Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 06, 2013 9:31 am We have finally received our drawings and contracts, after a 4 month wait. *sigh* It is all pretty much in order, which is good. Only a few minor alterations to plans etc. Except that the builder has added to clauses to the contract, giving us only 5 days to make progress payments, rather than the 10 days as per the HIA contract. There is a statement that says they MAY give us 5 days notice that the stage is nearly complete, but we then only have 5 days to pay after the stage is actually finished. I am worried that this won't give us enough time to arrange our building inspector, and get the bank to pay on time. And we will then get hit with their 18% late payment fee. Is this a usual clause? Do many builders do this? And what are our chances if we refuse to sign it, and say we want the 10 days as per HIA???? This whole process is depressing me..... and we haven't even signed the contracts yet. Any advice???? My Building Thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66087 Re: Builder made changes to HIA contract. Advice please.... 2Nov 06, 2013 10:38 am My last HIA contract (from 2005) said whatever the builder put in the schedule.....in our case it was seven days. There is no reason why you can't try to negotiate a change. If the worst happens and you are five days late 18% a year is really 1/4 of a 1% ($2.50 per $1,000) for five days. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Builder made changes to HIA contract. Advice please.... 3Nov 06, 2013 11:25 am Quote: If the worst happens and you are five days late 18% a year is really 1/4 of a 1% ($2.50 per $1,000) for five days. I know it might not be much, but even $175 a week (based on an example of a $50 000 payment) is more than I want to be paying. It seems that the HIA contracts are geared to builders anyway, and I find it a bit galling that they want to change it to make it even more in their favour, and limit our ability to get our own inspectors in that time frame. Let alone try to make the bank pay within 5 days...... There is also no clause for the payment of liquidation damages in the contract if they go over time. From what I've read, that might not be worth the fight anyway, as they don't seem to pay it often (regardless of our paying $750 a week in rent over budget for every week they might go over). They win in every direction, don't they? My Building Thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66087 Re: Builder made changes to HIA contract. Advice please.... 4Nov 06, 2013 11:49 am Just a thought, why not just pay the progress payment straight away? Just because the building inspector finds something wrong after the payment has been made does not mean they don't have to fix it. I mean, if its wrong its wrong regardless isn't it? I know its not ideal, but if there was something wrong then I doubt you can get a report back from a inspector and have the problem fixed within the standard 10 days to pay anyway? Re: Builder made changes to HIA contract. Advice please.... 5Nov 06, 2013 11:53 am My advice? Insist on it being changed back to the standard 10 days, giving the reasons you have stated in your post. Tell them you expect them to be in line with industry standards. They are probably just trying it on. Re: Builder made changes to HIA contract. Advice please.... 6Nov 22, 2013 3:25 pm UPDATE: For those interested. Our sales guy has left and we have a new person to deal with. We sent through a list of issues, one of which was the HIA contract change. Her response was "I wondered about that clause. I've only seen it on one other contract. No idea why it's there, but it seems rediculous. Don't worry, we will change it back". So here I was, expecting another fight, and it was fixed so easily. Thanks for the advice. Darcy My Building Thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66087 Re: Builder made changes to HIA contract. Advice please.... 7Nov 22, 2013 8:39 pm Glad to see it worked out well for you Custom downslope build Build thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=61873 Blog http://www.buildingroyalmanor.blogspot.com.au Re: Builder made changes to HIA contract. Advice please.... 8Jul 11, 2014 9:05 am Lol this year has been a year of expecting fights with all sorts of people over things. I've had very much the same experience with bringing stuff up and things working out. It feels really wierd Creator of superduperonium, expert at expert things, nobel laureate, can hold my breath for 10 minutes. You talk about deletions, are they variations or PS and PC adjustments? pleas list them 1 16556 10 12308 Unless there is something in special conditions the builder does not have to give you timeline. If your demolition contractor has not removed Asbestos and it was found… 12 28800 |