Hi all.
I got NEW DIMENSION HOMES name off this site a few weeks ago I think when someone was looking for a melb builder who would do mass changes to plans but I can't find the thread now.
We've checked out the display home and now want to do further research.
Has anyone here built with them or looked at them?
Thanks in advance
NEW DIMENSION HOMES (VIC) Any feedback
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We are currently building a customised Armadale 290 with New Dimension Homes.
They will customise their plans to anything that you want. For us, we needed to go with customisation to build a two storey home on a corner block and fit with the estates side articulation requirements. We had tried to get a H3nl3y Royce passed the estate developers but it just wouldn't fly. We could have spent a whole lot of money on facade features for the street sidethat we didn't like even though H3nl3y and the estate developer did like it. In the end I cracked it and basically told them that we weren't going to build a house I didn't like the look and so we started again with NDH. At least it only cost us $500 to learn the process and get a colour scheme.
Pros:
Neutral:
Cons:
Overall we have been happy with them so far - we are at the slab stage. If you want to see what we customised the base from to end up with you can view the base and our plans on our blog
http://kevangnewhouse.blogspot.com/
They will customise their plans to anything that you want. For us, we needed to go with customisation to build a two storey home on a corner block and fit with the estates side articulation requirements. We had tried to get a H3nl3y Royce passed the estate developers but it just wouldn't fly. We could have spent a whole lot of money on facade features for the street sidethat we didn't like even though H3nl3y and the estate developer did like it. In the end I cracked it and basically told them that we weren't going to build a house I didn't like the look and so we started again with NDH. At least it only cost us $500 to learn the process and get a colour scheme.
Pros:
- They do customisations and when you decide what base you like and what you want to change, they could have a customised plan that is close to what you want and then you can customise that even further.
Site costs: minimal - if they say what the house will cost thats it. You will have to pay for a slab design if you customise the slab but it was only $2k for an engineered designed slab.
Upgrades to materials such as tiles are reasonably priced
Building start was very prompt. They needed various documents(building approval, etc) before they could start and once they got them started within about 5 days.
Staff are courteous and good to deal with. Quite prompt to fix any mistakes in the paperwork
Neutral:
- They are a smaller builder so they have outsourced a lot of things not directly related to building. eg the drafting of the plans is outsourced so the turnaround on plans can be longer.
Cons:
- Their colour centre is quite small and don't have one of those fancy "one-stop-shops" that the bigger volume builders have but you do get a list of suppliers and you visit their displays to select what you want. A bit more running around.
You don't get a colour consultant and they won't advise you on what colours match but this can be alleviated if you hire your own colour consultant.
I don't know whether they had quite a few new staff or something but back-of-house processes seemed a bit disjointed to me. Information got lost occasionally or wasn't passed from one department to another. Sometimes it seemed as though we were driving the process, as we'd ask for things like colour appointments, etc and they hadn't thought about scheduling us in.
Overall we have been happy with them so far - we are at the slab stage. If you want to see what we customised the base from to end up with you can view the base and our plans on our blog
http://kevangnewhouse.blogspot.com/
Hi Big Kev,
We have also visited and investigated ND for building our new home. Your floor plan is very similar to what we have in mind and almost identical size as well. Can I ask approximate price they have quoted to build and level of spec. eg stone benches, timber floors etc. This would help us enormously.
We have also visited and investigated ND for building our new home. Your floor plan is very similar to what we have in mind and almost identical size as well. Can I ask approximate price they have quoted to build and level of spec. eg stone benches, timber floors etc. This would help us enormously.
The base price for us was $267k. This also included the Californian facade which is extra due to the extra roofing and piers for the verandah.
The spec sheet they give you is pretty good and extensive.
Stone benches are an upgrade. You get flooring only to the wet areas. Timber floors, carpet, etc are something you do yourself. Also the alfresco is not concrete base but you could get that done as part of the slab.
The water tank plumbed to the toilets that we have was a requirement of the estate and is an upgrade.
Also if you want to source your own stuff, they will allow you to do so and deliver to the site to be installed.
They also don't do data cabling but will allow you access to the site to do these sort of things yourself at appropriate times.
Hope this helps out.
The spec sheet they give you is pretty good and extensive.
Stone benches are an upgrade. You get flooring only to the wet areas. Timber floors, carpet, etc are something you do yourself. Also the alfresco is not concrete base but you could get that done as part of the slab.
The water tank plumbed to the toilets that we have was a requirement of the estate and is an upgrade.
Also if you want to source your own stuff, they will allow you to do so and deliver to the site to be installed.
They also don't do data cabling but will allow you access to the site to do these sort of things yourself at appropriate times.
Hope this helps out.
Bigkev
Thanks for such a comprehensive review, we really appreciate your feedback.
We're getting close to making a descision on which builder to go with and sites like this one certainly are invalueble.
Your floor plan looks good, my wife particularly liked the meals/ family/ kitchen/ alfresco arrangement.
Thanks again for your input and we'll follow your blog with interest.
Thanks for such a comprehensive review, we really appreciate your feedback.
We're getting close to making a descision on which builder to go with and sites like this one certainly are invalueble.
Your floor plan looks good, my wife particularly liked the meals/ family/ kitchen/ alfresco arrangement.
Thanks again for your input and we'll follow your blog with interest.
Ditto mudmaps comments, Big Kev, your feedback and honesty will be extremely helpful.
MudMap, I know you complained to Consumer Affairs Victoria about NDH, but it might be too late already.
I'm currently building with NDH, and they are many months behind. No work has been done on my site for 4 weeks.
It looks like NDH has gone under. I don't know whether they have gone into (or will go into) receivership or voluntary administration, but these are the signs:
Anyone building with NDH should gather together and exchange contact details if the company has indeed gone under (or will go under).
Here are the steps I will take tomorrow Monday 6 August 2012:
Here's the steps an owner should follow if the builder goes under, according to Consumer Affairs Victoria
http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing-and-accommodation/building-and-renovating/building-warranties-insurance-and-insolvency
I'm currently building with NDH, and they are many months behind. No work has been done on my site for 4 weeks.
It looks like NDH has gone under. I don't know whether they have gone into (or will go into) receivership or voluntary administration, but these are the signs:
- Two ex-staff told me that they were retrenched because NDH's license has been deregistered (they themselves don't know what that means).
- My site supervisor no longer works there as well. He too was let go. I currently don't have a site supervisor.
- Head office phone last week was not picking up. The voice message says they will return phone calls from 6 August 2012.
- My emails to a director and managers have bounced back.
- I did a search on the ASIC website and noticed that on 24 July 2012 a director has resigned. An ex-staff did confirm with me that founders had left recently.
- People on the Product Review website also speculate that NDH might have closed shop already. Several tradies on the site said that they have not been paid.
- A tradie on on my site two months ago complained to me that NDH had difficulty meeting his payments.
- NDH's Certificate of Currency with VERO will expire 4pm on 6 August 2012. I will call up VERO to see if it will be renewed.
Anyone building with NDH should gather together and exchange contact details if the company has indeed gone under (or will go under).
Here are the steps I will take tomorrow Monday 6 August 2012:
- Contact NDH head office to see what happening with the company (and our build).
- Contact ASIC to see if NDH has gone under.
- Contract VERO to see if their Certificate of Currency is current.
- Contact QBE insurance to see if their Domestic Building Insurance policy is current.
- May contact a lawyer for my rights.
Here's the steps an owner should follow if the builder goes under, according to Consumer Affairs Victoria
http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing-and-accommodation/building-and-renovating/building-warranties-insurance-and-insolvency
Hi zerogravity
Very sorry to read your post about NDH failure as it will mean heartache for you and many more.
Unfortunately it comes as no surprise to me that NDH has possibly folded as they've had some incredibly incompetent people working there in the past few years.
After an unbelieveable amount of jumping up n down I did get them back to finish off a number of items about 6 weeks ago as it happens.
We did decide to cut our losses & drop proposed legal action to repaint the correct colour when we got a cheap quote.
The relief when all was done was worth the $3500 we where out of pocket.
Have you had any further news since your post.
If there is anything I can help with let me know.
I do have the mobile for the General Manager (as of 6 weeks ago) - Wayne Marshall if you need.
Any news on Icon Homes that is NDh's other brand? Perhaps members should be warned.
I will be chasing up Vero to check on our building insurance.
GOOD LUCK
Very sorry to read your post about NDH failure as it will mean heartache for you and many more.
Unfortunately it comes as no surprise to me that NDH has possibly folded as they've had some incredibly incompetent people working there in the past few years.
After an unbelieveable amount of jumping up n down I did get them back to finish off a number of items about 6 weeks ago as it happens.
We did decide to cut our losses & drop proposed legal action to repaint the correct colour when we got a cheap quote.
The relief when all was done was worth the $3500 we where out of pocket.
Have you had any further news since your post.
If there is anything I can help with let me know.
I do have the mobile for the General Manager (as of 6 weeks ago) - Wayne Marshall if you need.
Any news on Icon Homes that is NDh's other brand? Perhaps members should be warned.
I will be chasing up Vero to check on our building insurance.
GOOD LUCK
NDH will make a major announcement this Friday 10 August 2012,
according to their telephone voice message.
according to their telephone voice message.
Any news on the 'announcement' from NEW DIMENSION HOMES / ICON HOMES?
NDH's telephone voice message still says :
My building surveyor informed me 3 days ago that NDH no longer has a registered building practitioner in charge of building works.
The following bodies are aware of NDH's predicament and are monitoring the situation:
VMIA says I can start filling out the insurance claim form and gather all the documents they require, but not submit it yet until we have a formal announcement from NDH.
I will not yet be changing the locks, as it might invalidate my building warranty insurance with QBE/VMIA.
I am aware that the tradies might still have the keys, and since they have not been paid, they might rip stuff out of the house to get their money back.
If tradies do break in, I will file a police report so that I could claim it on insurance with VMIA.
Although my site is only 70% complete (lockup stage), the following have been removed by contractors as they have not been paid :
Quote:
A decision will be made by the Accounts & Legal team on 10 August 2012. For urgent inquiries, send an email to general@newdimension.com.au
My building surveyor informed me 3 days ago that NDH no longer has a registered building practitioner in charge of building works.
The following bodies are aware of NDH's predicament and are monitoring the situation:
- ASIC
- QBE / VMIA
- Consumer Affairs Victoria
- BuildingCommission
VMIA says I can start filling out the insurance claim form and gather all the documents they require, but not submit it yet until we have a formal announcement from NDH.
I will not yet be changing the locks, as it might invalidate my building warranty insurance with QBE/VMIA.
I am aware that the tradies might still have the keys, and since they have not been paid, they might rip stuff out of the house to get their money back.
If tradies do break in, I will file a police report so that I could claim it on insurance with VMIA.
Although my site is only 70% complete (lockup stage), the following have been removed by contractors as they have not been paid :
- Portaloo
- Temporary fencing
- Garbage skip
The more I read your posts Zerogravity, the more angry I get.
It's a terrrible situation you've been put in at a time that you should be getting excited about moving into a new home.
You can expect that the unpaid tradies will no doubt attempt to retrieve what they can and you can't blame them. I wouldn't think their rates left much for legal fees.
A recent tradesman we had from New Dimension had to go to Bunnings during the day and came back complaining that the account had been closed. Maybe that was a warning sign?
I understand that New Dimension build 100 - 150 house per year so their must be alot of houses under construction.
I'm still chasing up our insurance to check our cover - thanks for the advise.
Again - good luck
It's a terrrible situation you've been put in at a time that you should be getting excited about moving into a new home.
You can expect that the unpaid tradies will no doubt attempt to retrieve what they can and you can't blame them. I wouldn't think their rates left much for legal fees.
A recent tradesman we had from New Dimension had to go to Bunnings during the day and came back complaining that the account had been closed. Maybe that was a warning sign?
I understand that New Dimension build 100 - 150 house per year so their must be alot of houses under construction.
I'm still chasing up our insurance to check our cover - thanks for the advise.
Again - good luck
We managed to get our house handed over in April, 5 months late.
After many promises that the house would be ready on schedule early Dec 2011, as the date approached it was obvious that there was no way it would happen. ND/Icon had a habit of asking for stage payment before all the required items were completed, which is in breach on contract. We had our doubts about them from that point, so we started removing items from the contract so that there would be less work to be done, and less due in the final payment. It was a case of constantly ringing the office/site supervisor/director to push things along. Just as well we did.
Even though we have our house, there were some outstanding minor items listed in a Notice of Undertaking which were to be done post-handover. Fat chance. They even emailed mid-July stating that the 3 month maintenance period is up, and that we should submit a list of items that we would like to be fixed. What a joke. No-one followed up, and when I managed to get hold of the site supervisor, he told me the state of affairs.
It was a constant battle to get things done properly, and we still have to put up with a less than perfect result.
From what I have learned, ND Homes/Icon have declared bankruptcy, owing $5 million +.
A new company has been started which may be operating from next door to the old listed address.
Not sure of the name as yet.
After many promises that the house would be ready on schedule early Dec 2011, as the date approached it was obvious that there was no way it would happen. ND/Icon had a habit of asking for stage payment before all the required items were completed, which is in breach on contract. We had our doubts about them from that point, so we started removing items from the contract so that there would be less work to be done, and less due in the final payment. It was a case of constantly ringing the office/site supervisor/director to push things along. Just as well we did.
Even though we have our house, there were some outstanding minor items listed in a Notice of Undertaking which were to be done post-handover. Fat chance. They even emailed mid-July stating that the 3 month maintenance period is up, and that we should submit a list of items that we would like to be fixed. What a joke. No-one followed up, and when I managed to get hold of the site supervisor, he told me the state of affairs.
It was a constant battle to get things done properly, and we still have to put up with a less than perfect result.
From what I have learned, ND Homes/Icon have declared bankruptcy, owing $5 million +.
A new company has been started which may be operating from next door to the old listed address.
Not sure of the name as yet.
NDH has been appointed an external administrator. Let's continue the discussions here
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59131
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59131
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