The last few months have been very busy including our tender appointments, yes appointment's', and contract signing. We had 2 tender appointments because at our first appointment we didn't feel comfortable signing. It felt a bit rushed at the eleventh hour. We knew our site costs were going to be high but couldn't get costings until tender. It made it difficult to make decisions on what we can include and what we can't. At the tender they still
hadn't received our custom quote for data/tv/phone wiring which I was also expecting to be high. So, we went through the first tender process which was good once we got over the initial hurdles. Initially we were considerable over budget but we were also expecting to be. The tender process didn't allow us to make changes to our electrical, flooring, and kitchen upgrades which made it difficult to work back to our budget. We left the first tender appointment a bit confused by the process but also new our tender presenter was aware we felt a stuck in the process. Following the appointment I sat down at home and went through our tender document looking for reductions in electrical, flooring and kitchen costs.
Our second appointment came around quickly enough. At the end of our first appointment our presenter suggested some changes that may help with costs so we were keen to see the results. We had quite a bit of back and forth with emails between our tender presenter and building coordinator but still wasn't sure if we would achieve budget. As we sat down I couldn't wait any longer and asked what our price was. To our amazement we were now five thousand under budget. And to further our amazement we still had several upgrades included that I had accepted would have to go during our email conversations like Timber facade Windows and Honeywell Tuxedo Alarm. The price even included our custom quoted items for data wiring, theatre cabinet and additional alarm sensors. We were very happy and excited because it had become real and we were indeed moving forward with the process. As you can imagine the second tender appointment was pretty much smooth sailing but still takes the time for checking and double checking selections. Was made it even better was that we now had a few thousand up our sleeve to add a few items back in.
A few weeks after signing our tender our contract appointment arrived. We had done a bit of adjustments at the second tender and had a few questions about additional items we would like now that we had a few thousand grace. Our building coordinator/contract presenter was fantastic and she just made things happen for us. Our contract price was $580 over budget but we are so happy because there are so many items and upgrades that have been included that we were not expecting or even contemplating because of budget restraints. The contract signing was again straight forward with mostly checking and double checking specs and selections. You can't be to careful and need be aware of exactly what you are expecting to be building and selections you've made. Although we had already spent many weeks prior selecting items and had them in the tender somehow a few things get changed. Not to worry, if you've got a keen eye you will pickup on them and they easliy change them.
To end this post we are very very happy with the result and the hard work the team at Porter Davis have done to get us where we are. It was a bit of a rocky start and I think the people we were dealing with recognised this and put in a big effort to get it back on track. We are building a home that is now exceeding our expectations at our budget. We couldn't be happier. Let's see what town planning brings... Yep, we have to go through town planning because we are a little outside their criteria.
Until next time,
Dale.
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