Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 15, 2008 7:11 pm Hi, we have paid our initial deposit. Have tender and contract appointments and have asked for a copy of these documents to take away and mull over but have been told they cannot "due to copyright and company policy". They say we can have as long as we need on the day to go through, etc. I don't think that's good enough. Since we paid our initial deposit we have gone over and over our initial inclusions etc. and revised same. We just want to have the same opportunity with the tender and contract documents.
Is there anybody out there that may be prepared to give us a copy of their tender and contract? Don't mind if you delete figures etc. We really just want to be able to read all the fine print before we sign up. thanks Juls 185 Re: Getting a copy of PD Tender and Contract before signing 2Apr 15, 2008 7:30 pm Tell PD that you require your solicitor to look over the contract. Which by the way, you shoudl do. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Getting a copy of PD Tender and Contract before signing 3Apr 15, 2008 7:31 pm Juls185, firstly welcome to the forum.
Can i ask who you are choosing to build with?? You should be able to take your tender & contract away. What happens if you want to have your lawyer look over it? Actually just tell them that. I would be reluctant to look at other people's tenders &/or documentation as firstly is it confidential to some extent and secondly that it does in no way implies that your builder will use the same wording. Just tell your builder you want to take them away and have your lawyer look over them. If they have issues with that, then i'd be worried. Re: Getting a copy of PD Tender and Contract before signing 4Apr 15, 2008 7:56 pm Hi - thanks for your replies.
We were just hoping that if we got a copy of somebody elses contract and tender from a PD Lifestyle home that we could be confident that they'll be virtually the same as what we'll be presented with. We just want to be able to read the fine print before signing up. We love the home we have chosen, but want to be fully informed before getting to signing stage. We haven't told them that we'd like our solicitor to look over it, but I imagine that if we do they'll say "sorry it's not their policy to release documents before signing". I really can't understand their attitude. It makes more sense to me for people to have time to review and make sure these documents are totally correct by the time you get to signing. They have mentioned that we will have a cooling off period after signing the contract, but I don't want to have to get to that stage and then back out. It makes me wonder what are they trying to hide? Juls 185 Re: Getting a copy of PD Tender and Contract before signing 5Apr 15, 2008 7:58 pm Hi juls185,
We're also building with PD and had our final contract appointment just after the Easter weekend. I had also asked if we could take the contract away and was told the same. Inititally I was a little concerned but one thing they did say was that we didn't have to sign on the day (could arrange another appointment). Anyhow, in then end we had more than enough time on the day and were really happy with it all. The actual PD contract is not really that detailed. You'll have time to read through it. The biggest thing is spending time going over your plans thoroughly (which they do with you) and checking it as well as your final list of inclusions, extras, colours, tiles, etc. The other contract is the HIA contract which is pretty standard, and that one you can get a copy off. Infact you should have got that already from your sales consultant (at least we did) with some of the (minor) PD specific alterations. I don't know, maybe we're just naive but it all sat well with us. Try not to stress too much. As I said, concentrate a lot on your items and what you're getting. Re: Getting a copy of PD Tender and Contract before signing 6Apr 15, 2008 8:08 pm **Phoenix** You should be able to take your tender & contract away. What happens if you want to have your lawyer look over it? Actually just tell them that. I agree with Phoenix. You have a right to take any contract you are signing to a solicitor for advice, so I'd just tell them that's what you're doing. There just doesn't seem to be any good reason why they wouldn't let you take your contract away to look over it properly. I had my contract for 3 weeks before I signed it. I re-read it several times and on each read I found something that I was unsure of or needed to change. Received keys to my new home on 16/5/08 Re: Getting a copy of PD Tender and Contract before signing 7Apr 15, 2008 8:28 pm Ask PD if there is any penalty or cost if you withdraw during the cooling off period. If they say no, when you sign the contract write just after your signature "there is no penalty or cost if this conract is cancelled during the cooling off period".
BTW, the cooling off period, by law, is "5 clear business days". Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Getting a copy of PD Tender and Contract before signing 8Apr 15, 2008 8:52 pm We built with PD and had a copy of our contract sent to us before our tender/contract appt. It was basically just a standard HIA contract anyway so nothing new. We had to wait until our appt to see our tender, there were no suprises in that either. We had a few post contract variations that were picked up a week or two later and they were all accomodated without drama. We built with Access though, not sure if LIfestyle would be different ? PD Lifestyle Home 9Apr 15, 2008 9:04 pm hi Juls185,
we did ours PD lifestyle home last year, now the slab was poured last friday, i think what you mean is you want to have a look at your tender document before tender appointment, that they normally say no, but on the day of tender appointment you are free to read it and the tender presenter will explain every fine print to you ,after signing the tender on the spot you can bring a copy home. OR ( this was what we did) if you are still lost after patience explanation , you can ask for a re-tender date so you bring the unsigned tender home and come back on a agreed date and sign . so our experience is: you can bring the tender home unsigned but have to take an extra day off work to attend re-tender again as the tender must be signed in the office. the same process repeats for contract appointment, but this time you are free to take the unsigned contract home, then you post the signed contract back ( don't forget to ask for a express post envelope) as the initial deposit is fully refundable , people in business need to reduce the risk by not giving out sensative tender document so easily to people who may potentially walk away or take this to another builder hope this help, or you can ask your sale consultant for the last page of a standard PD tender which contain all the fine print re " note and condition regarding fixed price tender document", i think this page will not be as sensative Damon Re: Getting a copy of PD Tender and Contract before signing 11Apr 17, 2008 2:11 pm I'd be less concerned about the tender document, and more concerned about the contract.
It is possible that they don't want you to take the tender as you could feasibly go out and price everything yourself and find that you can do better with carpet etc. There is no way known I'd ever sign a contract without having several days to look at it. When we signed our contract (a few weeks back now), they said, "oh you can just come in and sign it, and then you have the cooling off period if there are any problems". No way! Don't sign anything without having a very good read, and maybe even get your solicitor to look as well. Although, keep in mind that you lose your cooling off period if you've taken it to a lawyer. In my mind, any company that refuses you the right to get your contract reviewed is trying to hide something from you. Copyright etc is all bull dust, providing you don't go photocopying it, that's not a valid excuse. I always make a point up front of saying, "I have never signed a contract without reviewing it, and I don't plan on starting today" in a jovial manner, and they usually relent. If not, then I'd be seriously concerned about what they're trying to get you to sign! Alan and Thuy in Melbourne Building a second time! Re: Getting a copy of PD Tender and Contract before signing 13Apr 17, 2008 3:49 pm Having gone through this process with PD I'd say there are a few things to look out for:
Tender: The tender document is the final document in regards to the structural design (and probably site layout). If you want to make changes to windows, rooms, doors etc after this point you will be charged a very expensive variation if you are lucky enough that they agree to do it at all. This is the difficult part. You have to be 100% positive that they have made no mistakes with the description in the tender in regards to inclusions and alterations that you have made. If they have made a mistake with for example a window alteration or doorway then thats what you will be stuck with once you have signed the tender. Even if it's a mistake they made, they will charge you to fix it. This is why it can be risky signing the tender on the spot. Don't rely on the staff to read it out to you or get it right on the day either - they are the most likely suspects when it comes making a mistake in the first place. Heres an example: I made change to the windows in my house and had the changes sketched on their plans at the tender meeting. They also made the addition to the tender document but made a mistake in the way it was written. I signed the tender because it was read out to me correctly despite the tender being written wrongly. At the contract meeting I identified the mistake and despite the sketch being different and it being an obvious error on their part I was charged a variation to ammend it. Contract: The PD contract is basically just an HIA contract with the alterations and drawings provided as a seperate document. You can read the HIA contract straight from the HIA website - it's all industry standard. The area of concern is the details in the drawings and PD's interpretation of the contract. Don't rely on their sales pitch about starting and finishing dates - the HIA contract is what they work to. If they say 'December start' it means nothing - the HIA contract is where it is all explained and you can garrantee they will work to it to the letter. The drawings will also have the final say - whatever they have drawn is what you will get. Make sure there are no mistakes. Also it won't hurt to mention that you want to be told when they lodge for the building approval. This is what will determine your start date. According to the HIA contract they have 14 days to apply for it after signing the contract. Once they get the approval they have 21 days to start building. So how long does the approval take you ask? Your guess is as good as mine. This is what got me - they said March start but I ended up waiting an extra month because the the building approval is what determined the start date - not the tender agreement. My suggestion is read the standard HIA contract and understand how it all works before the contract meeting, PD are fair in regards to doing what is in the contract. It's your responsibility to understand it and make sure you know what they are responsible for. Re: Getting a copy of PD Tender and Contract before signing 14Apr 17, 2008 9:56 pm Thanks for your comments and suggestions.
Mozzie - please advise in relation to your start date being delayed due to the building permit not comig through, did PD sting you for the start date delay? What happened there. thanks Juls 185 Re: Getting a copy of PD Tender and Contract before signing 15Apr 18, 2008 12:02 am Hey Julz,
There was no penalty as the process was not officially delayed (not according to PD anyway). From what I understand the building permit is out of PD's hands and if it takes longer than expected there are clauses in the HIA contract that cover such situations. It's really just part of the normal process and there is no predetermined amount of time that it takes. My point really is that it's an example of something the staff tell the customer 'your start date will be some time in March' but when it comes down to it the HIA contract is what matters. If I asked PD what the problem was they would just say 'it's explained in the contract'. So basically reagrdless of what the sales people promise you can leave it behind at their office after you sign up. PD have to date not done anything wrong by me at all - they are well within their rights. Just don't expect them to explain to you what those rights are - you are better off reading the HIA contract and finding out for yourself. It's actually a pretty fair contract when it comes down to it. Hey. Head to a metal and decide on which profile you will use first. Profiles with larger corrugations can greatly change the appearance of the color in different… 0 3381 You talk about deletions, are they variations or PS and PC adjustments? pleas list them 1 16542 Thanks. I called VBA today and they said it was a Consumer Affairs issue, the old handball. Seems like the government organisations don't want to do their job at the moment. 2 7541 |