Gday. A friend of mine used Tricon from Cabarita. http://www.houzz.com.au/pro/steve-lowe8850231/tricon-developments-pty-ltd They were part of MasterBulders and he said he was impressed with their finishes overall Very professional. Good luck!

Trust me, no one wins when it gets legal except for the lawyers. It's truly not worth it. It's better to endeavour to put the energy into a solution, and sometimes the most effective solution is to consider a different option. Building and design ALWAYS involves compromise. Unfortunately you were led to believe that something you wanted could be possible that in reality was non viable. Whether it's a council restriction, or budget or whatever, a good design will negotiate the constraints to give you the best balance of solution.......the story you have here happens all the time in this industry...Yes the builder should have worked this out sooner, before signing you up, and you're unfortunately copping the bill.....I once had a client come to me (years ago btw) who had purchased some land (of the plan) on a new estate. When they went to see it half the site was hanging off 3m drop of land fill!! - not cool, and whilst the developer offered to "fill and level it up) it would have been a particularly expensive structural solution involved and understandably, but disappointedly they pulled out....... My advice is if you're not happy with a compromised design for your requirements walk away if you can, put it behind you and don't waste any further unnecessary energy and money on playing legal games. There will be another option out there for you, and better to start fresh with someone else because you there's clearly a loss of trust for this builder. So sorry to hear about this for you, my advice is don;t compromise on what you want, it's too large an investment, and also understand that you're not the only one who's had similar but different experience with expectations being severely comprised with house&land "deals" - we are dealing with a particularly rugged, uneven industry........Best of luck with resolving :)

Seems like advice has been well covered here, but to add my 2 cents.........it ultimately depends on what you are seeking and expecting from a professional. Off the bat engaging a professional is not something you should "accept" to have to do, rather it should be something that you are actively seeking........I work with people in a range of contexts but to be clear there is a difference between people who are expecting to "buy" a particular end result with some knowledge of what that will be, and others who engage in a professional design process and embark on/trust in the "journey" so to speak that works towards an customised/crafted end result. It's horses for courses and one way or the other is not necessarily suited for everyone. For example, my particular way of operating is probably similar to Dr Retro in that I approach projects with flexibility and respect for the client's needs and specific context. The creativity comes in to play in negotiating these unique aspects and therefore results vary widely from project to project. Alternatively you can find designers/architects who essentially are a "brand" delivering similar end "products" in that you'll be able to get a clear idea beforehand as to likely what end result you will get with them at the helm. Similarly to Dr Retro, I provide a particular stage of frontend/contained service that I call a "Feasibility" exercise in that various options and scenarios are considered specific to client's particular needs/goals within the properly analysed context and some proper/hard costings are applied. This provides the client with legitimate and viable options in broad format and critical information to ascertain what the best balance/option will be for them. For example, we can consider scenarios of alterations/additions in various configurations as well as comparison to new rebuild scenarios - there is never a single right or wrong "way" as to how to achieve certain requirements, however I do find ultimately that the Cost is the ultimate controller and without proper and professional understanding on what particular design moves/options one way or the other will cost you really are literally walking around in the dark in regards to making critical decisions moving forward for your project. You are (not surprisingly) stuck here, I deal with this situation all the time I know exactly where you are at.....all I can say is that there are professionals available who can help you achieve the best outcome, and you need to consider/understand and be comfortable that this is part of the process and is a necessary and critical investment front end to ensure the eventual physical build has been properly considered........ultimately my advice is to research and seek a suitable professional you can trust and work with :) PD

Going in as an owner builder is a false economy. It takes a builder years to develop the relationships with the right subtrades to ensure the project is built to budget and on time. I can fully understand that you are concerned with cost blowouts, so i will let you in on a little secret to help you avoid this trap. Find a builder who charges for quotes. I know this sounds counter intuitive, but here is the upswing. A builder who charges for quotes is legally obliged to give you an accurate quote, will be less likely to lowball you on PS and PC items, and will take the time to audit your plans to ensure there are no issues. Ask in advance to see a sample of their quotes - it should include a full list of inclusions, BoQ Exclusions, and timeline or Gantt chart as min. There are many brilliant builders in Australia offering this service, and i can recommend a number of them in every state in Australia who will give you exemplary service. good luck!