Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 01, 2011 12:00 pm Hi guys, Hoping that somebody could shed some light on an issue that we are currently facing with the construction of a new home. Late last year my family purchased a house and land package through a builder. During colour selection we took our time to re-assure the colors we chose were the correct ones and then were provided samples of everything we had picked. We signed for them and took home samples of everthing we picked. The house is now almost complete and we have now noticed some variances in the colors. Particularly in the tiles and benchtop. Therefore at our last inspection we brought along the samples we were provided to find that some of the colors are wrong. The builder who went through claims that they ordered and installed the correct colours that we chose and signed for during colour selection. Obviously, the samples we were provided were wrong ones. The builder is not willing to take responsibilty and has placed the blame back on the colour selection company. The colour selection company is not willing to take any responsibility either as they stated that we have signed for the colours we picked and should've taken more care to re-assure the colours matched the samples. We did that....and the salesperson assured us what we got is what we picked. To further add to insult, they stated it would be very easy for anybody to walk off the street and purchase/request a sample. They believe we changed our minds and later went it and picked different colours. We are now at a standstill as neither parties are willing to take any responsibility. I understand that we signed the colours we chose but surely the company should make sure the samples we took were correct? Some of the colours are not straight forward and have fancy names and we trusted the colors we picked were of the same samples we took home that day. I assume it's a lost cause but if anybody could offer any advice, it would be greatly appreciated. Re: Colour selection stuff up! What do we do? 2Sep 01, 2011 12:10 pm Nightwing, If the building company specify who you go to for colour selections then they are liable even if the colour selection coy is at fault since effectively they are then acting as an agent for the builder. Since the builder is nowe saying that the colour selection coy is at fault they are in effect admitting that their agent is at fault ie you woul have recourse against builder who in turn has recourse against colour selection coy. Thats my reading of it. Not sure what state you are in but there is a disputes board in each state. I would contact then and discuss with them to see if they believe you can get recovery from builder or colour coy. Hope this helps. Switch 830 in Meve Commenced 20/7/2011 Completed Early april 2012 Moved in 30/4/2012 Re: Colour selection stuff up! What do we do? 3Sep 01, 2011 12:25 pm Agree with above ^^ The builder has admitted it is someone elses fault so that may give you a leg to stand on. Maybe see if you can get that in writing, will help you in the future battle you may have. Similar situation happened with us, we chose grout #64 and have paperwork from the tile/cabinet company confirming this, but when the pre-start consultant wrote up the new papers for us to sign she put grout #49 which was the wrong colour...We ended up taking it to the Builders Dispute Tribunal and by the time we did that the builder backed down as they knew we were serious and they knew they were in the wrong. They ended up re-grouting/colouring our house. Sometimes maybe all you need is to show them your serious by lodging with the dispute tribunal, and I guess if you don't get the outcome you are after from there then there is no other option The road to success is always under construction House completed April 2011 - slowly making it a home... Re: Colour selection stuff up! What do we do? 4Sep 01, 2011 12:26 pm Before I say anything may I ask what degree of differences we are talking about here - are they (subtle) tonal/textural differences or have you got something that looks completely different in color/texture. Bear in mind that if you have "natural grained" anything (especially in rock-derived products) then there is bound to be a degree of variation between what you see in the store (which is usually a "nice" example but not necessarily representative of what you'll get in a complete pallet of tiles). Some pictures if you can get a hold of them would help figure out how drastic the differences are. Having said that I feel for you because that's an awful situation to be stuck in - it sounds like it is going to turn into a real "he said, she said" type of exercise and given that it's basically your word against theirs I'm not sure what else you can do. If it is completely different colors/textures that we are talking about here then your issue definitely ****** with either the color selection company or the tile supplier IFF the builder has used the styles specified on your selection document. ie. either the samples you were looking at didn't match up with the actual styles properly or an incorrect batch was sent by the supplier - installers don't check paperwork in terms of colors, etc, they just measure and cut/fit according to plans so you'd be surprised how easily it can happen. (I've seen stories on H1 about how some people have gotten entire (upgraded) kitchens and the like that they didn't order for free because the fitout for someone else's kitchen was delivered by mistake but they installed it anyway) Some people apparently have nothing better to do than comment on other people's sigs. Re: Colour selection stuff up! What do we do? 5Sep 01, 2011 12:36 pm Yes - you should take it further if you are not happy. There is a certain amount of trust that you have been given the correct samples - somebody has stuffed up. We had a similar situation when we went for our selections - the wrong internal door had been written into the quote/contract and it wasn't until we were shown the door that I said that's not the one - luckily I was able to find a picture from the display home that I could send to have it changed to the one we wanted. I wish you luck and hope that you get a good outcome ... For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Colour selection stuff up! What do we do? 6Sep 01, 2011 3:50 pm Hi, Did you take any photos of your colour selections together at the colorworld appointment? This may help to prove that you did show them the correct samples and it wasn't your fault. House - Lockup completed 23rd December 2011 - Painters are in!!! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=37261&start=0&hilit=Blaxland Re: Colour selection stuff up! What do we do? 7Sep 01, 2011 8:05 pm Unfortunately from being in the industry and seeing people in your exact situation, the result of most disputes is that the colour selections do fall completely back onto the client, even if what was written on your selections doesn't match what you were shown. It is seen as the clients responsibility to know that what is written on their selections is definitely right. It is the same idea as going to an accountant for your tax - they put together your tax return and tell you everything is fine, but you must sign off to say that everything in that tax return has been completed correctly, even if you have no idea of what is in it and have not had anything to do with it. The same goes for you not knowing anything about your colours that are not straight forward and have fancy names - you may not have known anything about them, but you are still the one held responsible for making sure that they are correct. Having said that, some companies will correct the issue just to "keep the peace", so it would be worth your while following it up to see if anything can be done. Re: Colour selection stuff up! What do we do? 8Nov 18, 2020 4:54 am Thank you, CA3105, I’m now struggling with the exact same issue as nightwing. We have a meeting with the builder tomorrow afternoon and I’m hoping for some kind of resolution that we can both live with. I wish I picked up on it but I didn’t but we have the samples they originally provided, as well as the admission that the colour selection consultant did put down the colour we wanted. 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