advice please-on our builder

[Tiffanyjane71]

Hello All

Just wanting some advice please on what you think i should do, or if i just let it be.

Originally we told our build would be finalised at the end of November, we knew that this would, or could be delayed as thats usual practice with builders. It wasnt ready so then we were told it would be first week in December, then 2nd week of december then we were told 21st of december(the day before we flew out to the SA for xmas , which they knew about)

Our first handover meeting was the 21st of december , which i dont know why as it was not ready at all, they were still painting the front door when we arrived, the ensuite WC door wasnt even painted or attached, plus 2 pages of things that were not correct. The contract states that they have 10 working days after that prehandover meeting to fix items, so the site manager said we will meet again on the 16th Jan, as due to xmas shut down this will give them time to fix items when people returned from leave, we agreed to that.

We were emailed yesterday to say the handover meeting wont be till end of next week now friday 20th, or monday 23rd.

Here is our drama:
I was asked to start my new job on the 16th Jan-i asked if i could start the week after on the 23rd due to our house having handover on the 16th and giving me a week to organise our contractors and let them in.
My husband was supposed to fly to his mine site on mon 16th till wednesday 18th-he delayed this due to handover of the house.
We have now had to ring our contractors the fourth time to delay their work to do eg painting, tiling,carpet,landscaping etc.

I know complaining is not gonna get the work done any quicker, but do you think i should ring and ask to talk to someone at our building company or just leave it. My husband is not keen for me to do this and said we would write a full letter about all of our complaints after handover. I would however do it in a very professional manner i wouldnt rant and rave or be agressive.

Any thoughts?

[Julie-Ann]

When we built we only complained when we needed to. We didn't want to annoy them. As it was I think they thought we were a pain. We didn't complain afterwards either as you continue your relationship with them when they do maintenance.
Maybe a polite call where you beg for them to help you out by speeding things up.

[Annie_s]

isn't JA diplomatic!!

me, no. I'd call them and I'd give them (as Timmy on Rules of Engagement would say) "what for"! meaning I'd tell them that this is ridiculous, it's unfair, it's inconvenienced you, I know very few people would do this, or encourage you to do this on this or any building forum, but I just find these days that if companies feel a difficult customer coming up, they quickly do everything to avert it. Until then, they do as they please.

I just think your "kind" and understanding approach has done you no favours. as for maintenance etc, well cross that bridge when it comes. But do you really think their attitude is going to change unless you speak sternly with them? I doubt it. A friend of mine currently building with NBG (who I tried to talk him out of - knowing they have a terrible system with franchise-like building contractors) and he went still, oh... he says to me...

but they're so cheap! And I said, yes, do you wanna know why, cause you're gonna find out if you build with them. But he still did. Anyway, my point is no long into the contract he had a long list of "problems" and he finally contacted the owner of NBG (who aren't the builders, just the company that signs you up) and gave them "what for" (see description above!!)

Within days there was a site meeting, things were sorted, progress has catapulted, and the builder was frank with my friend, he admitted he was out of his depth and had to take a holiday to deal with all the stress. Dear me, what a silly situation. I guess what I'm trying to say to you is in my experience, people with building problems, really need to be very assertive that their poor business skills are unacceptable and "don't hold back".!!

That's my advice, but hey, you can always go the route of getting everything in writing in case it gets worse or something... you are near the end now.

good luck!
Be tough!
A

[Cherylle]

Does the house look like it will be ready for the allocated day?

If so, i would contact them and advise that the 23rd is not suitable as you are working. You are available for any date up until then, otherwise it will need to be a saturday.

I don't think it would hurt to have a bit of a polite rant

[homesweethome]

I would have to say that we tried the 'nice' approach for a while and it didnt get us far. We had to be quite assertive, in our experience the builders would always try to get away with doing the bare minimum unless we called them on it, quite frankly the building process has left me somewhat dissapointed and has taken some of the shine off our build.

I would say that above all else, all you can do is fall back on is your contract. In the contract if it states they have 10 or 14 days from first pci then that is all they have, you can remind them of this otherwise they will be in breach of the contract and that leads down a different road. Just tell them to get their p**p in a pile and hurry up! lol I guess I might be a bit more impatient than others .

Good luck TJ

[clp]

Would it be feasible to push it back rather than pull it forward - then you could have had a week in your new job and hubby could be back from the mine - unless all the contractors are already lined up?
My only concern is you don't want a dodgy job being done just to get it completed.

[krit]

I am a little hazy here but when we built years and years ago we had alot of delays and inactivity which when we researched our contract the builders were in default so in the end they had to pay our rent etc and compensation. If the foot was on the other foot and you didn't pay your progress payments etc they wouldn't be understanding to you.

[Di]

Originally Posted by krit

I am a little hazy here but when we built years and years ago we had alot of delays and inactivity which when we researched our contract the builders were in default so in the end they had to pay our rent etc and compensation. If the foot was on the other foot and you didn't pay your progress payments etc they wouldn't be understanding to you.

*Like*

[rosierose]

I think you have to be tough.............it is awful you have to but they will push it as far as they can until you say enough is enough.....
You don't have to be nasty just assertive..... Good luck

[Heytherek]

I agree with being assertive on this one.

Quite a lot of builders seem to be a different breed altogether, they make the client abide by their strict rules but when it is the other way round they do what they want.

We have done the be nice and not difficult thing for the first few months of our build and we have had things changed on us with no communication, been lied to, and goodness knows what else.

So now we are just going to be playing hardball and demanding things that are not right in our contract be fixed.

It is not fun nor easy having to do this, but I would be pulling them up on their contract. And putting it in writing and copying everything to the big boss.