Format Homes Questions & Answers

Hello Su, the slab edge protection is waterproofing to the exposed edge of the slab. We've been doing this waterproofing on all our slabs for the last 13 years.

Hi there Format Homes we are looking at building and saw that you do slab edge protection as per your inclusions. What waterproofing do you use for this? Thanks heaps

Hello daisy, we apply Gripset P39 as the waterproofing membrane to the exposed edge of the slab.

Hi Danny, Thanks for your Question. We are happy to provide some basic ballpark numbers but do need more information before being able to give you even a remotely realistic figure. Contact us at sales@formathomes.com.au and we'll be able to get you what you need.

Thanks,

Format Homes

Hi Art Bro,

We are able to give you standard specification prices on our two-storey plans as requested. Please contact us at sales@formathomes.com.au or 08 8443 4555 so we can get you this information.

Kind Regards,

Format Homes

Hi Donna, Yes we do build at Normanville and have done quite a few new homes there in the past. We shy away from 'guaranteeing' building timelines purely because we take the approach that it is better to do the job properly rather than rush it for the sake of a few weeks. We have a core group of good trades that we use continually as they produce good quality work, and find we get a better result if we give them the time and space to do the job properly. Having said this, over 95% of our new homes are built within the Contractually specified build timeframe.

Thank you for your reply. Looking forward to talking to you when we come down from Qld in May. Cheers Donna

I am currently building with Format. The complete build from contract signature to completion is now expected to be 22-23 months although I still can't get accurate end date. If it was just a matter of a few weeks I wouldn't see an issue but I wouldn't build again without guaranteed timelines with compensation in the contract. I have lost track of the number of times that I have asked for an estimated finish date to be told that they will be able to give one at this milestone. When that milestone arrives and I ask for an accurate time frame and I get given another milestone of when they should know. Most of the estimates have been and gone.

Hi Mike, Can you explain why the longer than expected timeframe to build your home.

Hi Donna.They kept on providing me with plans that contained errors including ones that their staff told me would mean that they would be rejected if it was sent for council approval as-is. Each request to fix took weeks to for them to respond to and then it would have to go back to be fixed again. The fixes also came with an increased cost. Inclusions that I wanted and that they agreed that I could have were dropped because they never bothered to provide me with a price and I wanted to progress to a build. I understand but could be wrong that the contractually specified build time is from the pour of the slab to completion in which case my build may still be in their 95%.

Hi NHJan, Yes this would be something that we would build. It doesn't sound like timeframes would be a big issue based on your description but without seeing the actual plans I can't be anymore definitive than that.

Please send through your plans to sales@formathomes.com.au and we can then advise you with more certainty.

Thanks,

Format Homes

Yes just moved into our new home. We signed up March 2015 and it took 12 months from then to complete the build. We looked at about 6 different builders and settled on format due to their impressive specifications. The trades were great nothing was too much trouble. Highly recommend them they are not the cheapest middle of the road but worth the extra.

It has been over 10 months since signing the contract and Format have still not finalised the paperwork for me to be able to get the construction loan approved and progress the construction. While the price at the start was comparable with other builders of similar quality, after paying the deposit the price significantly increased due to engineering. This was after the salesman went into great detail of how they pride themselves on the accuracy of the initial quote. It has been a completely frustrating process.

We built in the country and had one problem after the other all of which our supervisor wanted to leave until the walk through at the end. Too many issues to write about but major ones were warped gutters which were not going to be replaced until Stratco came to the party, really poor quality paintwork which we still have and our mortar which was suppose to be grey turned out to be yellow. No one wanted to do anything about this but after persistence from us the builders did pay for a product to recolour the mortar back to grey . We still have holes in the mortar (from some unknown cause that the builders do not acknowledge) . All through the build communication was not two way. The whole process has been stressful and we think the HIA contract favours the builders leaving the consumer without rights.

Just building our 2nd house , lots of delays , will be over a year by the time we get in

after looking at lots of display homes and weighing up all our options my wife and I decided to go with format as we felt the salesman seemed honest on face value, the house we chose suited our family & the 11 month lead time we were given was great as we had to live with our parents whilst the build took place. we signed the contract in October 2015 and paid the deposit, we received a phone call from a staff member who promised full support through out the entire process for a happy stress free build. its now nearly November 2016 and haven't even got a slab down and the so called support and communication doesnt exist, I have spoken to management about my families concerns and the predicament this build time blowing out has caused us and will c9ntinue to cause us till we get in. All I keep getting from format is its everyone else's fault not theres, couldn't be more frustrated to date costs also blew out dramatically my story 8s very similar to Mike's im just very hopeful after all the stress and heart ache format build us a quality home. ps. once deposit was paid havent heard a thing from salesman funny that.

Their pricing is reasonable, considering it's steel frame, and inclusions are much better quality than standard. Also, they give a big allowance for footings, we were refunded some money there. The build is on time, quality is great, my independent building inspector is over the moon with joy, bcuz he doesn't have to nit-pick them on anything. Waterproofing above and beyond the call of duty. All the trades they have used on my build, are far and away more intelligent than most. I had random sized brick on the front and the brickwork is an absolute joy, clear and crisp.

They've been very tidy and clean up properly the end of each week. They have often gone the extra mile - fixed any issue as it has cropped up.

The accounts department have been Brilliant after our bank kicked up a poopy act, saying that we didn't send them documents - accounts just sent it all through again and fixed everything for me.

I did not like the initial salesman - he was pushy, didn't know how their own software worked, said one or two things that weren't right, but we expected that. We did not like the display homes but were able to just take them our own design and say - "Build this please!"

Salesman wanted us to have stuff he liked, but we were firm. Once past him, it was a breeze, and everyone was really good and so helpful. We wanted off-range unusual stuff, nothing too much trouble. We wanted stuff left out to do ourselves... no trouble at all.

Site supervisor is Angel from heaven.

We are due finished first week of October, so we will post a full review then.

We were very happy with the finish. The site supervisor had very good attention to detail and ensured all the little things were addressed before handover. We are now 4 weeks after hand over and couldn't be happier.

the supervisor was great & very approachable. no job was to small for them to fix. as little things came up during the next year I would ring and they would send contracters asap even though I think they were only supposed to do that for 3 months. we were very happy with format in every way, the staff, the workers they used etc. it made building a new home (which is something I said I would never do) a great experience that I am constantly raving on about!

Yes, we will be able to help you with a design for this block. Can you please contact me at sales@formathomes.com.au with the address of the block and we'll help design something that suits.

Thanks, Marco

Hi David,

No unfortunately we can't help as we are based in Adelaide and only build in Adelaide metro and closer in regional areas.

Kind Regards,

Marco

Hi CharlieZ, Are you able to give me a bit more detail on this land (an address would be great)? For a home as described above I would probably expect the pricing to be about $130,000 + $11,000 for a double garage.

Our Contracts allow 26 weeks from signing to getting a slab. This allows for Soil Report/Engineering, Selection Interviews, Council Applications and any Finance/mortgage to be organized if required.

Once the slab is poured we 'officially' state 28 weeks in the Contract but are currently averaging about 24 - 26 weeks on most homes. While we could probably 'push' along to meet '18 week' timeframes as some others do, we find that the rate we build at allows us to keep the quality of the finsh where we want it (i.e. very good) We generally use a core group of suppliers and tradies on our homes who we are happy with the work standard of.

My contact email address is marco.formato@formathomes.com.au which may be easier to deal with than the website.

Kind Regards,

Marco