Rawson Homes - General Thread

No and we had no luck escalating, our admin apparently took it to management and management said no.

Of course they would say no. Not in their interest to say yes. Once you sign they have it over you. All care no responsibility and all your cost n

Rawson Homes is ruthless when these situations arise. They are always waiting for these opportunity and will never let a chance pass by.

Other builders such as Eden Brae Homes and New Living Homes are more understanding.

Can anyone tell me who is responsible for reconnecting the sewer after a knock down rebuild. Our Rawson office person is so bad and knows nothing.

Do you mean besides what is in the tender under site costs?
There is a sewer connection and also storm water connection, which are initally provisional amounts.
'provide sewer connection from dwelling to the mains junction..'

By the way Im not suprised, it seems they have some capable and not so capable employees.

Cheers mate. We have a fixed site cost for sewer connection but we received a letter from the water board saying that they had not received an application for sewer connection installation.

Ah ok.

Ill be interesting to hear how it goes for you as that it something I would defintely expect Rawson to take care of.

Yeah we are the same. My wife has started to prepare a scathing letter to the GM about the incompetence within the admin team.

Gotta say I've had it with their Admin team now.

I think their variation process need a revamp.

FWIW Rawson reduced their overdue tender fees from $7500 to $5000.

This is somewhat reasonable as we were debating paying for tender extension fees initially which extends the tender period (which by memory was $2500) but our sales guy didnt think we'd need it. But yeah nevertheless still a kick in the guts, but still at least they were somewhat reasonable with negotiating with us.

This is nothing new … we wanted to build with them in 2014, and they walked from us after 6 months of back-and-forth every couple of days because they couldn't get it right.

Hi all, we are looking to build with Rawson and just paid for the site survey. I’d like to ask what, if any things Rawson has thrown in for you? Or were you able to negotiate on any prices? The only thing that’s been ‘thrown in’ is an extra luxury package on top of their current promotion (4 free custom collections when you buy two).
Also, any areas we should pay particular attention to? I.e Do they make you pay an arm and leg to upgrade tiles , kitchen etc later on?

Get a copy of their contract before you send any money with them. Make sure you are happy with it before moving forward.

Be very specifc (you can't be too specific!) when adding variations. Get everything listed on the variation so you know later if it is included or not, although this isn't any protection against 'well thats not what we meant, let me reword it now for you' but at least you might avoid it.

Once you've signed the tender you dont deal with the saleman again, so get them to do everything for you up to that point and make sure all things are included in the tender and unambiguous. Best time to talk price on variations and inclusions etc. Make all the big changes as early as possible (like room sizes, garage size etc), once you have detailed plans, there may be redraw and admin fees depending at what stage you are at.

Try to avoid as many provisional costs as possible.

For example if you are upgrading stairs, go through each element and get it specified if you are upgrading it. Now the tricky part is knowing what is important if you've never specified stairs.
So say you were looking at Edge 34 internal staircase..
https://www.genstairs.com.au/BuilderDis ... 584&page=1
This webpage has:
Specifications:

• Stringer: Mild Steel (MN-30)
• Stringer Colour: Charcoal
• Treads: Vic Ash LAM (SN-13P & NR-3)
• Non Slip Strip: NS1-2A
• Post: S/Steel SSS-40
• Handrail: Vic Ash LAM HR45
• Balustrade: S2-2S
• Capping: Vic Ash LAM

That is the sort of thing you need so it gets costed correctly the first time and you dont get an increase when you are more commited to the build. It seems quite common for us to have problems around stairs.

I agree the contract sucks for the owner.

They are pretty upfront on prices for upgrades on bricks (once they know if you are full brick or altering the floorplan) and tiles, carpets. The carpets and tiles are priced by the supplier, and you can already go to look at bricks, tiles and carpets now. That way when you need to specify them you are ready. For example the tile place can just quickly show you what selection available, and then later you come back for a meeting where you make your choices. So if you don't take up much of their time they dont mind you looking at the selection early.
I think bricks need a long time to decide on, so also go look at houses built with the brick you are interested in.

If you think you might go over the 6 months from contract to build you can put in extra months as variations for cheaper than if you just need them later. If you don't use them they'll get refunded.

Youll probably be suprised how much you spend on the electrical variations or variations in general. Be prepared for adding to the base price. It is cheaper to organise the demolition yourself if you want to.

The display homes are nothing like what a standard build is. I think its one light bulb and one double powerpoint per room for a bedroom? The display homes seem maxed out on downlights.

Get the display home upgrade list and get the salemans to show you each item in the house so you know if you want it.
Sometimes there are changes that arent listed in the upgrade but you'd find it if you compare it to your proper plans later on.
Remember that its what you sign off on that gets built (hopefully) so understand your plans, windows, bench sizes etc and don't expect it to be like the display home.
You can ask the saleperson for the proper plan of the display home you are interested in, not just the sales grid if you want to see some details.

Ask for a sample tender and contract now, know what you are getting yourself in for.

Hi Melos, would you be able to share the demolishion company you used? I’m looking for some recommendations don’t know where to start! I’m in ryde area , Sydney
Thanks!

Hi debdeb,
We are slightly ahead of you, and have tender appointment soon. We were lucky to be able to choose between the old Lux package or the new custom collections. We ended up choosing the Lux package as it had more of what we wanted. But there wasn’t a huge difference in price between the new and old pricing. On top of Lux, we paid $4990 for a promotion they had, and they also threw in $5000 of upgraded electrical appliances OR $5000 to be spent at selection centre. So that was quite worthwhile to have. Happy to share more if you have other queries.

Hello, I am in the stage near PCI.

I think IOC would be obtained by Rawson before handover?

I can start landscape right after handover, or I need to submit another CDC prior any landscape works in order to have final OC? I am so lost now....

Hello, I am in the stage near PCI.

I think IOC would be obtained by Rawson before handover?

I can start landscape right after handover, or I need to submit another CDC prior any landscape works in order to have final OC? I am so lost now....

I am probably wrong but if you are going through CDC, landscaping shouldn't matter unless it relates to retaining that is required. I don't think landscaping is a requirement of the FOC. Rawson will issue an interim OC and it will be up to you to get the final one.

Thanks Simon.