Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 21, 2014 10:17 am I'm in the process of a custom build - have a number of tenders and one stands out. The problem is that the tender does not expressly include everything I need to build the house in an itemised fashion - however it does say that the tender is based off 'the plans and specifications dated xxx'. The tender, plans along with the standard MBA(or whatever is standard in NSWCR) form the contract. I guess the question is, do I need to be more prescriptive with the tender and request that things noted on the plans should be itemised on the tender in more detail? Most are covered though. I just don't want to have any problems later and I was wondering what the common approach is. The builders have been around a while, seem very reasonable, and have a good reputation. Re: Tender and Contract - how detailed does it need to be 2Jul 21, 2014 10:58 am if its not in writing, it didnt happen. You need to ask yourself why one of the many tenders stands out? If it is the only one from many that looks like this, it should tell you that it is not the standard way of doing things. Could be laziness, could be a warning of the troubles you could be expecting, could be nothing. I personally would be asking for all items to be itemised, explaining to the builder that it covers any ambiguities so that both of you are at any given time aware of what is expected to be used. Anything that you have specified as preferential should be documented - eg if youve decided you want specific reo to your slab, specific mortar, tiles, wood, stone, etc. Dont leave out the things that are important to you. Other things like structural you may want in there aswell if youre picky (and because its a custom job, not project prefab stuff). Its up to you what level of detail you want, just dont accept or sign anything untill youre happy with the documentation. If the builder umms and ahhs about it, go elsewhere. no builder should be shying away from a watertight contract if they are worth their salt. Creator of superduperonium, expert at expert things, nobel laureate, can hold my breath for 10 minutes. Re: Tender and Contract - how detailed does it need to be 3Jul 21, 2014 11:39 am Thanks Ponzu, Thats the sort of thing I needed to know. But its how prescriptive do you get. ie. do I get down the specifics of whats in the slab, that it includes structural steel at point a,b,c etc. Or does a catchall statements like 'the contract includes all items as noted on the plan as well as the following listed items and specifications' and those items and specifications are things not noted on the plan like kitchen specs, tiling, plaster, cornice etc and any PC items. Re: Tender and Contract - how detailed does it need to be 4Jul 21, 2014 12:06 pm how perscriptive? well re stuff like slab, unless youre an engineer, I would want the slab to be "built to engineers specifications". Same for drainage. I would expect structural stuff to not need to be perscriptive *unless* you wanted something very specific - Hardwood or steel frame, specific treated wood members, specific termite protection systems etc. The stuff i would be 100 perscriptive about is the materials you will see everyday. Paint choices, tile name, size and type, type of stone and widths in which rooms (eg 40mm to kitchen, 20mm to bathrooms etc), grout colour etc UNLESS you expect to go through this stuff prior the build comencing. in any case all of those things are likley to push the contractual price up anyway, so should be aiming to get it right from word go. Trust me, you will want to know whether the connection to electricity is included, whether the driveway is included etc. Creator of superduperonium, expert at expert things, nobel laureate, can hold my breath for 10 minutes. Re: Tender and Contract - how detailed does it need to be 5Jul 21, 2014 12:19 pm We found it's more things like if you want level tiles from living ares to bathrooms, higher doors, recessed sliding doors, bulkheads, coffers, wall or shower nieches, upgraded tile heights in bathrooms, upgraded larger front door, bigger water tank, remote opening for garage door etc etc etc so anything that you have discussed and are paying extra for needs to be noted and itemized. What Ponzu said - if it is not written it didn't happen! If it is all written there can never be any argument or misunderstanding about what you are paying for. If they won't list it - run away now while you still can! Get a solicitor experience in building contracts to have a look at it before you sign, even standard contract like the HIA one are weighted to the builder in the event of a stuff up - even if his fault. Re: Tender and Contract - how detailed does it need to be 6Jul 21, 2014 12:59 pm Your contract MUST include everything. Don't think the builder is trying to con you by leaving stuff out. That's not the real danger. The real danger is that, if it's not written down fully, people forget - it's going to be over a year from when you get a price on something and that something being built/installed, you'll find you'll forget half of what you ask for so what chance does the builder have? Note that this doesn't mean it has to all be in the initial tender. Our initial tender really just had questions about whether they could provide something, but didn't include details of what it was nor how much it'd cost (many things in the tender were listed as provisional costs until we'd done all our selections). However the "final contract" version of the tender, after 9 months of making decisions and getting prices etc, has a really long list of extra items. And the standard tender had all the builder's standard inclusions, these are all listed in our final tender, excepting the ones which were removed as a result of our changes. One comment I would make - the sales person's ideas of what the builder can do for you are much more all-inclusive than the estimator's ideas. For this reason, if you want ANYTHING included that's not part of the standard build, it's best to get it in the tender even if the cost hasn't been calculated or it's listed as a Provisional Cost. Once you've signed the tender & they've agreed to do something, they usually will (unless it's impossible for some reason - eg. the only supplier goes broke). Getting the house fully tiled and not having steps in &/or out of bathrooms was one of these things for us, it took a lot of convincing and 'phone calls to get the builder to agree to put it in the contract, in the end of course they sub-contract the tiling to a tile supplier who then sub-contracts to a tiler & it's that tiler who does the actual laying to make it all level ... so if it's not in the contract, there's a good change it won't be passed down those layers to the tradespeople doing the work. Re: Tender and Contract - how detailed does it need to be 8Jul 24, 2014 9:17 am I'm in the same boat. Full customised home and I just got a tender and it's not specific enough. Hopefully the real signed tender will be more descriptive. For example we have talked about 900mm oven and cook top being included. Now that is in the tender but the dishwasher we talked about is not in there. I'm not signing anything until I see everything I asked for. Thanks, Matt 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 3384 You talk about deletions, are they variations or PS and PC adjustments? pleas list them 1 16558 I've just built 3 stairs off a landing out the back and been told by the private certifier I need hand rails sorry tried to attach a pic but couldn't mine don't have sides… 5 5711 |