Contract!

Yesterday we had our contract meeting/signing.  As with all our appointments to date it has gone smoothly.  There were a couple of hiccups and it took much longer than I expected, but we got there and we now have a contract!

Our appointment was at 9.  We got there and went through a new copy of the tender document with all our new changes in it.  It was pretty much right, but we made a few changes.  We also saw for the first time our bushfire assessment requirements.

The frustrating part of this process was that we had to go through the whole document, in order, then get it revised and go through the whole lot again.  We had 4 big (i.e. expensive) 'optionals' in our upgrades: Colorbond roofing, front door, bricks and internal doors which we had an order of preference for in our heads.  We needed to see all of the prices and the total price before deciding on any of them, which the consultant seemed a little put out about, she wanted us to decide as we went through the document.  I'm not sure if it was the consultant or the system, but it was probably the second most annoying part of the appointment.  As it turned out, we included all four upgrades.

After our first review, we were left waiting for about an hour while they made the changes/investigated what we wanted.  Disappointingly, Porter Davis were not able to provide the fly screen we wanted for the bi-fold doors, despite their manufacturer producing them.  We also couldn't change our front door handle to a different one in the range.  We really want a pull handle on the door, and PD only offer one style.  The other big disappointment was not being able to add a self-closing system to our big, heavy pivot door.  We wanted it for the safety of little fingers, and again, although the door manufacturer can provide the system, PD won't do it.  The perils of a volume builder, I guess!  We will have to look into retrofitting once we are done.

We went through again and made a couple of minor changes.  By this time it was 11:45 so we were told we could go get some lunch while they made the changes and prepared the documents.  An hour later we were back with the contracts in front of us.  Reviewed again, went through the contract, and got signing.  Paid the remainder of our 5% deposit and we were out at 2pm.

This is the list of upgrade from our tender document (excluding electrical).

• Porter Davis extra distance surcharge for build zone 1
• Provide Waterside façade
• Gourmet kitchen promotion
• Indulgent style pack
• Move in essentials pack
• Street appeal promotion pack
• Lifestyle Style Republic 2012 cash back offer
• Site costs
• Provide tapping and connection to ‘Class A’ recycled water system
• Provide 600mm wide eaves to the ground floor front façade including garage. Price excludes eaves part of façade upgrade
• Provide rear alfresco option
• Provide 300mm high raised ceiling to the Entry in lieu of standard
• Provide a laid back gutter with S type flashing to the Garage boundary wall in lieu of standard due to the garage set within 150mm of the side boundary
• Provide spotswood glazing to the window in lieu of clear glazing – bathroom & ensuite WC
• Provide 2040mm high x 820mm wide internal flush panel access to from the garage into the house
• Provide 2340mm high flush panel hinged and latched door in lieu of standard opening – ensuite & theatre
• Provide passage set with privacy adapter including Velocity Summit L1 lever in chrome plate in lieu of standard – quantity: 3
• Provide 2340 high x 1200mm wide clear glazed INFWS 8G pivot door with timber frame and 1 clear glazed sidelite in lieu of standard door and sidelites
• Provide 2100mm x 3600mm wide aluminum bi-fold door unit to living/alfresco in lieu of standard sliding door
• Provide 2 Lockwood 600mm #143 oull handles and 1 lockwood paradigm 005 deadlock (including roller bolt) to front entry door in lieu of standard entrance set
• Provide 2340 high Corinthian Balmoral 2 panel hinged and latched door in lieu of standard 2040mm high flush panel door – quantity: 9
• Provide 2340 high Corinthian Balmoral 2 panel hinged and latched door in lieu of standard 2040mm high flush panel door – quantity: 2
• Provide 1 Deadbolt symmetry 7107 double symmetry to garage internal access door
• Provide Corinthian quickslide RMDF2 unit including 2 2040mm high x 720mm wide flush panel doors with finger grips in lieu of standard – quantity: 3
• Provide category 4 brickwork in lieu of standard builder’s range
• Provide off-white mortar in lieu of standard mortar
• Provide colourbond roofing to the house and garage in lieu of standard
• Provide 425mm x 425mm x 90mm tiled niche to the bathroom shower wall
• Provide 325mm x 1025mm x 90mm tiled niche to the ensuite shower wall
• Provide pot drawer unit including 2 360mm high pot drawers – quantity: 2
• Provide laminex door handle (stainless steel) code 869968 to all base laminate doors/drawers only to kitchen, ensuite, bathroom and laundry
• Provide fireproofing to glass splashback
• Provide starfire glasssplashback up to full height in lieu of standard category 1 floor tiles
• Provide 20mm category 1 caesar stone to laundry bench in lieu of laminate
• Provide 20mm category 1 caesar stone to ensuite vanity in lieu of laminate
• Provide 20mm category 1 caesar stone to bathroom vanity in lieu of laminate
• Provide Blanco stainless steel kick plate to suit Blanco 900mm free standing oven
• Provide 1 Blanco BWGG90X rangehood to kitchen in lieu of rangehood from promotion
• Provide Telstra underground trench
• Provide Atlanta hob gooseneck fixed and academy bath/shower mixer round to bathroom 1 bath in lieu of standard
• Provide 1 Olympic hand held shower and rail with 1 caroma aqua wall mixer to bathroom 1 in lieu of standard
• Provide 1 additional capped gas point
• Provide everhard 45l stainless steel insert trough to laundry in lieu of standard
• Provide a 1200mm x 900mm shower to ensuite in lieu of standard 900mm x 900mm
• Provide Posh Solus w/veggie sprayer sink mixer to laundry trough in lieu of standard
• Provide 1 additional heating point
• Provide evaporative cooling to whole of house excluding utility areas as per standard layout
• Provide an extended mirror over the bath in the Bathroom (approx 900mm extension)
• Provide floor and wall tile variation as per the tile selection document
• Provide supa blu underlay in lieu of standard black underlay
• Provide bushfire attach level compliance
• Provide upgrade to evaporative cooling until to include aluminium mesh screens/seals to prevent against ember attack

As I think I mentioned previously, I had the Alifrost cupboards (which were included in our kitchen promo) changed back to the standard laminate so that all the overhead cupboards would match.

We also already have a Post-Contract Variation!  We had upgraded some of the internal doors in two stages.  First, we upgraded the height of the pantry and master bedroom doors at tender.  Then, yesterday, we upgraded all internal doors to high, coritech doors with a PBAL2 design.  Later in the meeting we realised that we would prefer the pantry door to be a flush panel door, as it is a slider.  So they took the pantry door off the door upgrades, but this meant that we also lost the first variation to height, which we still wanted.  We only realised after the contracts had been printed, so PCV it had to be.

If I get the time I will come back and post room by room what all our upgrades are.

So excited to have a contract!