Mythical Beast

Are you sitting comfortably as this is going to be a lengthy epistle….

[Griffin from mythortruth.com]

No, I’ve not sighted a griffin but that other mythical beast, our final paperwork, arrived on Thursday 26^th February.

The final bundle covered:

• End Panel
• Post Contract Variation
• Construction Plans
• Amended Progress Payments
• Progress Claim Certificate

That’s a lot of pages to check, sign and scan.

Builders and Banks can have differing progress payment schedules but this is what Wisdom require:

5%   deposit on signing contract

25% due on completion of concrete slab

20% due on erection of frame and roof trusses

20% due on completion of brickwork

20% due on commencement of internal linings

10% due on practical completion

 

We had paid our 5% deposit way back last year but now we need to pay the difference between our contract price and the contract plus post contract variations price. There is a bit to pay as we have had a few post contract variations what with the split level and all….

Once all the final paperwork is signed and returned complete with remaining deposit then we are handed over to the Production Estimating Team. They are responsible for ordering everything required for the build from bricks and frames down to taps and door handles. They also order the famous portaloo and site fencing, site scrape etc. This takes 10 – 20 working days which will probably mean start of April for us.

Only one problem with the final paperwork and that was again our gas fire. The saga continues and it stretches back all the way to April 2014…

After our Tender presentation in April we asked Wisdom to quote us for a Jetmaster XLR plus gas fire which was to vent out the side of the wall rather than through the Colorbond roof.

A variation was raised with a hefty Provisional Allowance (PA) as the price would be determined after our plans were drawn up. In September Wisdom came back with the price for it which came as a nice surprise as it was substantially less than the PA. The wording had been changed but we assumed that it still reflected what we had requested to be supplied so we signed off on it. First mistake – never assume.

Long story short – final Construction plans different to signed off plans – show wrong fireplace layout affecting house foot print – plans corrected – end panel received – query fireplace wording – realise incorrect flue used – Wisdom say cost more – need to go back to Estimating.

At which point my heart sank, there went signing off our final paperwork in February. So I contacted Jetmaster in Castle Hill to ask what the cost implication would be. Fantastic service from them, they contacted Wisdom as they supply to them and sorted it all out in a day with no price change. Result!

Final paperwork amended quickly and ready to sign off. Printer dies – cheers! Quick trip to Office Works, sign and scan,  send back to Wisdom and to the Bank. Start to chill bubbles to celebrate – job done – signed off. Hold that thought don’t pop the cork just yet….

Wisdom contact us to say the Estimating manager noticed an error with the split level roof, the plans were drawn incorrectly plus there was an extra pit in the rain garden we didn’t need. Better to discover it at this stage than on site. However they had included the corrected plans – turnaround one day. I wish the rest of the paperwork had been so quick 🙂

Finally, finally, finally we signed it all off at the beginning of March.

Wait patiently for Bank to process final paperwork. Well hubby waited patiently I was champing at the bit and three weeks later the Bank says yes :).

 

Happy dance in honour of my Irish roots and St Patrick’s Day last week:

 

Send Bank paperwork to Wisdom to prove we have the funds to commence. Wisdom say it is not the Letter of Authority to Commence Construction (LACC) they require.

Ask Wisdom to talk directly to the Bank, leave the middlemen – us – out of it we only pay for it … After a few days the Bank gives them acceptable paperwork including evidence of funds.

Wisdom now produce a Funding Gap Calculation which is the Cost of the build minus the Construction Loan amount which is a heck of a bit more than 5%. Funds get transferred and finally, finally, finally we are out of Admin. 🙂

Battered and bruised but we got there! I only hope that the Construction phase goes better than the admin phase.

I think I’d rather go through childbirth again than Admin. We signed up with Wisdom in December 2013, land registration was October 2014 and Admin finished March 2015. That’s 15 months to complete – the same as the gestation period of a giraffe. Could be worse – the gestation period of an elephant is 22 months.