Delta Design and Construction

You decide – We were first home buyers and excited at the prospect of having our home built by someone, we were told by the real estate agent, "someone who just wants to see a smile on your face". Sadly this statement proved to be far from the truth. In reality, the whole experience was more stressful than anything previously experienced in our lives - and that is really saying something. There were no congratulations, flowers, or champagne when the house was finally turned over to us either. No compensation for the excessive length of the build. No concern shown when we made the case seven months into the build that we were going backwards financially and begging for the house to be finished quickly (still took another 4mths and rarely a tradesman on site in the best weather). Not only were we sustaining the duel rent and mortgage payments, but we were also down to a single income as the house was not finished by the time school started in January 2017 (advised it would be), so we had already moved the children to schools near the new house. For the next five months I was required to spend up to six hours a day ferrying the children across town, adding 600kms to our weekly school run, and over $300 per month to our petrol bills. This travel and upheaval also added to the stress that our youngest child (9yrs old with Autism) experienced in his daily life, thereby impacting our stress levels too. Here is our timeline:

October 2015: Deposit December 2015: Exchanged contracts February 2016: Land released by Land Authority 12 April 2016: Land settlement completed. 30 June 2016: Building Approval given 06 July 2016: Issue of Commencement Notice 21 Feb 2017 : Meeting with builder to request hurry up due financial hardship. Promised 6 weeks. 15 June 2017: Builder hands over house.

Frustrations During The Build:

.Requested elevation drawings from exchange onward but only furnished at framing stage. Advised they were not completed each time I asked.

. Requested information re: holdup to BA. Builder stated he had to make a 'minor correction' necessary to gain BA but would not elaborate on what that was..just kept stating it was nothing important.

. Discovered at framing stage that the 'minor correction to BA' was the addition of a window from the ensuite (toilet directly under window) opening out into the alfresco dining area. Builder refused to change it to a skylight when requested.

. Stacker doors that were agreed upon at Exchange (to replace a window) and written into the contract and drawn onto updated plans, were not ultimately provided. Builder gave framers an earlier set of plans instead of the newly amended plans. When the error was brought to his attention the builder argued that: a) it would hold up the build by another month if he had to make the change (we were already many months behind schedule); and, b) he stated it would be too difficult to get the framing right for the stacker doors now.

. Builder exceeded 180 day contracted build but refused to reduce final payment. Never given a Variation Notice ever (as stated in contract).

Things brought to builder's attention at 90day warranty in September 2017 but not yet addressed (it is March 2018 as I write this): . 9 months after moving in we still do not have our long concrete driveway with drain across (we own a 30m x 4m strip of land from road to boundary as we are on a battleaxe block). Our neighbour is also on a battleaxe block and also owns a 30m x 4m strip of land from road to boundary, and also does not have his long concrete driveway yet. We share the same builder, as do the two neighbours in front of us who have the street frontage, however the builder managed to give them their shorter concrete driveways as per their contracts. . In December of 2017 the builder offered to compensate us for the driveway. He did not mention a per-metre figure but stated he would only pay for a 1.75m wide driveway. Car won't even fit on that. All other battleaxe driveways in our street consist of two driveways average 3m width each. . No hot water comes through the kitchen tap so all dishes require the dishwasher or a boiled jug. Neither builder nor plumber ever mentioned this problem, we only discovered it after we moved in. The building inspector has obviously issued a Building Certification despite this defect. . Shower in main bathroom is not sealed at ground level and water floods out when shower is used. Building inspector flagged this before Certificate of Occupancy but builder has not yet repaired it. . Smoke detector was placed 6 feet from cooktop in kitchen (despite the instructions stating not to install in kitchen area) and was excessively vigilant to all forms of cooking, forever going off. Ultimately we spent hundreds ourselves to remediate. . Paint used on walls is unwashable despite contract stating it should be washable and Wattyl representatives stating it should be washable. Washing it leaves nasty dark patches and any liquid is absorbed permanently. Even end-of-build-cleaners stopped washing the walls halfway up because they were quite obviously making it worse. . Several walls are significantly marked with a strange linear pattern underneath the paint and it shows through (I will attach pictures if it is possible to do so). Walls will require remediation and repainting. . Selection of kitchen cabinets was left too late to make any necessary configuration changes such as microwave cavity and wall oven as electricals were already in place. . Appliances chosen by builder came to less than the $2500 that the contract stated we had access to but there was no compensation or refund. Light on extraction fan stopped working a few months in and despite discussions with builder about venting we moved in to discover no external venting and not even any absorbent matting in it. . Had to involve real estate agent in negotiations regarding promises made on the Allhomes ad that builder didn't appear to us to want to honor. . Still missing a drain on the northeast side of the house that floods when it rains. . Still missing the concrete pad that should sit underneath a washing line outside of the laundry. . Still missing the tiling to the front porch area. (We expect all the missing things as we have paid for them in the contracted amount and we paid full amount). . Builder forgot to put the plumbing in for our in-wall cistern in ensuite until I raised it after the tiling was done. We were offered a cheap standard toilet instead but it doesn't even seem attached to the wall or floor as it sometimes moves. . Builder forgot the gas connection outside, and also the outside power point but did remediate once we advised. . Builder forgot that the plans stated 4000L water tank, was going to install a 2000L tank instead. . Paid $2200 cash to builder for ground works that ultimately were not completed exactly as negotiated. . Paid extra for bedroom doors we hadn't even requested (builder misread multiple emails clearly outlining our choices for 'custom SLIDING/POCKET doors' as per contract). He mistakenly bought the custom doors for all the internal doors. (Once again, builder stated it would hold up build if we made changes..this was in late 2016..we were told we would likely be in by xmas that year. If we had known we wouldn't actually be in until June of the next year we would have halted the build and had all the errors corrected). Hindsight is always 20/20 though. . There are other niggly things like what we consider to be 'fell off the back of a truck' electronic door lock that was made in Korea but never meant for export as everything is written in Korean..or the thermostat on the airconditioner that shows 'restricted' for most functions like the setting of time zones...and the washing line being placed where the sun barely gets to...no drain cover over the pipe in the front garden bed..scraped topsoil was promised to be kept so we could cover block after build but were only left rock/clay layer of excavation.. etc..etc..etc.

Things Builder Did Fix In 90day Warranty Period: . Fencing between neighbour and us could not be completed at the time the rest of the fencing was done (neighbour needs to complete retaining wall). Builder stated will give us the money for our portion but as yet we have not received anything. . Powerpoints and light switches feel cheap and nasty. Builder did send electrician to fix one as it was so damaged we could not plug our fridge in when we moved in. . Builder also sent tiler to grout some of the tiling that was missed. He also sent someone to put a hole in the laundry cabinet so that we could pass our washing machine hoses through into the drain. . Builder sent painter to touch up around bathroom ceiling architraves due movement (was never supposed to have architraves as contract stated square set) and his advice was to simply paint over marks when they occur.

If we were to do it all over again we would choose a bigger and more tried and tested company to build for us. Other comparable homes in our area seem to have much more high spec fittings and appliances than we ended up with, had better consultation and customer service from the builders, and were finished ahead of time disregarding rain or holidays etc. We believe it would have been an easier build if there had been a project manager, or if the builder had not been so busy with other projects at the expense of ours. Even now we have not heard from the builder since we exchanged emails last December.