Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Porter Davis homes 11172Apr 15, 2015 12:09 pm joea Chris610 joea I highly recommend Darbecca. Thanks - will look into them No worries! Another recommendation for Darbecca here. Had my lockup inspection yesterday and a list of serious issues have been highlighted that do not meet/comply with the building standards or regulations required. It does make me wonder what Porter Davis' own inspectors actually check when items are passed that clearly do not meet the required standard as laid down by the industry. And strangely they keep questioning my reasoning for having an independent inspector when their own inspector is already checking the build at each stage - or so they tell me. Makes me feel sorry for the people who don't bother with an independent inspector and really have no idea what is right or wrong in the house they are building and trust the builder to do the right thing. Re: Porter Davis homes 11173Apr 15, 2015 12:17 pm Pungentia - makes sense to pay less earlier in the build - after all it gives you more leverage to make sure they complete, and you'll just be paying more interest on that amount for longer. We picked this up at the contract stage - not sure how you will go if you want to change the payment schedule midway through the build. Heard back from the SS and the expected handover on Friday is now.... Maybe next week. At least we were able to have another walkthrough and the painter was there so we were able to pick up a couple of other spots that need fixing. For paint you almost need 3 inspections - morning, noon and late afternoon - you will pick up new things each time - stuff that is glaringly obvious in different lights. Here's that thread on the Phone line: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36269 Re: Porter Davis homes 11174Apr 15, 2015 12:29 pm dojrude Another recommendation for Darbecca here. Had my lockup inspection yesterday and a list of serious issues have been highlighted that do not meet/comply with the building standards or regulations required. It does make me wonder what Porter Davis' own inspectors actually check when items are passed that clearly do not meet the required standard as laid down by the industry. And strangely they keep questioning my reasoning for having an independent inspector when their own inspector is already checking the build at each stage - or so they tell me. Makes me feel sorry for the people who don't bother with an independent inspector and really have no idea what is right or wrong in the house they are building and trust the builder to do the right thing. I agree with you. That was the most concerning part of our experience during frame stage. We were told PD's 'Independents' have been through the property and have deemed the frame complete and compliant. We request our own inspector to go through the property and he raises some structural issues. Something doesn't add up?? The good thing for us is that we (our inspectors) have picked up these issues and they will rectified. PD are usually pretty good and rectifying issues raised, especially ones that do not meet the BCA. Yep, best decision we made was to get an independent. Re: Porter Davis homes 11175Apr 15, 2015 1:00 pm joea Chris610 Can anyone recommend an independent inspector that they have engaged that they were happy with? I am very likely to need to rely on one. As an update I was contacted on here publically (msg following mine) and thats it - still no return phone calls, no update and no plans. No resolution offered. Construction supervisor is a nice guy (Nathan) but he is in shock by how badly 'head office' is handling it. For example to meet 6 star rating a number of windows need to be double glazed. Not a huge issue - except I was advised on the 8th of April ...when my build started in March and the windows have already been ordered. They are nothing like the windows I had chosen (all awning). This is all pre-building issues. Can't even get an independent inspector engaged at the moment as I don't have final plans ... I highly recommend Darbecca. +1 Re: Porter Davis homes 11176Apr 15, 2015 1:06 pm ahuxtable Pungentia - makes sense to pay less earlier in the build - after all it gives you more leverage to make sure they complete, and you'll just be paying more interest on that amount for longer. We picked this up at the contract stage - not sure how you will go if you want to change the payment schedule midway through the build. We could not do that at contract stage. The only people who have done that were mandated by one of the banks (Westpac/Bank of Melbourne), I believe, and it was only a few % anyway, IIRC. Re: Porter Davis homes 11177Apr 15, 2015 2:17 pm ChrisHeli ahuxtable Pungentia - makes sense to pay less earlier in the build - after all it gives you more leverage to make sure they complete, and you'll just be paying more interest on that amount for longer. We picked this up at the contract stage - not sure how you will go if you want to change the payment schedule midway through the build. We could not do that at contract stage. The only people who have done that were mandated by one of the banks (Westpac/Bank of Melbourne), I believe, and it was only a few % anyway, IIRC. They refused to change it for us at contract. They changed after contract stage when our bank would not accept PD's 'modified' payment schedule. We are with Bendigo Bank. The %s set out in the standard HIA contract are much fairer and more spread out IMHO. Re: Porter Davis homes 11178Apr 15, 2015 4:56 pm Have to say that recent posts have certainly got me worried about our upcoming build. We're still keen to go ahead but I'll admit I'm nervous, both about potential timeframe issues and the build quality. Thanks for the recommendations of Darbecca. Husband & I have our WoS appointment on Monday, we've been 4 times and think we have everything we can have nailed down at this stage, except items pending pricing which we won't be able to make a decision on until the day of. Any suggestions/recommendations for this appointment & any other prep we should do? Building a Porter Davis Livingstone 23 in Mayfield, Cranbourne East | Our thread 18/05/15 - Contract Signed 24/12/15 - Land Settlement 30/1/16 - Slab poured 9/06/16 - Handover Re: Porter Davis homes 11179Apr 16, 2015 2:04 am ChrisHeli joea Chris610 Can anyone recommend an independent inspector that they have engaged that they were happy with? I am very likely to need to rely on one. As an update I was contacted on here publically (msg following mine) and thats it - still no return phone calls, no update and no plans. No resolution offered. Construction supervisor is a nice guy (Nathan) but he is in shock by how badly 'head office' is handling it. For example to meet 6 star rating a number of windows need to be double glazed. Not a huge issue - except I was advised on the 8th of April ...when my build started in March and the windows have already been ordered. They are nothing like the windows I had chosen (all awning). This is all pre-building issues. Can't even get an independent inspector engaged at the moment as I don't have final plans ... I highly recommend Darbecca. +1 +2 'Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.' Blog: http://prestigebuild.blogspot.com.au Re: Porter Davis homes 11180Apr 16, 2015 9:21 am I also highly recommend Darbecca as I am using them for my inspections too. David the inspector was very thorough and even my site supervisor was scared of him and told me he is too picky on all things which I want anyway as that is what they are paid to do. Still planning to use them for my pre-plaster stage now. Three options 1 Ask the liquidator 2 Find another PD customer and ask the source of their report 3 Pay for new report 3 13994 I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 109624 Hi there! Putting the feelers out there for those who have (or almost) built with Arli homes! Interested in your experiences who've built from their stock home designs… 0 26639 |