We have decided to go with the M Class Slab as this was actually $500 cheaper than the S Class Piering option, however, our site costs have increased 500% from a quoted $729 to an incredible $3,827, which has well and truly eroded any credit we hoped to get back given we were quoted an H1 slab initially. I am now in the process of seeking a detailed breakdown of the site costs from the Estimator because I feel we have now been taken for a ride due to the fact we were due to receive a credit.
Our final drawings also now show a retaining wall required down the LHS of our property, running approximately half the length from front towards the rear. Although only 400-600mm in height, it is again another cost that we were not expecting given the first lot of drawings we received.
To top it all off, Plantation have also input an allowance into our latest Post Contract Variation of $10,000 for "potential rock excavation during cut/fill". Our cut is 550mm and according to the soil test, there is "weak rock" (ie. shale) from 500mm. So without a doubt now, I will be spending a day or two at the site when they cut/fill to ensure they either do/don't hit rock because for some odd reason, I'm not going to trust what Plantation tell me without seeing it for myself.
On some positive notes though:
- The construction fencing from the civil contractors is due to come down next week sometime which means we will finally be able to drive up to our block
- We have also been assigned a street number - no longer are we a generic "lot 344", but we are officially #15 :)
- And our kitchen appliances have been paid for in full and we will be picking them up and putting them in storage sometime in the next couple of weeks. The only change we made was the dishwasher - initially we were going to bring our dishwasher from the unit over, but we have decided to leave that there and purchase a shiny new Stainless Steel ASKO dishwasher :)
I haven't put any photos up as it looks essentially unchanged at this stage - all the fun will begin in about 6-8 weeks when the construction vehicles roll up :)
How did you went with the site inspection? Did Plantation quoted you correctly for the 'weak rock'? We are currently waiting for our post variation. After reading this we starting to get nervous. I might get heart attack if our quote jump by 500% as well :((
ReplyDeleteSo the "site costs" were in relation to the cut/fill of the block - didn't have anything to do with the rock. We ended up getting a $2,500 credit back in relation to the site works and we didn't need to use any of the $10,000 "rock allowance". Overall a pretty good outcome.
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