Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 18, 2009 11:40 am We are planning to build our first home with Simonds Homes. We are currently up to the contract signing but second time round Now we had a few problems in our first contract such as: Charging us for a H class instead of M class slab Charging us for temporary fencing when council does not require it Charging us re-surveying when all pegs are marked Tiles and carpet marked inncorrect on plans Did not move garage rear access door we requested a beginning We have stated to the builder they we are not signing anything until the contract is fixed (do you blame me). They have come back and said they have fixed the costs as much as they can. The provisional sums stated on the contract are: Crane Hire Site costings The reason they have done this is that they can't give a definate price until they cut into the soil, is this true? I thought thats what the soil tests were for . Also they said according to HIA if the price has to increase that they can only increase this by 15% of what they have already charged us and the rest will be on them, is this correct? Should I be signing to this? Or should I keep pushing them for a total fixed price? Its all so confusing Please Help Re: Fixed Contract .... what is fixed now days? 2May 18, 2009 12:58 pm Focus, I see so many concerns with your contract. Step 1, don't become too attached - be prepared to walk away if things don't head the way you like. Look at other builders. You need competition to keep the builder competitive. When it comes to temporary fencing and re-surveying, these are things known by the builder from day one. They should be included in the original price. Who made the tile and carpet error? Whoever made the error should pay for the cost difference. Same for the garage rear access door. I'm glad to hear that you are not signing until everything is fixed. What's this about "they have fixed the costs as much as they can". Unless they show you all their spreadsheets with itemised pricing I would ignore that statement. Crane hire should be to the builder’s expense. Some site costing may be a variable and if so you need to get some details. Get what they are planning to do, on what basis do those estimates come from and what is the cost for each extra cubic metre of excavation, etc. Didn't fully understand what the builder is stating about a limit of 15%. Does this mean that for each provisional item it cannot go more than 15% above the nominated amount (sounds reasonable) or that the entire price can't go over 15%? Don’t get concerned about whether any of the builder’s statements are true. If they say something, just add it to the contract. For example, "Each provisional cost item cannot increase by more than 15%". If I were you I'd start looking at other builders. Unless the builder understands there is competition then basically they can take advantage of you. Cheers, Casa Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Fixed Contract ?? 3May 18, 2009 1:24 pm We have previously looked at other builders our first builder we were looking at was NBG and the second was Burbank and now we are at Simonds. Its just real annoying I'm starting to really get over it. Its really hard as we have limited builders who build where we are, and we have wasted so much time already with everyone. Hopefully soon Simonds will have the second contract ready and we can sit down and talk directly to the manager. But also I think because they have so much work atm because of the grant they are going to stand firm and don't really care if they do have competition. But I have been thinking about enquiring to M. All I want is our house Re: Fixed Contract ?? 4May 18, 2009 3:14 pm Depending on where you are, I might be able to get you a fixed price, turnkey package. The fixed site costs will probably be lower than you have been quoted also. If you are interested PM me. Moved in December 2010 Re: Fixed Contract ?? 5May 18, 2009 9:12 pm I have the same contract with them, provisional sum for Crane Hire and Site costings They did the 2nd soil test right before the site cut (the 1st soil test was done before the land was titled) then fix the site cost, i end up receiving a refund from them before the first payment.. For the Crane Hire, as there is no need to hire crane, i got another refund from them right before the final payment.. Blog - http://clageonewhouse.blogspot.com/ Building Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=10886&hilit=milan I am in, with my husband and my beautiful bunny Re: Fixed Contract ?? 6May 19, 2009 9:19 am claego I have the same contract with them, provisional sum for Crane Hire and Site costings They did the 2nd soil test right before the site cut (the 1st soil test was done before the land was titled) then fix the site cost, i end up receiving a refund from them before the first payment.. For the Crane Hire, as there is no need to hire crane, i got another refund from them right before the final payment.. Its good to here I'm not the only one in this boat. Thats positive that they gave you some money back I'm still a little concerned that I'm going to be taken for a ride. We are looking at another builder aswell just to have something to fall back on if we need to. Re: Fixed Contract ?? 7May 19, 2009 9:30 am I know what you feel, i was also worried until the 2nd soil test done I did ask feedback from this forum (viewtopic.php?f=31&t=9045) too and my solicator said it is normal for this pro sum, so i took it.. and it turned out ok to me From what i have seen, Simonds do provide fixed site cost, may be you can negoitate with them of this option, so no suprise at the later stage.. Good luck Blog - http://clageonewhouse.blogspot.com/ Building Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=10886&hilit=milan I am in, with my husband and my beautiful bunny Re: Fixed Contract ?? 8May 19, 2009 10:51 am claego From what i have seen, Simonds do provide fixed site cost, may be you can negoitate with them of this option, so no suprise at the later stage.. Good luck Hi Focus ... claego is absolutely correct ... simonds does fixed cost contract... We went for fixed cost for peace of mind (not that we will have any till we move in ) Talk to ur CSO and say u wudnt sign and will walk away Land Settled 27/04/09. Site Started 30/4/09. Slab poured 21/5/09. Frame up 27/5/09. Building thread : viewtopic.php?f=31&t=15699 Re: Fixed Contract ?? 9May 19, 2009 11:44 am jessica claego From what i have seen, Simonds do provide fixed site cost, may be you can negoitate with them of this option, so no suprise at the later stage.. Good luck Hi Focus ... claego is absolutely correct ... simonds does fixed cost contract... We went for fixed cost for peace of mind (not that we will have any till we move in ) Talk to ur CSO and say u wudnt sign and will walk away They will be contacting us soon to make a appointment to go through the contract. We have told them before that we aren't signing anything until we have it fixed.... but I think we will be telling them again face to face. Now we are enquiring to M to see what they can do. Make them compete against each other and also if they are better we may just go towards the other builder and get rid of Simonds Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 17511 So AFAIk the outcomes of the BAL ratings form part of a clause that allows them to pass these costs on to you. However the more relevant detail is how did it go from 19… 1 9142 You talk about deletions, are they variations or PS and PC adjustments? pleas list them 1 16542 |