Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 17, 2018 12:45 pm Hi all, We are building a split level home (mid range uphill slope) and excavation has just been completed. However, upon meeting with the site supervisor this morning, he informed us that we may have an issue with access to the garages from the street. Even though excavation has been done in line with approved council plans, the house is sitting too high to meet the driveway gradient and curve required. In other words, if things were left as is, it would be near impossible to get cars in or out of the garages. We have asked why the garage level wasn't dropped during the planning phase in order to allow for that gradient in the driveway, and he just shrugged. In the end we all agree that it can't be left as is and he suggested the whole house be dropped 500mm and garages a further 500mm. He was going to discuss with engineer and certifier and come back to us on whether this is feasible and next steps etc. This of course means putting a stop to all work, getting new plans etc drawn up, a council amendment put through..... and of course all the additional costs that come with that. So my question is where do we stand on those additional costs? Should we be pushing back on the builder to wear these? get legal advice? surely we can't be held accountable for them? I completely agree that if this had been proposed in the first place and before we signed on the dotted line, then yes we would have been paying for the additional excavation works. But it wasn't. We have since obtained our bank finance, and simply can't go back and ask for more. I mentioned in our meeting this morning that in the 7 months of planning to get to this point, numerous versions of tenders, plans etc...surely some due diligence would have happened to ensure we would actually have access to the garages. Note: our contract is supposedly fixed with the exception of two provisional sums. One is a rock allowance, and the other is piering. the fine print does state that the builder can submit a variation but I'm not sure on what grounds. Thanks in advance! Re: An oversight by the builder - where do we stand? 2Jan 18, 2018 9:13 pm We would suggest that you seek legal advice, usually building contracts are very much favoured to the builder. It is something that should have been done properly after a site visit and before council plans were submitted. I would suggest you speak to someone higher up than your Site Supervisor or account manager. Re: An oversight by the builder - where do we stand? 3Jan 19, 2018 5:46 am From your post I assume that builder has prepared your architectural and engineering plans. If so then it's builder's error and the cost of rectification is on the builder. If however you had your architectural plans prepared by your own contractor, then you will wear the cost of variation. In any case get a good building consultant to assist you. You haven't even started and you are having problems, don't try your luck without independent stage inspections while you build. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: An oversight by the builder - where do we stand? 4Jan 20, 2018 12:18 pm Write reply... Building-Expert From your post I assume that builder has prepared your architectural and engineering plans. Yes we are using a well respected project home builder specialising in sloping sites. They have handled and managed all aspects internally up to this point. Since our initial conversations with the site supervisor, the builder has gone quiet. We have been asked to express our concerns in an email and thats it....so unprofessional! We have not heard from anyone in management to try to resolve the issue. The plans were drawn up, stamped by a PCA, then on to council for DA approval. The plans themselves tell us the gradient is within council legislations, and we have believed that we would be getting a driveway with a gradient of 25% over 7 metres (only just within council guidelines). Problem is, no one actually checked that those gradients were in fact possible, someone basically just wrote down what was necessary to get it approved without going on site to do to the true calculations. The result is more like 43%. We have made no further contact with the builder as we've sought legal advice to assist with drafting an initial email. We will also lodge a complaint with Fair Trading. Re: An oversight by the builder - where do we stand? 5Mar 01, 2018 8:09 am gcnicho Write reply... Building-Expert From your post I assume that builder has prepared your architectural and engineering plans. Yes we are using a well respected project home builder specialising in sloping sites. They have handled and managed all aspects internally up to this point. Since our initial conversations with the site supervisor, the builder has gone quiet. We have been asked to express our concerns in an email and thats it....so unprofessional! We have not heard from anyone in management to try to resolve the issue. The plans were drawn up, stamped by a PCA, then on to council for DA approval. The plans themselves tell us the gradient is within council legislations, and we have believed that we would be getting a driveway with a gradient of 25% over 7 metres (only just within council guidelines). Problem is, no one actually checked that those gradients were in fact possible, someone basically just wrote down what was necessary to get it approved without going on site to do to the true calculations. The result is more like 43%. We have made no further contact with the builder as we've sought legal advice to assist with drafting an initial email. We will also lodge a complaint with Fair Trading. Wow! Another person with issues because of Montgomery. Hope you get it all sorted. My whole building process and many others was just stressful and hard the whole way through. Document everything and anything, they try and get away with it all. Good luck! Re: An oversight by the builder - where do we stand? 6Mar 01, 2018 3:29 pm I realised I haven’t provided an update to this issue. We’ve had a number of successful discussions with the builder and they have taken full ownership of the issue and will cover all associated costs. They’ve listened and worked with us to come to a suitable solution. We’ve agreed to a design change that will allow access to the garages and are very happy with the outcome. Amended plans are now with council. I suppose our number one frustration out of this now is just the weeks of delay we are facing..... however certainly better to have highlighted and resolved the issue now rather than after handover. I have to stress that up until this issue, we were perfectly happy with our experience with this builder. Even though we have had a stressful couple of weeks, I would probably still recommend them. Their designs and flexibility for making changes are why we chose them. Their main competitor was unable to even provide a design that worked for us, nor provide a draft tender without us handing over $1k... potentially to be told we couldn’t even have the layout we wanted. Re: An oversight by the builder - where do we stand? 7Mar 04, 2018 2:06 pm The best building jobs are those where booth the builder and the owner communicate respectfully and resolve their issues. That is how it should be, unfortunately too many times it is not. Well done to get an outcome you are happy with. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Sorry! I'm new to this forum and have made a mistake in my posting! 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