plus a shell of a house with stuff inside ! Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 17Mar 17, 2011 9:14 pm I don't think you have to pay. It clearly isn't your fault. I hope you get it sorted soon. I had to laugh at your "glowing pink aura radiating from the windows". At least you can laugh about it. Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 19Mar 18, 2011 9:40 am $1705 for some feature walls Tell em there dreaming I went outside once. The graphics were alright, but the gameplay sucked! Settlement:22nd June Slab:27th August Frame:16th Sept Bricked:21st Oct Roof:24th Nov Linings HANDOVER23rd March! Re: Paint mistake - who should pay? 20Mar 21, 2011 8:53 am Hi all, AWESOME news from our builder this morning... We don't have to pay!! Turns out the painter misled the builder regarding which colour he ordered and when he found out that A430 was an invalid code he ordered what he "thought" was the right one... Hooray!!! One less thing to worry about!! I'll look into different shower heads and ask the plumber about some engineering and see what he says. Thanks 2 9551 Unless there were unforeseeable issues with the site, I dont think you should have to pay for contractors errors or poor planning. I'd probably try and be reasonable and… 5 4504 |