Re-surveyors, QA & Planning Permit Submission

Just a quick general update.

Now that the old house has been demolished M has arranged for the block to be re-surveyed and soil testes to be finalised.  A little bit of duplication on what they have already done but with a house sitting on the block I imagine its difficult to get accurate surveys etc.  Anyway all done now, just waiting on final results.
M has received the relevant documents re the sewer points as to their depth etc.  They are 3.1m below ground level.  The contract detailed additional costs would be incurred if its below 1.5m.  At the time I didn't give it much thought as expected it to be within the contractual range.  Stuffed that up - oh well lets just wait and see what they want to pin us for that.

We were contacted today by our CSC and advised our contract had been reviewed by M's internal QA team - ensure all our variations have made it in the final plans and are realistic etc.  They picked up on a few very small things such as M's door supplier is no longer Corinthian but rather is Hume Doors & Timber (same door but advised different supplier - no big deal but good to see M are being upfront about the change in supplier) and where we want the mirrors within the ensuite and bathrooms were too low to cater for our selected tap ware (again no big deal but good to know up front).  

Also, all our plans have been submitted to the council for the issue of a building permit.  Our CSC tells us all could be finalised and in order for final sign off pre-commencement meeting as early as next week.

A September slab pour seems a realistic target..... the end date is anyones guess.....

Final Contract = TICK…

Last Tuesday we finally signed our final contracts at Metricon HQ. Everything was in order and our final figure was a great deal below what was in the first draft of the final contract. Which was fantastic!!! We spent a huge amount of time combing through the contract, crosschecking drawings, discussing things and in the end we ended up picking up quite a few mistakes. They charged us for 2 ceasarstone waterfall edges on kitchen island bench, added a $950 shelf above some cabinets in the kitchen I didn’t ask for, charged us an extra $1040 for Cat 3 Austral bricks when the Selkirk Cat 3 were cheaper, miscounted the number of doors to upgrade (there were 18 not 20), charged us for stain on the balustrade when we are leaving it clear lacquer.

We have decided to remove the garage extension instead going with a standard width but adding 2 x 620mm wide doors to the rear. This freed up about $18,000 (can you believe it?) and meant that we could add a few more little luxuries like painting of feature walls, a broom cupboard, upgrade the finish on the laundry cabinets, and my favourite little inclusion… a pull out pantry cupboard like this…

As Cam mentioned in the previous post we let Metricon know we were unhappy that the build period was over 400 days! After objecting to this on the basis that their own literature supplied to us during the sales consultations clearly stated 8-9 months build time on a double storey, we negotiated to have the build period reduced to 370 days including 71 for holidays and weekends and 25 days for weather related stoppages. Although 370 days is still 12 months, we were happy to have a little win on that issue.

The other little win that we had is the installation of our own power pit (about $2500 rather than the $6000 Metricon wanted us to allow, which included $1000 for them for filling in a form??!!). We are also providing our own crushed rock which meant we are not paying the highly inflated $1200 for them to provide this!!! It is a nice feeling to have avoided paying that exorbitant cost J

What a relief it was to finally have the contract signed off. Studio M is nearly signed off and tile appointment is in a bout 10 days time.

Happy Building!

Kirsten

PS Ive decided to make the front door red afterall... Dulux RED BOX in gloss!

Final Contract Meeting - 'still' to be continued

Well things have just about come to a complete stand still - on M's end anyway.  Its fast approaching 3 weeks since our original 'final contract meeting' and only a few queries have been answered / resolved. 

The few they have answered to date appear reasonable, except one provisional amount.  I wasn’t happy with the number of the provisional amounts and requested they do whatever… to define / quantify them.  Anyway long story short, the one provisional amount for $6k that they have come back to us has now turned into a provisional amount of $12k….  That’s a 100% movement.  Needless to say we will be reassessing the need for this item altogether.

On our side of things, I’ve met with the demolisher I’m most comfortable with and discussed all things re demolishing.  He has been recommended to me by a friend and his initial quote was very competitive.  We were also able to work the price as well.  He is also happy for me to remove anything I can sell from the old house.  This may sound odd, but some demolishers claim they have offset the salvage value of items into their quote.

My demolisher is old school – get in and get out.  They come in with a truck and a big arse digger and push it all over.  He’ll grab any vegetation at ground level and pluck them clean out of the ground.  The ‘ultimate gardeners tool’ as he puts it.  We have had all utilities abolished, so only two other items ahead of the demo.

Firstly, I’ve also arranged for a local ‘renovators paradise’, supplier of second-hand building materials specialising in antique/period items, to come in and quote for anything they have an interest in.  The house was originally built in the late 20 / early 30’s and has many original fittings and fixtures which could make this process worthwhile.  They are even interested in what hardwood flooring is under the carpets.  Anything I can get will offset the cost of demolishing the old place.

Secondly, although I have the council’s approval to demolish the house, I also need its approval to remove one tree which is governed by the councils ‘tree protection laws’.  It’s a non-native on the boundary, which the neighbour wants removed so it should not be a problem to be granted approval.  Everything else is under its size requirements, so plucked they will be. 

Hopefully next time we blog, M will have answered some of our queries.

Cam

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