Final Contract Meeting - to be continued....

Well, we had our 'final contract meeting' the other day.  The meeting had been scheduled in for sometime and we were very much looking forward to it - seeing how all our ideas and plans had come together.

We requested a copy of the 'final' site plans and variation list prior to the meeting so we could review it in detail, in the comfort of our own home and at our own pace to ensure all was in order.  The copy came through via email 2 days ahead of the meeting - not a great deal of time to review it all but we had catered for it so not such a big deal. 

The problem was our CSC (who to date has been very helpful and a pleasure to deal with) didn't receive all the information from the respective departments of M in a timely fashion and was under pressure to collate it all within one document.  So there were omissions, inaccuracies and straight forward errors.  Its unfortunate for our CSC as she is the one holding the bag so to speak, sitting across from us trying to explain others logic or lack of and now she has to correct the errors.


I can understand why some problems had crept into the contract but there are others that are simply unacceptable.   Like changing the location of light switches.  If its required for legitimate regulatory reasons - tell us and we will revise our plan.  Don't redesign our home for us...  For example, if the light switch cant go at the entry of our ensuite, dont assume our alternate location is the furthest back wall! What, you want us to walk through the ensuite in the dark to then turn the light on.... Unusual design M, definitely not what we want.

We were also awaiting the results of probe testing - to assess the level of underpinning required to support our neighbours garage.  Those results weren't available, resulting in significant provisional amounts within the contract.  Not a fan of provisional amounts... 


Needless to say, we didn't sign the 'final' contract.  We will be waiting for the required changes have been made first.  Now we wait...It has been over a week since this meeting and still nothing???!!!?

On a related note - we are keen to hear the build times inserted into others final contracts.  We had been told (admittedly by their sales team - who kindly wrote it down for me, 'handy in hindsight') the build time was around 9 months.  I had checked this with a builder mate and that period is about right for a double storey mid 40 sq house.  So, I was a little surprised to see in the contract the build time was just over 400 days - over 13 months, not including breaks for Christmas etc.

We have had approval from the local council to demolish the old house, gas and electricity are disconnected and we have organised a new underground electricity pit to be installed by United Energy (for about $2500, a great deal less than the $6000 M wanted to charge us for the same??!!). I am meeting with the demolisher on site next wednesday to discuss the next steps and we also have a renovations warehouse/reseller coming out to have a look at what fittings and items from the old home can be salvaged and they will pay us for them and then sell them on.

Things are moving on our end but now so much on Metricon's end...

Cam