Final Construction Drawings - Signed

On Wednesday we attended an appointment at Porter Davis with our Building Coordinator (BC) to sign off our construction drawings.

It was supposed to be a quick 30 mins meeting but it went for about 2.5 hrs. Even though there weren't many mistakes in the drawings we still had a few changes that we needed to discuss. Our BC was also kind enough to go through the drawings with us page by page, measurement by measurement, note by note to ensure they were all up to standards and error free. She managed to pick-up a few discrepancies on the drawings which were rectified on the day.

The changes that were made are as follows:

• Added a cold water tap to the fridge space
• Changed the spout to the bathroom bath tub
• Added some notes for rendering
• Fixed the figure for the void under the kitchen island
• Removed the note for glazing to the laundry glass doors
• Added measurement for garage door

It was a pretty easy and successful appointment compared to our Tender and contract. We left the Porter Davis office feeling confident about the drawings and the choices we had made.

Unfortunately, that was overshadowed by the issues we had with the Natural Gas supply to the area but we are working to rectify it and feel that we have found a good solution. We're looking forward to starting the build. 

Thanks for reading :) 

Building Permit issued

We got some good news today! 

Our building permit has been issued and our Building Coordinator sent us the permit and approved drawings on the same day. 

Hopefully this will be the start of more good news.  Looking forward to finally starting to see our home get build. 

Information regarding LPG/NG compatibility our appliances

So after receiving the lovely news of not having natural gas at our block till September 2015, I decided to do some more research regarding our appliances and their compatibility with LPG/NG.

Porter Davis told us that none of our appliances would be able to change over from LPG --> NG after hand over. Boy were they wrong. Here is section of the email I sent to PD today:

• Rinnai Infinity 26

Confirmed by the manufacturer that it is LPG --> Natural Gas convertible. Part number for the kit is: 92099311

• Blanco BFD9058FX

Confirmed on the manufactures website that it can be converted to natural gas even if order in LPG originally. Please see manual attached page 29. Also here is a screen shot. 

• Brivis Ducted heating HX30i

Available in LPG and confirmed by manufacturer that there is a conversion kit from NG --> LPG. Part no. B061776

Surprise, surprise. I have contacted Porter Davis and asked them to review this information and install LPG appliances to our home as well as the provision for some LPG bottles. The gas company has agreed to cover the cost of the conversion back to Natural Gas for all our appliances.

Thanks for reading. 

No Gas!! What do you mean no Gas?

Hi all,

Today we got some really bad and frustrating news. We have been told that there will be no natural gas supply until September 2015!

As you can imagine, this was really disappointing for us. Especially having been so excited for our site start this Friday.

The gas company APA Group has advised that we get our builder to install appliances that are compatible with LPG and they will change them over to natural gas when the time comes.

Unfortunately, Porter Davis is refusing to do this. They will either supply all LPG equipment or all natural gas equipment. Obviously we don't want a house that only runs on LPG tanks. So we are now stuck in a situation where we are due to move in at the latest June/July but cannot obtain a certificate of occupancy. Meaning we will be paying 95% mortgage and rent for 3-4 months whilst we wait.

What an absolute joke! Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Second soil test received

Slight progress... better than none I guess!

Yesterday I received the second soil test from Porter Davis. It took the Engineering company almost 3 weeks to complete this. 

Anyway, here is a snip of the results. Compared to the initial soil test it seems that they didn't hit any rock. Any feedback on the report is welcomed. 

Patience is a virtue. Well at least when you're building!

Yet another month has passed and we are yet to start out build. It seems January is probably one of the laziest and slowest months of the year. Here is a quick update on the progress we have had recently:

• Bank has given unconditional approval
• Second soil test was ordered on the 06/01/2015 and we are still waiting for the results!
• Building permit is being held up by the soil test
• Final construction drawings also waiting on the soil test

We are due to go to site on the 30/01/2015 but this is becoming less feasible with every day that goes past.

Fortunately, our current Building Coordinator is absolutely wonderful and responds to my emails/calls within the same day. At worst it will be early the next day! Very impressed and grateful for her top notch service. 

Porter Davis is chasing up the engineering company to provide a report for the soil test. The engineering company says they have already done the test and have a back log of reports to completed.

The strange thing is I have been out to the block and could not see any holes or disturbed soil whatsoever! Who to believe...?

You definitely need to be patient when building a home...

Thanks for reading!

Pay us $900 or no buiding permit... Surprise!

Hi All,

Our building coordinator emailed us yesterday to inform us that the council is holding of issuing our Building Permit because we have not yet paid the $900  'Community Infrastructure Levy'. Say what?!

After frantically calling around to get an answer, mind you this was 4pm on a Friday afternoon. We finally got an answer from the council that the developer of Merrifield has decided to pass this cost onto the purchasing party. Here is the paragraph derived from the Hume City Council website (http://www.hume.vic.gov.au/Building_Planning/Planning/Planning_Fees):

'Community Infrastructure Levy

The Community Infrastructure Levy is a fee paid to Council by developers to assist in the provision of local facilities and services for each estate.The levy is generally paid for upfront by the developers upon settlement of a parcel of land. However, for some estates the developers will pass this requirement on to individual land owners.It is recommended that you contact the land developer for further information on your specific estate. Alternatively you can contact Council’s Strategic Planning department on (03) 9205 2200.'

At no point throughout the sales process did the developer disclose that there will be a levy passed down to us after settlement.

In the interested of not further delaying our build we will be paying the Levy first thing Monday morning. Having said that, I have sent an email to the Vendor requesting if this cost has truly been passed onto us the land owners and why it wasn't disclosed to us.

Thank your for reading.