Kurmond Homes Questions & Answers

Hi Simran, Kurmond Homes will pay for one certificate being either your interim or your final occupation certificate. In most cases, there are works to be completed by the client after handover in order to obtain either occupation certificate. Our in house construction team will always walk our clients through this process and assist where we can. Please note Clause 22 of the contract which refers to this, is a standard clause in the HIA contract. Please contact our Contracts Officer Jess who can discuss this with you further and provide clarity in this matter. Her email is: contracts@kurmondhomes.com.au

There is no problem, we're still in the process of building

Thank you Aleks but it says in their contract that they are not responsible for it. Is there a reason for it??

Hi Simran, Kurmond Homes will pay for one certificate being either your interim or your final occupation certificate. In most cases, there are works to be completed by the client after handover in order to obtain either occupation certificate. Our in house construction team will always walk our clients through this process and assist where we can. Please note Clause 22 of the contract which refers to this, is a standard clause in the HIA contract. Please contact our Contracts Officer Jess who can discuss this with you further and provide clarity in this matter. Her email is: contracts@kurmondhomes.com.au

If you take appointment for the supervisor you can come and see the house anytime u want its your house but he just have to be there , is that what u asking ?

I am just wondering if anyone managed to take that appointment with site supervisor. Ours doesn't want us to come and says he is busy.

Hello, We were lucky that we lived only 100 meters away from where we were constructing our new Kurmond home. We would regularly inspect the house ourselves and if we located an issue we would contact either Kurmond or our site supervisor. The problem would be generally rectified within a few days. When we got to lock up stage we were asked not to enter the house any more without Kurmond's permission however we found that occasionally they would forget to lock a garage door or side door and so we would again check on the progress. When the house was completed we advised Kurmond of several issues. These problems were rectified . After the hand over we were given an additional 90 days to advise of any arising problems. Once you actually are living in the house you begin to find other problems. I also had an independent assessor check out the house. The independent assessor with find lots and lots of problems. Most of these "problems " you can live with and I don't expect a perfect construction, some problems needed to be addressed and Kurmond were quite happy to see to these issues, even after the 90 days had elapsed. We were very fortunate that we did have a very good Supervisor who on several occasion even made the brickies to pull down completed walls and re construct them again. The Study area behind the upstairs living room was not built the way our plans or the display home. This was not discovered by us, due to lack of access, until a couple of days prior to hand over. We advised the Supervisor and he quickly arranged to have the two display wall cabinets at either end of the study bench, pulled apart and re built to our satisfaction. The independent Assessor is quite expensive ($700.00) and you will think that after he reveals in his report all of the errors with house that you have built a dud house. But as I previously stated , many of these issues are not going to affect the way you enjoy your house. Most common problems were with painting, unevenness, splashes of paint on areas that were not meant to be painted. The tiling in the house was very good and we love the kitchen. I did notice that a couple of the shelves support timbers in the linen cupboard upstairs and coming apart and need a horizontal screw to secure properly. When you do your final inspection, take your time and make a list of any problems so you don't forget anything, but remember you will still have the 90 day maintenance period. Also check the door locks etc on every door during your inspections as we found that a couple of doors did not close properly. Any external door lock issues, let Kurmond know and they will get right onto it as it is a security issue. Happy to answer any further enquiries.

D Sinclair, who do you use for independent advice?

Where are you up to with your build?

We are at brick stage but bricking is taking too long (~2 months)! O

Oh my god that'sa long time..sadly to say I'm a customer experiencing no better service than you are. I have lost faith in them. I have a good supervisor until they guinea pig me to split supervisors. They're excuse is to provide better service..full of crap to me. And many times I get told the guys will be back to complete frame or do bricks..1 person would turn up for an hr who knows he did what..it is regarded as work as advised!

I'm seriously over it..too stressful. Not sure if it is even worth the stress we ith so much money and variations..just to see a quality build in the end. I'm definitely questioning that result worth it or not?!

D Home, how are you going with the build? Should finish by now?

Dear Lar, we would encourage you to visit one of display homes, and speak with our sales consultants for further information relating to the Evoque 40. Kind Regards The Kurmond Family

Spot on! KH is treating their client as a money-making-machine, no morals no ethics!!! They know once clients have paid a huge amount of deposits n initial payments they are not going anywhere- so they treat their clients the way they feel so!!!

BUT KH doesn't aware of the POWER OF KHARMA!!!

Matt, it's a decision you need to assess carefully. D Home is not wrong. The whole paperwork process can take up to 18 months and not fault of Council or your plans unless you change massively. The drafting team simply doesn't care. It took 4 weeks to remove a tree from a plan, then they send wrong plans where left side length is shorter than right side. Then 4 weeks starts again. It should be their responsibilities but as a customer you have to check. Then you see good reviews on final quality build so you on to that hope but the stress you face is far greater than the end result as often the supervisor tells you one thing but nothing happened for 2 weeks in construction. You get brushed off, and supervisor limits 1min talk each update over the phone once a week policy. The build is over 500k with little service. It's terrible. Once you pay 6k..waiting game and frustrations starts..

If you can manage that, by all mean go for Kurmond. I can say it's harder than I have anticipated. I thought I could bear all that so I can look forward to my new home but it's very stressful. Now I can only hope and pray my house will be finished by Oct 18.

Thanks Susan. The more we seem to speak about our build and tell people we are building with Kurmond the more people laugh and say we should've gotten out a long time ago. Their reputation is going downhill very quickly and with so much negative feedback you would think they would at least try to be rebuild their reputation before it's too late. We have 3 friends and my sister who are looking to build at the moment and it could've been easy money under our recommendations but there's no chance now unless a miracle happens. Good luck with your build and hopefully the build quality makes the rest of the stress worthwhile!

Well that's the problem Matt. You would think with all the negative feedback of similar experiences, the Director of Kurmond would straighten up his team but NOT. The worse part of us is waiting and waiting. I've lost faith in them. 3 times in a row contractors have not turned up as advised by my supervisors and promised certain progress stages are done. When you questioned, you get blown up in the face because the supervisors got defensive.

I'm quite easy, and expect good communication. There will be delays and it is acceptable. Just need to be honest with the customers. Building is costing us more than $500k, it is reasonable for us to expect a good service. They are very fast to bill you even though the stages aren't done. They pull the whole "substantial work" wording from contract on me. It doesn't work on me!

Honestly it is not worth the stress irrespective. My friends build happily with other builders. Some experienced bad service but pulled out in time loosing $6k to $10k but extremely happy they have gone with other builder. Their hpuses were complete in 6-7 months. I can't even get an indicative completion date. All I get is "I can't tell you at this stage".

All the best to you. Hope you don't go through what we are going through now or even how others have experienced.

TRUST me - DO NOT PICK KURMOND HOMES! SAVE YOUR SELF from financial and mental stress!!

Don't worry about $2000 & $6000!!!! I wish I have got this chance...

we bought registered land in Oct 2016 and decided to go with Kurmond Home and paid our first $2000 deposit in Dec 2017... and hoping that they will give us our new home before Dec 2018 as they 've managed to start the construction of our home now. Previous during admin/document stage there were different issues - 2 weeks loop for each amendment, long processing time, big list.....Now we are having the different issues as we are on construction stage - e.g. subcontractors not turning up on site and finishing their work as per their given deadlines, supervisors not answering calls, etc...

D Home, they don't answer you becoz they only report the update to you once a week at the end of each week.. Anything more is too much for them to handle..lol And if you question them they would brush you off or turn it around to make it sounds like your fault

Who Knows D Home? They do not respond or even give some indicative dates

Hmmm... Are you building with KH?

Hi "D Home", Kurmond Homes are dedicated to provide a timely pre-construction process, however, when land registration is delayed or Statutory Authority requires additional information or when clients request customization, this in turn, extends the standard process. Please feel free to contact Louise in our HR department on 1300 764 761 or email: louise.bonus@kurmondhomes.com.au.

Thanks for the reply. Well...Conclusion is: Kurmond Home will take realistically 18-22 months to build the new double story home!!!! My suggestion to those people who wants to build home in less than that time then go and find different builder.

Yes - once they commenced - our build all went to plan and was completed 2 weeks ahead of schedule

David...Glad to hear that! So far not true in our case!!! Their Drafting team is painful... poor time management and not good in archiving provided deadline!!! Hope we will get better service as you do .

Poor Project Management - Outcomes Delayed: DANM WAY TOO SLOW in their working style. They need a proper pilot plan to improve project output. As they are handling many clients every day, still don't they know what they will need to make the process FASTER!!!!!! Other Competitive Builders are way faster than Kurmonds! They have an excuse, they have increased work load and they are busy.

FRUSTRATING FACT:

Since March 2017, our floor plan has been final still we haven't started building a home yet and seems like construction will not start for another 3 months! In addition, we still haven't received any CDC approval too. However, it demonstrates how SLOW Kurmond in managing a project.

My experience has been poor and the construction is no better than any other any other builder.

Hello Anjali, Please be aware of Kurmond homes contract especially they have a special condition contract added on to their standard HIA contract. Unfortunately, I have a very bad journey with Kurmond Homes. My problem is still on going. When trouble strikes Kurmond Homes has a knack of stonewalling. They have master the art of denial. Do a bit more research before committing.

All the best and Good luck!

Aggie

Hi Anjali, Thanks for your question. Kurmond Homes are one of the top duplex builders in Sydney and pride ourselves in delivering a quality home. Please be aware duplex builds can be a longer process than a standard project home, especially if changes are made to the design. The planning process along with the council process is always longer than clients anticipate. Our customer service team endeavour to keep our clients up to date and fully informed at all times.

If you have any further questions please call one of our Sales Consultants on 1300 764 761 and they will be able to assist.

So far so good in terms of experience with sales, colors and customer service team, they all are positive, responsive and supportive. Poor Project Management - Outcomes Delayed: DANM WAY TOO SLOW in their working style. They need a proper pilot plan to improve project output. As they are handling many clients every day, still don't they know what they will need to make the process FASTER!!!!!! Other Competitive Builders are way faster than Kurmonds! They have an excuse, they have increased work load and they are busy.

FRUSTRATING FACT:

Since March 2017, our floor plan has been final still we haven't started building a home yet and seems like construction will not start for another 3 months! In addition, we still haven't received any CDC approval too. However, it demonstrates how SLOW Kurmond in managing a project.

$680,000 for a double storey, 4 bedroom each-side duplex

Hi Luke, please contact Kylie in our head office on 1300 764 761 and she will be able to email you a out our full price list of all of our duplex homes as well as explain our process and any additional fees involved when building a Dual Occ.

I will let you know if we decide to go ahead with the building.

Hi James

We paid our initial deposit on 15 November 2016. We are awaiting for the tender and drafting of our plans. Will keep in touch.

Andy

Hello,

I had paid deposit of 2k in First week of Nov'16 and got a draft plan for discussion on 21 Dec 16.

Even though they had the survey and soil test results from the start, we were charged an extra $12000 for driveway and piers more than 6 months later, just as they were about to start the earthworks. the money was required to be paid within 7 days. this was extremely difficult as we had already stretched our budget to the limit for the build. we were effectively being held ransom for the cash.

Hi James, Base house prices are fixed for the period of your tender agreement. Unfortunately, as all builders will advise site costs can vary depending on your block of land. We include Provisional Allowances for the items that we know you will require however these can not be fixed until we are on site and earth works have commenced.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact Kylie in our Head Office on 1300 794 761 and she will be able to help.

So far so good in terms of experience with sales, colours and customer service team, they all are positive, responsive and supportive. Poor Project Management - Outcomes Delayed: DANM WAY TOO SLOW in their working style. They need a proper pilot plan to improve project output. As they are handling many clients every day, still don't they know what they will need to make the process FASTER!!!!!! Other Competitive Builders are way faster than Kurmonds! They have an excuse, they have increased work load and they are busy.

FRUSTRATING FACT:

Since March 2017, our floor plan has been final still we haven't started building a home yet and seems like construction will not start for another 3 months! In addition, we still haven't received any CDC approval too. However, it demonstrates how SLOW Kurmond in managing a project.

Hi Aprilo Looking back at our communications with Kurmond Homes and council, and our photos, we received, - 1 - March 18th 2014 final DA approval from Blue Mountains Council 2 - April 29th 2014Final Plans all done with Kurmond Homes

3 - May 4th ( our site had been prepared for concrete slab )

4 - May 7th ( Our concrete slab had been poured )

5 - June 10th Frame delivered

6 - June 11th Crane was onsite putting frame in place.

Hope this helps.

Raf

Judging from my family friends experience. A more realistic answer to your question would be about a year and a half before any work will begin. Dont count on them to show any urgency as you will be disappointed everytime. You just have to ride it out and hope you dont go mad by the end of it. Their planning/drafting, admin and sales team will send you to the looney bin by the end of your build. Hate to be negative but thats the reality of the situation. And judging from the many other poor reviews on this site, i would say my response is pretty spot on. Good luck.

Hi there,

we just got the keys, it took us 2 years and half(DA and building), please find someone to build your home, it's a bad experience with them. They don't have enough workers to build the house. They can't finish your jobs as they told you.

Hi there,

we just got the keys, it took us 2 years and half(DA and building), please find someone to build your home, it's a bad experience with them. They don't have enough workers to build the house. They can't finish your jobs as they told you.

thanks for the guide,We have a slab and are waiting for frame to get delivered so hopefully quicker from here as we signed with them jan2015 so has been a very drawn out process.

Kurmond Homes are very unprofessional and intentionally delay the work just with a motive to raise the price. They first lured the customers with low price and then delay the project and start raising the price. Don't get attracted by their display home design as nearly all the items are not covered even in the costliest package and they will ask for money for every such thing. Hiring kurmond Homes meaning buying mental stress and depression. Never....ever think about Kurmond Homes, a house of unprofessional, who never stand by their commitment, never replied to your emails or phone calls.

Yes,We are still a few weeks from completion and communication has been scarce although the house and bulid has gone smoothly less stressful but taking a longtime.Before the build started caused us the most depression.

Who ever left a positive review about the Kurmond homes must be telling a lie. In my experience this is the worst builder in Australia. They promise you all good things and get your deposit, and then they sit back and relax with your money for years. In our case they took 40K (5% deposit) and made us wait for 1.5 years. They didn't even have the DA paper work ready even after 1.5 years while we were eagerly waiting for the project to start. Whenever we complained to them about the extreme delay they would lie to us and assure that the project is well on track. Their staffs were extremely unprofessional and rude, none of the staffs would care about the customer or consider you as fellow human. To them you are just another ATM machine to extract more money. Hadn't we given the 5% deposit ,we would have left these thugs longtime ago.

And in the end they got back to us after 1.5 years saying that the coucil changed the rule 7 months ago, hence the promised house cannot be built. They have no answer when we ask them why didn't they apply for the DA before the new rule kicked in as we had started the process to build the house 1.5 years ago. The council told us that they had notified the public about the proposed changes almost 10 months ago and gave plenty of time to public to submit any DA under the old rule. This irresponsible builder just took our money and didn't even look at the job for almost 1.5 years.

Now, they would't respond back to our emails or return back the deposit. Our project has become unfeasible as the council has changed the rules and hence the mentioned house cannot be built anymore.

Kurmond homes is a terrible builder, we are extremely disappointed with them. They ruined my family life and financial stability. Go with them only if your dad or brother is either a thug or a lawyer specializing in building disputes.

So far so good in terms of experience with sales, colours and customer service team, they all are positive, responsive and supportive. Poor Project Management - Outcomes Delayed: DANM WAY TOO SLOW in their working style. They need a proper pilot plan to improve project output. As they are handling many clients every day, still don't they know what they will need to make the process FASTER!!!!!! Other Competitive Builders are way faster than Kurmonds! They have an excuse, they have increased work load and they are busy.

FRUSTRATING FACT:

Since March 2017, our floor plan has been final still we haven't started building a home yet and seems like construction will not start for another 3 months! In addition, we still haven't received any CDC approval too. However, it demonstrate how SLOW Kurmond in managing a project.

We had our house completed only because I had to use the same tactics right back at them and play there game.It ended up being completed October 2016 under major push.Yes they take your deposit and sit on it and a large one to large for you to back out so my advice is take contract before signing with them and take to a solicitor to read through it.They have a mountain of clauses.We were happy with the finish product but getting there was completely stressful.

Regret on our decision to build our new home with Kurmond Home. Here is the summary of our experience; - DEC 2016 - paid our first deposit - MAR 2017 - Plan/tender received (took 3 months to draft a floor plan and estimate a rough figure)

- APR 2017 - paid second deposit and stage 2 full payment (big amount)

- SEP 2017(beginning) - CDC approval received ( took 6 months for Kurmond Home's team to prepare to lodge CDC file, once they lodged our file, CDC approval received in less than 2 weeks time)

- SEP 2017(end) - FCT - Final Construction TENDER received

- NOV(end) - Expecting to start construction

However, we experienced that they are AWFULLY SLOW in processing and they are excellent in creating extra DELAY!

Kurmond Homes provide you TENDER at the end stage, after 6-8 months processing of previous stages and meanwhile when you reach the last stage you never know what would be the scenarios for BANK LOAN APPROVAL, whereas major other builders will provide tender first so your bank approval process gets shorted first.

Well, CONSTRUCTION hasn't started yet so don't' know what would be that experience.

Hope we would have HAPPY ENDING!

Hi Rick! This is an interesting question regarding Kurmond Homes. Email me at acedeuce1987@yahoo.com.au as I would be interested in discussing this matter further in private.

Regards,

Ace.

Hi Rick, You certainly do have legal recourse to recover your money from the builder, It is just a case of whether or not you wish to proceed with the build that would determine your course of action. Fair Trading can also help to move things along.

Here is a little excerpt from the Fair Trading website that explains what the obligations are. Delays in delivery and non-supply Consumers are entitled to expect that stated delivery dates are honoured. If, for example, a lounge was purchased with the delivery date being a specified condition which influenced the consumer’s purchase, the consumer may be entitled to seek redress from the trader, such as a refund of a deposit in the event this condition was essential and was breached. If the trader, at the time the lounge suite was ordered was aware, or should have reasonably been aware, that the lounge could not be delivered as ordered, the trader may be in breach of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

The ACL states that it is unlawful to make false or misleading representations about the supply or possible supply of consumer goods or services. A supplier must not accept payment for goods or services they do not intend to supply, know they cannot supply or cannot supply in a timely manner.

Goods and services must be supplied in the time specified in the contract, or if a time has not been specified, within a reasonable time after accepting payment.

For more information, visit the False and misleading representations page.

Hi Rick, How did you go with Kurmond ? They dont like to give back money they just want to take. Once they get the deposit everything changes. Will be going to NACT - Tribunal next week to get part of the 5% deposit that they have for the past 3 years.

Waiting till the Tribunal is over to give my REVIEW.

Regards

George