Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 19, 2015 10:51 pm Forum folks, I need your help! I thought by now I'd be happily posting pics of our new retirement place, but instead find myself locked in a dispute with the builder. We recently had our prefabricated house, built in Melbourne, delivered to our beautiful property in the Adelaide Hills. Because it was factory built, the factory itself signed off on the intermediate inspections like the framing. Now that the house has been delivered, however, we've discovered a few little things to be finished off, and two whoppers. The whoppers are that the stairs did not take into account the thickness of the flooring (which the builder knew in advance), so the rise on the first step up (or last step down) is a dangerous 18mm shorter than the rise on all the other steps. They haven't refused to fix this --yet-- but their track record on other fixes is... discouraging. They *have* refused to fix the following. We selected a Lanark Kimberley 1800mm tub that is actually 1785mm long. After reviewing the specification, the builders drew the plans specifying a tub and shower alcove 1780mm wide. BUT THEY ONLY BUILT IT 1750mm WIDE. Near as I can figure out they cut off the extra 2530 or so mm (its a fiberglass tub) and did some ...creative... tiling. They are currently denying there is a problem and, in fact, patting themselves on the back for not charging me for cutting down the window installed over the bath. I'm still trying to explain the problem, send pics, etc., but obviously this would be an enormously expensive fix for them and I am not optimistic. What do I do if they refuse to fix it? Can anyone recommend someone in the Adelaide area who can help me resolve this? Not sure if I should turn first to Lanark, or find an independent inspector who can help me make my case. Still working on uploading an image of that creative tiling... Any advice appreciated. Chris Chris On the threshold of retirement... and trying to check my assumptions at the door Re: Problem with prefab house delivered in Adelaide Hills 2Jun 21, 2015 4:52 am I hardly doubt they cut the tub down. As for changing it, it could go both ways. If whats been done complies with the agreed specs it's up to the builder to agree to this variation and this depends on the work involved, is there enough space/room for your desired tub? Is the tub even manufactured to that size, possible design issue? Etc Honestly Imo if the tub is of the same quality I would not kick up a major fuss over 30mm especially if it was going to delay my build or incur hefty costs. As for everything else, I'm certain the house still needs to be inspected once erected by a licensed surveyor/inspectors regardless of the manufacturing companies assurances and gaurentees. The stair issue must be resolved and mostly likely will be but not immediately. Re: Problem with prefab house delivered in Adelaide Hills 3Jun 21, 2015 10:44 am Hey Chris, I guess being an interstate supplier will make it a bit more stressful for you to resolve, but not impossible to deal with. You might have to keep harping because sadly the out of sight, out of mind philosophy usually creeps in. The poster above raises good points. Can you post the plan? Would like to visualise. Or do you have a thread/info elsewhere? This sounds like a very interesting build. Did you ever consider building with Sarah Homes? They are an SA co that do beautiful looking prefabs all over the state. Im curious who is the builder you have now and why/how did you choose them? I don’t think so as the floor area over 300 square meters then it is class 3…. 12 17940 Even if it's not being sub-divided and you want to keep it as Torrens title, you will still need to talk to a town planner or Council themselves, to see if they will allow… 1 11039 Thanks again Simeon for being so elaborate. Appreciate it. Its gives us a very idea. Kind Regards 4 3687 |