Should we use a building lawyer to oversee our building contract?
Lisa Fusi
last year
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Lisa Fusi
last yearRelated Discussions
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Comments (155)Well if your over designing and putting in more then what is required you are just becoming a part of the problem. Because the amount of energy that has gone into manufacturing your home and each material in it. Those materials require energy to produce them..... On the other hand yes there is that question what if there is not enough can we trust government policy. I think our focus should really be how can we design homes that design for current conditions, have a zero and no carbon footprint and the costs of manufacturing do not offset this goal. So I do place my trust in the science and research from the CSIRO. And policy that has been created as a result of their research yes....See MoreKit Homes Expectations/Build Advice?
Comments (20)I signed their Design Agreement in June which includes a non-refundable 1% deposit. I've had to walk away with nothing to show for it except the wasted money and time. From payment it took three weeks to get a consultation. I was talked through a concept, but they refused to provide even a rough sketch. In three weeks they promised a floor plan, 3D render and costing estimate would be mailed, a follow up Zoom meeting a week later. Three weeks later, no communication from Storybook, I rang and they said two more weeks. Two weeks later, no contact, I rang and they said one more week. One week later, they rang to say the 3D artist's computer monitor was broken, so it would be another week. I asked for the floor plan, but was denied. One week later I had a Zoom call with the concept and costing sent via email after. Their was very little reference to the design direction form I'd filled out, but was presented with a concept that looks lovely, but with decking and glazing along both the western and eastern sides would make for a very uncomfortable home - they don’t think so - just get a lovely umbrella! The concept was $50K outside my budget, due to increase in materials cost, and their costing under-estimate put it about $55K over budget. But their estimate to finish the build is not based on any evidence of local trades research and the reality pushed the project well beyond their estimate to complete. However, they have offered, if I pay them 50% more they will give me a new design within my budget. No thank you! Their biggest whinge is that Storybook has done all this design at a considerable loss. Not true, the “Services” vaguely referred to in the Design Agreement was more than 12.5% of my build budget. Then there’s the cost for the Kit. Turns out my custom design was a pre-exisiting design on their website. Along with that, they don’t guarantee the design won’t change or be passed by Council, nor meet bushfire and engineering standards. They are not giving back the deposit....See MoreBuilding up versus building out?
Comments (28)Hi all, I can't seem to reply individually to your comments so here's a general one :) Thanks all for the suggestions and experience-I'm really intrigued by these suggestions of pavilion extensions, those links you attached Kate are super striking! Unfortunately for us we are on a fairly small block of land and one side of the house is a narrow driveway-we looked into building a garage/study on the ground but as we have to be 900mm from the neighbouring fence it was going to be very skinny and just not worth it. I appreciate the thoughts shared on keeping our feet on the ground but as we've two young kids and two dogs (and would love to have chickens again) I'm less and less inclined to give up more of the garden which is what we'd have to do if we extend out. Our verandah roof was done back in the 60's and slopes down and leaks in the rain so hence it needs to be lifted up if we were to build out. Kate, I LOVE your idea of the shed! We actually converted a massive steel shed into a gorgeous shed home when we lived in QLD on a massive rural block of land, loved how easy it was to 'knock' down a wall! :) Sadly we have learned the hard way that trying to save money by hiring a draftsperson that didn't ask us what our budget was has cost us time and money, but I guess in a way I'm grateful as this extra time has given me time to consider building up now instead of out. I'm getting a sense that it will be a lot more expensive to do so so might have to wait another 2-3 years to get re-finance happening. In the meantime we are making some changes to the current set up, slowly adding value and making it more enjoyable to live in :)...See MoreNew house build, to start or not? We knocked it down end Feb
Comments (11)We are literally starting our build in the next week or so, what has been a 21 month process to get to this point, we got our final DA approval last week, we had a chat to our builder and he is keen to progress, like many he is keen to keep working and keeping staff in jobs while he can. We are doing a cost plus build, originally our surveying was quoted at $3300, today the same guy did it for $2700 because he wanted the work, was able to come straight out and complete once given the go ahead. While it’s nice to potentially gets some savings moving forward, it’s certainly nice knowing that our build can potentially help people keep their businesses opened in the midst of this crisis....See More
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