Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 12, 2014 6:07 pm Hi, Could we get some advice regarding the PWA. We have signed ours and put down a $3000 deposit. The PWA (Preliminary Works Agreement) was signed on June 14, variation was signed on September (no change in price), another variation signed on October (no price change). It is now November and they decided they will send us a virtually new PWA. House type was changed, which meant variations had to be changed to move areas in the house to suit our original plan. Apparently this was to try and get us a closer price due to the increase. Basically different specifications and deals we originally have to get us to sign our original PWA. The land has not been titled yet so no works have been conducted. The builder (Commodore Homes) has now come back to us stating that they have under priced the original PWA to the tune of $16,000. The builder is not at fault, our rep/consultant we have been dealing with has admitted this as his fault. The issue is not that we can't walk away. We're about to get formal approval for finance and titles are around the corner. We have done our research and have pretty much done pre-start at the PWA stage. This was so we could budget for the whole build. Obviously because of the amount of variations we had the rep has underestimated. We will get our money back if we don't sign the new PWA that has been sent to us. What we would like to know is what if we want to keep going with our current PWA which was signed and accepted? We even signed 2x variations which had the price stated clearly. Do we have a leg to stand on with the prices previously quoted? Or do we walk away and start this process again? Thank you in advance Re: Builder changed PWA prices to the tune of $16,000!! 2Nov 13, 2014 11:39 pm Commodore feedback is not so great with few exceptions. If you would like to have peaceful build experience you should move to a different builder. I don't see any reason to build with them, they looks cost effective but they are not. That is my individual opinion. Re: Builder changed PWA prices to the tune of $16,000!! 3Nov 14, 2014 12:42 am Here's what the Master Builders Assoc WA says about PWA's: "You should note that this document only refers to a contract to draw up building plans. Only when a building contract is signed will both parties be committed to a price and a specific building product. Where there are delays in drawing up plans the period during which prices are held firm by the building company may have expired. Building costs may have increased in the meantime and buyers who signed a PA may receive a shock when a higher price is quoted to them at building contract stage. Preliminary agreements serve consumers by allowing them to obtain plans and a price so as to allow then to make a decision on whether to progress to a building contract. A consumer is not obliged to do so but would face financial loss of their “deposit” or more if they fail to proceed to a building contract. Note than when the building plans are prepared they usually remain the property of the builder. If you decide not to proceed to build the builder may offer to sell the plans to you, or may wish to retain them himself." Can they show you exactly where the rep went wrong? $16000 is a major miscalculation! Have you seen it itemised? Good luck, let us know what you decide! Yanchep build with Dreamstart Homes ____________________________________________________________ Our build thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=73323 Re: Builder changed PWA prices to the tune of $16,000!! 4Nov 14, 2014 3:47 pm Hi, Thank you for the feedback and advice. I understand it is personal opinion. We already knew the negative feedback of Commodore Homes (BGC) throughout this forum and others but majority of the issues were build times/administration. As we were not in a rush to get in the house, we were happy to take our time. We did go through a few display homes and build quality seemed above board. Yes so they gave us a totally new PWA with the variations we asked for. The first blow out was the house plan we originally chose was no longer on that deal so we had to select another house type to fit our needs. Which meant moving/rearranging the layout again which has costs involved. A new deal has been introduced with 2kw solar system vice a solar hot water system which has added costs, crossover somehow increased by $500 (already had $2000 provisioned), the fans we requested blew out to $2000 more, spashback increased by $1000, as part of the initial deal they included 5 elevations to choose from but because this has changed we are being slugged with $4500 for the new elevation. I'm not sure how they can do this. It is either they don't want our business or they are relying on the fact that we were so close to getting our titles and basically betting on us folding and just paying the increased amount. We are walking away and going with Content. Since starting this journey we had quotes and plans from Blueprint, Genesis, Content, Celebrations, Dale Alcock and Commodore. Commodore came up about $10,000 cheaper than everyone else for the same/similar variations we were after. Well now we know why... Again thank you for your replies much appreciated. Re: Builder changed PWA prices to the tune of $16,000!! 5Nov 15, 2014 12:26 am I understand CL is the parent company of DS Homes which is the builder we're using. So far DS have been very informative, efficient, friendly and thorough. They have also been incredibly affordable and have worked with us, not against us, to come up with a design that works for our family and doesn't blow our budget. I've heard the paperwork stage is one of the most stressful parts of the build process and it was at this stage that DS exceeded my expectations. Rather than slug me with costs to discourage any changes they were more than accommodating and actually gave fair credit where credit was due. Our elevation went from the standard: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ to a completely new, custom design: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I feel that our front elevation has changed significantly from the initial standard elevation. The entire new look cost us only about $1200- that's with a custom designed front window, a contemporary wraparound porch, lots of additional eaves to increase the perception of width, as well as a few other less-obvious design elements. I think you've made a wise decision to pack your bags and leave Commodore behind. They either don't want or don't need your business, in which case they certainly don't deserve it. Take your money elsewhere and spend it with a company that can make it stretch further. If you're thinking of CL you might as well check out DS, they're effectively the same company. Their offices are located side by side and they use the same pool of tradesmen (as well as other people a bit higher up on the payroll I'm pretty sure ). CL have a solid reputation and I'm hearing more and more good things about DS as they continue to grow their client base. If you're out looking at any display homes in Butler I really recommend you have a chat to Micky- he will look after you. He is one of the good guys. Good luck with it all Yanchep build with Dreamstart Homes ____________________________________________________________ Our build thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=73323 Re: Builder changed PWA prices to the tune of $16,000!! 6Nov 15, 2014 3:06 pm Thank your input, we hadn't even heard of Dreamstart until now. We will check out their designs. We are after a specific layout/design to maximise space where we believe is important to us as a couple which will suit us until we move in a few years time and start another journey. Thank you again for the advice! Re: Builder changed PWA prices to the tune of $16,000!! 7Nov 15, 2014 5:40 pm I am building with CL and so far (yes, I say so far....because I know things can change, but I hope not!! .) I am really happy with them! Sales guy was very accommodating with all my tweaks and changes, and my prestart/CLO has been just lovely. I'm hoping for final plans next week to sign so they can lodge for building permit and that's less than four months after signing PPA, and with me delaying prestart because I had travel commitments. Re: Builder changed PWA prices to the tune of $16,000!! 8Nov 17, 2014 10:19 am CL has very good reputation. I should add to perthaussie comment. She seems to have a good DS sale rep. Be warn that some are not as accommodating. Timeline: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76782 Re: Builder changed PWA prices to the tune of $16,000!! 9Nov 26, 2014 7:45 pm thanks again for all the input. I think we are going to continue our journey with CL as they have been very accomodating. Finding ways to make things work with the layout/design with keeping costs in mind. I think we got very lucky with our sales guy. He has been great throughout and patient. I started this whilst I was overseas for 7 months and everything done over email only. We live in sydney and were only able to visit once in perth to check display homes because of work which was a bonus. We'll start a new thread once we get our plans drawn up!!! That sucks! Hope it all works out. Good to move away from steel anyway for all your reasons, but it's also thermally poor. 16 17875 As is per usual for many of the past failed RWH regulations, it is probably traceable to a bureaucrat who's ego overrode the need to seek the appropriate expert… 1 1015 Tradie may sit at home but will need to get house plastered as well or will you sit it out? 6 9970 |