Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 26, 2012 1:22 pm Hi everyone, Im hoping someone can give me some advise. We approved our plans back in August and the slab was laid last week. The approved plans had a 4.5 metre setback and a 6 metre backyard.The slab has been laid with a 5.5 setback and a 5 metre backyard. We purchased the block and designed the house to have a min 6 metre backyard. The builder is saying that its the estate requirments and thats why they changed it, they forgot to tell us. Is there anything we can do? Builder is saying whoops sorry thats the way it has to be? Can we ask them to rip up the slab? If they had let us know it would have given us the opportunity to decide if its ok, or we re-design the house. I feel we are loosing the 1 extra metre (which is a lot when its only a small backyard) and they are not loosing anything for their mistake. I dont want to have a bad relationship with the bulder but surely they have to take responsibility? They said it was also out responsibility to know its a 5.5 setback? They are the experts... Thanks for your help Re: Help - Slab position is different to approved plans 3Nov 26, 2012 2:23 pm Contact Fair Trading. If there's a problem with the design, they're obligated to give YOU the choice how to rectify. Its not their money, so its not their choice as to how to progress. Our builder didnt give our design the necessary garage setback and this was picked up during DA. They let us know which allowed us the opportunity to alter the design. If they had just moved the house back, I would have suspended the build and let the courts decide.... Re: Help - Slab position is different to approved plans 5Nov 26, 2012 2:40 pm Thanks for your reply. When l said approved l meant we approved the final pland and signed off on them. The builder then submited them to the developer and realised they hadnt setback the house enough, so they moved the house back 1 metre without letting us know. We only realised when we went to the block and the slab had been laid and the backyard is only 5 metres. Re: Help - Slab position is different to approved plans 6Nov 26, 2012 2:55 pm You absolutely should have been informed. I would contact Fair Trading intially, though I suspect you're going to have to get a solicitor involved. I dont see the builder voluntarily ripping up the slab at his expense. Re: Help - Slab position is different to approved plans 8Nov 26, 2012 3:28 pm dont know $$ amoount, but i imagine your slab stage payment and then some. you really need to consult a professional, and make sure the builder doesnt commence the frame as you may be up for the cost of redoing this if comes down to it. Re: Help - Slab position is different to approved plans 9Nov 26, 2012 3:31 pm Ok thanks. Looks like it would cost them over $60k to fix.
Will be speaking to them tomorrow and then will follow up with an email. If there response isn't satisfactory I will seek legal advise. Re: Help - Slab position is different to approved plans 11Nov 26, 2012 3:58 pm I thought the base/slab payments were just a percentage, not necessarily the actual cost? With our loan, the different draw-down payments are just a certain percentage of the total build? Also, humble is right...what is the actual outcome you are after, since you cannot really move the house anyway? 1st build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59376 *New*-2nd build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70324&p=1154282#p1154282 Re: Help - Slab position is different to approved plans 13Nov 26, 2012 4:46 pm Hi Dan, It's important to understand the setback requirements. Who approved the design - private certifier or council? What are the local council area requirements, if relevant, and the estate requirements? These can be detailed to look through, add up and get the numbers you need so may be best talking to the certifier to get their knowledge on this. Do you have neighbours yet and know them? Any idea what their setbacks are? You might be able to see it this the contour survey for your block. Depending on the various rules your setback could be determined or influenced by their positions so it can be relevant. As humble said above it's not worth considering matters of relaying the slab etc if the result of the various rules is that you must have a 5.5m front setback for that house on that block. But there's more than one way to solve setback problems. It might require that you lose 1m from the front of the house, or just the garage - is that possible? Depending on how your setback is determined there's a chance you might only need to lose a fraction of that 1m (i.e. if the building line sits diagonal to the road) but the certifier would probably have found that already. The builder should have discussed this with you way before it got to this stage, but be sure to get all the detail about the setbacks before discussing removing the slab. Hope it all goes well for you. My Build Thread: Coral Homes Noosa 279 Re: Help - Slab position is different to approved plans 14Nov 26, 2012 5:14 pm Quote: Ok thanks. Looks like it would cost them over $60k to fix the error. I can guarantee that it will not cost $60,000 to fix the slab. Our house is 43 squares and it is nearly 300m2 on the ground floor and even though our first payment is nearly $80,000 the slab would not be even half of that. The slab payment is just a percentage of the total build, plus it usually covers all of the expenses before the slab. Modified Fernside 38 Rawson Homes Blog: http://www.thehousethatmatandjenbuilt.blogspot.com Build Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=60501 Re: Help - Slab position is different to approved plans 16Nov 26, 2012 8:22 pm Just had a double check of the estate guidelines and a 5.5 setback is correct. This is published on the Pasadena website - your builder really has no excuse for not picking this up. Our builder (Carlisle) was well across all this information for us. They also organised permission from the developer for portions of our house to exceed the 5.5 setback in certain portions - the main section is 5.5 but the garage and porch are closer to the street. Best of luck and keep us posted. Building the Ascot 35 with Carlisle Homes in Pasadena Estate, Clyde VIC My build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59776 Help - Slab position is different to approved plans 17Nov 26, 2012 8:54 pm That is just builders guidelines, if you speak to the council they will tell you what the rule is its all down to plot coverage over an average 12m our site guidelines are 6m we have had our slab put in at 4.5m. Builder has made a mistake so dand they do something about it! PPA 30/6/12, Land 28/06/12, Contract 7/9/12, Valuation 11/9/12, Prestart 13/9/12, Settlement 18/10/12, Building Permit Issued 18/10/12, Footings 30/10/11, Slab 31/10/11 Help - Slab position is different to approved plans 18Nov 28, 2012 7:34 pm Any news? Building the Ascot 35 with Carlisle Homes in Pasadena Estate, Clyde VIC My build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59776 If your patio is going to be 35 sqm then that's going to need Council Approval. The fact that they previously approved your 25sqm patio will be irelevant 1 5500 yep you need a joint, foam is easiest, will look fine once rendered with a joint. 2 5229 Hi, have purchased a house with 2 single garage doors. The Centre pillar one side sits proud to the other. Can I change 2 doors into one. Please see picture. 0 6335 |