Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jun 06, 2008 10:27 pm I spoke with our builder on Monday to see how things were progressing with the permit we need from the council amongst a couple of other things.
When I last spoke to him about 6 weeks or so ago, he thought it would be back by the end of May. Turns out he hasn't even SUBMITTED it!!! I asked why and he said that he was waiting on a few things from me- which I had emailed to him about 2 months ago!! He then went down the line of 'oh yeah, you emailed them in much earlier than most people so, yeah I forgot' or some BS. If he was waiting, why didn't he call? He then said he was still waiting on something else for insurance. Not happy at all- we've got a build time of 6.5 months and I was hoping they would have started by now so we'd be in by Christmas. Not likely now I guess! I'm planning to call him on Monday to see how things are going, but I don't want to end up annoying ( I wanted to use a rude word!) him off. Any suggestions of how to deal with him? I'm with NBG who use local builders. Cheers- anthea Re: Builder hasn't even applied for permit yet- grrrr!! 2Jun 06, 2008 10:50 pm hi anthea,
Sorry to hear about your situation. I couldn't help you with your problem but just wanted to let you know that I experienced that on my previous builder. They would promise you a date that you would set your sights on and then when the date comes, they call you for a cancellation because they didn't do their job. Then they find a way to put the blame on you. Very nice.... very annoying! And they did it to me twice! We got so fed up that we canceled even after wasting 5months of waiting. We're thinking that we're probably not as important as their other customers. Funny this is, when we canceled, the high managers came calling us as if we're VIPs. Hmm. Then they'd promise us to fasttrack everything, give freebies, and apologize for the inconveniences. HA!! HA! HA! To late... Sorry for the long rant. My point is, i guess its normal to have these issues when building. But its just so annoying. Just hope things get better. \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Re: Builder hasn't even applied for permit yet- grrrr!! 3Jun 06, 2008 11:06 pm Hi anthea,
We had a similar problem but with a surveyor we were using for our sub-division. He'd say something would be ready in 2 weeks, so I would patiently wait the 2 weeks, sometimes 3 just so I wouldn't seem pushy and them when I'd call him, he would say "Oh, sorry I haven't gotten around to that yet" 3 years on and I learnt to keep at him, If he said something would be ready in 2 weeks (it was always '2 weeks') I would ring after 1 week and in my most pleasant voice say "Just checking how you are getting on with....." I was past caring whether or not I was annoying. I did 'lose it' with him once (well as much as a very non-assertive person can) and told him that I was sick of things dragging on and on and that it was not good enough. Thank goodness we have very little to do with him now. I guess my advice is to just keep at him (in the nicest possible way) and who cares if he thinks you are annoying really, it's not like you are going to be friends after this is over. Good luck 'chelle We have a hand-over date...15/10...but I won't hold my breath! http://people-in-glass-houses.blogspot.com/ Re: Builder hasn't even applied for permit yet- grrrr!! 4Jun 06, 2008 11:15 pm I feel your pain.......we've lost four weeks out of the past five due to typing errors made by our builders office. We lost one week because they couldn't type in the right code for our kitchen handles. I refused to sign the PCV until it was correct. I would have been better off to go into their office and type it in myself - 869992! I have nightmares over those numbers!!!
Then we finally got approval from our developer this week - it took two attempts and when I sat down to go through it all I noticed our exterior colours were wrong so now they need to re-approve the correct schedule. Their turn around time is 10 days.....aaaarrrggghhhhh Hope things get sorted for you and that the permit comes through quickly Happy at Home Re: Builder hasn't even applied for permit yet- grrrr!! 5Jun 06, 2008 11:27 pm I knew I wouldn't be alone with this story! and the delays we all face
I suppose I had began to trust him as I sent him a few emails a while back and he would answer by the next day and was happy to explain a few things to me that I didn't understand, so I had thought he'd be one of those efficient/helpful types... I've already spent $10K on this and its the house we both love, so no changes there. Its the coordinating all the other stuff, like a new mortgage whilst paying rent that's annoyed me. His delay has already cost me an extra month's rent. I'm hoping there's not many more. I'm not sure if its a good or bad thing that my mobile doesn't diplay my number when I call- I guess he can't purposely avoid me then!! If so what were the "special circumstances" under which it was granted? "Note: If the development consent is for 'dual occupancy' an owner-builder permit can only be… 0 13986 Looking to start the journey of becoming an owner builder in SA. Feeling pretty (overly) confident on the building and construction details, but really struggling to find… 0 8366 You wont need a permit to put in non loading partition but you will need a licensed plumber and a licensed electrician 1 6630 |