Through our builder we sign the contract after it comes out of council. Obviously if our DA takes a very long time we could go over our tender period and be up for any price rises (not likely at this stage but you never know especially with my council).
Anyway I hear that other builders make you sign the contract before even going to council. Is this the standard? Doesn't that mean that the contract could even be over before the build is completed when you have to include DA processing time, delays in building etc.
I guess there are pros and cons for both ways but why isn't it uniform?
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Browse Forums Building A New House Re: When did you sign the building contract? 2Feb 03, 2009 8:27 am if they've gone to council with your plans what stops you pulling out and wasting the builders time?
im getting a turnkey setup and have listed everything i want in the contract before i sign, and it is a fixed price, plus it allows you to start doing the rest of the work whilst its sitting in council, ie lighting, colouring etc etc etc Blog - http://snakedr.blogspot.com/ Build Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=12084&p=307406#p307406 Status - PCI 15/10. Things nearly done. Re: When did you sign the building contract? 3Feb 03, 2009 9:09 am Yes, we signed ours before it went to council, had already finalised all structural costs, the only additional costs were then variations done at selections ie tapware, electrical etc.
Ours was a house/land package and in fact plan went to council even before land was titled - as soon as title came through, construction started almost immediatly. Re: When did you sign the building contract? 4Feb 03, 2009 9:59 am badh - we are in the same position as you. We have just had our DA approved, and still haven't signed a contract. (We have paid a $3.5k deposit to get plans through council which comes off contract price) We did have a price rise whilst in council that we have had to cop - I did have a tanty and they reduced the amount, but not by a lot. We are yet to do color selection (Thur week) and they are still trying to get all the reports for the CC. As I understand, we will be signing a contract once we have CC and selected colors.
Bel  Still not in. Don't ask!?  12 Sep 2008 152 Melbourne Bronze Member Re: When did you sign the building contract? 5Feb 03, 2009 11:13 am Hi,
We did all our upgrades and colour selection and then signed a final fixed price building contract. This was before the plans go to Council / private surveyor. The contract has a clause that the 8 month building period doesn't start running until the approvals are in place. But they have no ability to alter the price. We had to get planning dispensation to build outside the building envelope and that took a bit over a week and to get the plans approved by a private building surveyor rather than Council took only a few days. Dale. Building the Monaco 32 with Carlisle Homes Check out our blog for photos and progress reports: http://www.beigefreehouse.blogspot.com . Re: When did you sign the building contract? 6Feb 03, 2009 3:50 pm we signed ours while it was in council! http://i458.photobucket.com/albums/qq310/Mormonmia/Emoticons/shrug1.gif Re: When did you sign the building contract? 7Feb 03, 2009 3:50 pm  bel We did have a price rise whilst in council that we have had to cop - I did have a tanty and they reduced the amount, but not by a lot. Bel Didn't your tender period cover this? We will choose all our internal colours and any kitchen/bathroom upgrades once we've gone into council. I'm really looking forward to doing them! Re: When did you sign the building contract? 8Feb 03, 2009 4:05 pm  buildingadreamhome bel We did have a price rise whilst in council that we have had to cop - I did have a tanty and they reduced the amount, but not by a lot. Bel Didn't your tender period cover this? We will choose all our internal colours and any kitchen/bathroom upgrades once we've gone into council. I'm really looking forward to doing them! We had a 3 month tender period (I think), but we were in council for 5.5 months. It said in the tender something along the lines of if it expires, you pay current prices, even if it is council delays...blah blah blah. I too am looking forward to the colors, but worried that my budget can't handle it! (well what's left of it) Still not in. Don't ask!? Re: When did you sign the building contract? 9Feb 03, 2009 4:45 pm belI too am looking forward to the colors, but worried that my budget can't handle it! (well what's left of it) Oh I know what you mean! I hate to think that everything I want will be an upgrade! Donuts - see this is what I think is strange. How can you sign a contract to build something if you don't even know if council will approve it exactly as is. What if they insist on changes and you don't like them - you are already locked in with the builder.... Re: When did you sign the building contract? 10Feb 03, 2009 11:04 pm buildingadreamhomeDonuts - see this is what I think is strange. How can you sign a contract to build something if you don't even know if council will approve it exactly as is. What if they insist on changes and you don't like them - you are already locked in with the builder.... Yeah I know what you mean. I think we asked this of the builder and the the answer was along the lines of: that any changes that would've need to have been made were minimal and wouldn't have been hard to get new drawings and plans done, so we wouldn't have been charged or anything if it came to that. 27 Oct 2008 1,361 Sydney Gold Member Re: When did you sign the building contract? 11Feb 03, 2009 11:39 pm We have to sign our contract before they prepare the council submission and hence before going to Council and I have the same trouble understanding this as buildingadreamhome - what happens if Council NEVER approves your submission? I guess the builders won't care as they'll have their nice 5% deposit and won't have to build.
Unfortunately with project builders everything is to suit and benefit them...  28 Jun 2007 162 SE Melbourne Bronze Member Re: When did you sign the building contract? 12Feb 05, 2009 7:31 am In our case we did not sign the contract when plans went to council. We had to wait for all the council permits completed and only then did we sign the contract 18 Nov 2008 105 Senior Member Re: When did you sign the building contract? 13Feb 07, 2009 9:04 pm Back at the beginning when we got involved wanting to build a home, we went with Beechwood who subsequently went bust. Anyhow, the Sales person I spoke to there insisted that it was not legal to be expect to sign contracts before council had approved the DA.
Does anyone know if that is true? 25 Dec 2019 24 Junior Member Re: When did you sign the building contract? 14Apr 19, 2020 2:36 pm How I wish this was true?. It depends on your builder. Some insist on signing the contract before DA approval, and others after. My builder needs the contract to be signed before DA approval. It's their business policy, and they don't budge. Another builder is after the DA approval but the plans were not suitable. I'm negotiating with the builder, hopefully to amend the contract agreeable to bother parties. I would'nt stress as the warranty is the same, just be mindful that you will be contracted to that builder not the builder you first spoke with. So just make sure you… 1 849  Faykis I have recently left working for Home Builders to start my own venture, with this particular scenario in mind. I want to help new home builders break through all… 2 3416  Thanks all for the responses. Much appreciated. Hopefully the deadline could be extended, which makes whole lot more senses. 4 1643 |
