The off topic thread #2

[SM]

Hm. I am only a little skeptical about speeds/connection with that, that's the only thing.

With what?

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Hm. I am only a little skeptical about speeds/connection with that, that's the only thing.

There's a webpage to test what speeds you may be able to achieve

http://www.adsl2exchanges.com.au/detailedsummarystart.php

 

[Cruyff14]

Wifi

 

[SM]

Wifi

Naked broadband isn't WiFi mate.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Wifi

There'd have to be a modem of some kind surely.

 

[Cruyff14]

Naked broadband isn't WiFi mate.

Oh.

There'd have to be a modem of some kind surely.

It's a modem you connect wirelessly to.

 

[SM]

Oh.


It's a modem you connect wirelessly to.

Naked broadband is literally just instead of paying for a broadband connection and a phone connection you just pay for broadband.

 

[Cruyff14]

Ah yep.

 

[SM]

Brilliant.

 

[Bojan KantKick]

Brilliant.

that is tremendous.

The only thing I'd have done differently would be to have Dangerfield surf in to land in his suit. Now that would be something!

 

[Bojan KantKick]

It's ******* snowing. 37 degrees 5 days ago to zero.....

I'm going to Norway to see the norf lights next month. going to be -20. If I'm not posting in March then I've lost my fingers to hyperthermia and it's been nice knowing you all.

 

[Cruyff14]

Had a surveyor look at the pictures regarding the air con unit and he came with six reasons as to why it's not feasible to go where the builder has stated (not in the doorway, around the corner). Going to be very interesting to see where it goes from here, but we will definitely be fighting this.

 

[Zidane98]

Had a surveyor look at the pictures regarding the air con unit and he came with six reasons as to why it's not feasible to go where the builder has stated (not in the doorway, around the corner). Going to be very interesting to see where it goes from here, but we will definitely be fighting this.

What happened? They want extra money to install it?

 

[Cooldude]

So Ariana Grande and John Legend will re-record beauty and the beast end theme, last time I checked Celine Dion's still alive...

 

[Fryer Tuck]

Brilliant.

Colonial Germany near Australia?! Never mind the fact it didn't exist for 100 years afterwards, but... What the... I know someone had to bring the beers, but I'm sure the Dutch had that covered. No Spanish or Portuguese...

Otherwise, yeah, pretty good ad otherwise!

 

[Cruyff14]

What happened? They want extra money to install it?

Long story.

So, after realising the AC pipe was in the way of the door, we addressed this with the agent who passed our information onto the builder. The builder responded with the following "The air conditioning condenser will not be located directly in the doorway. It will be located around the corner as shown on the attached plan. It was never going to be installed in front of the door but the pipe work had to come through the façade in this location and wrap around the corner due to the location of the structural column you can also see on the plan. This column prevented the most direct route to the condenser being taken. This is the ideal location for the condenser as it is the only section of the façade that is not a window, so anywhere else on the balcony it would be visible from within the apartment. This location was also dictated by the floor waste for any condensate run off from the unit. As you can see in the photos sent through from Iain, the floor waste is directly beside the final location of the condenser.".

---

Now, there are some issues with that, it's in front of the drainpipe and presents other issues. I emailed a building surveyor today, who from pictures alone said to say (the dot points) to the agent (I obviously added the rest)

Upon further assessment, the responses provided, to be quite frank are not good enough.

I had a building consultant look at the same pictures that were provided to you and from the pictures alone he could ascertain what has been said is not acceptable.

Location
· The downpipe is in the proposed location of the condenser, which will cause the condenser to be at least the width of the pipe away from the wall. This will only cause a loss in the overall balcony width which will limit the use of the area.
· The condenser would sit over the drain and its legs could affect the flow of water on the balcony, which may cause the pooling of water. Which as well as an inconvenience, could cause water to seep under the tiles/grout and cause the tiles to become loose.
· Further to the above item the pooling of water would pose an additional risk due to the slip and R value of the tiles. Please provide manufacturers specifications for the Slip resistance value of the tiles to confirm adequacy.

This is now an issue and must be rectified. We purchased the apartment because of the large balcony, and now we are losing much of that appeal due to what the builder has said regarding the condenser. Not to mention the proposal of where to put it causes a multitude of issues, as listed above.

Something needs to be done.

Additionally we would like to obtain the mechanical and hydraulic plans.

I await your reply and am eager for your assistance in resolving this matter.

Look forward to hearing from you.

---

The agent replied saying

This will need to be resolved via the solicitors as me going back and forward with the builders who are only following plans will not be able to provide you with the adequate responses you are looking for.

I am unsure as to what can be done here therefore I would recommend you take this up with your solicitor.

---

So I will contact our lawyer on Monday and go from there and see what happens. Not going to pursue this obviously if it's going to cost us thousands of dollars.

--------

TL; DR, we have issues with the placement of the a/c condenser, asked for it to be rectified, agent said talk to your solicitor.

 

[glenferry23]

Long story.

So, after realising the AC pipe was in the way of the door, we addressed this with the agent who passed our information onto the builder. The builder responded with the following "The air conditioning condenser will not be located directly in the doorway. It will be located around the corner as shown on the attached plan. It was never going to be installed in front of the door but the pipe work had to come through the façade in this location and wrap around the corner due to the location of the structural column you can also see on the plan. This column prevented the most direct route to the condenser being taken. This is the ideal location for the condenser as it is the only section of the façade that is not a window, so anywhere else on the balcony it would be visible from within the apartment. This location was also dictated by the floor waste for any condensate run off from the unit. As you can see in the photos sent through from Iain, the floor waste is directly beside the final location of the condenser.".

---

Now, there are some issues with that, it's in front of the drainpipe and presents other issues. I emailed a building surveyor today, who from pictures alone said to say (the dot points) to the agent (I obviously added the rest)

Upon further assessment, the responses provided, to be quite frank are not good enough.

I had a building consultant look at the same pictures that were provided to you and from the pictures alone he could ascertain what has been said is not acceptable.

Location
· The downpipe is in the proposed location of the condenser, which will cause the condenser to be at least the width of the pipe away from the wall. This will only cause a loss in the overall balcony width which will limit the use of the area.
· The condenser would sit over the drain and its legs could affect the flow of water on the balcony, which may cause the pooling of water. Which as well as an inconvenience, could cause water to seep under the tiles/grout and cause the tiles to become loose.
· Further to the above item the pooling of water would pose an additional risk due to the slip and R value of the tiles. Please provide manufacturers specifications for the Slip resistance value of the tiles to confirm adequacy.

This is now an issue and must be rectified. We purchased the apartment because of the large balcony, and now we are losing much of that appeal due to what the builder has said regarding the condenser. Not to mention the proposal of where to put it causes a multitude of issues, as listed above.

Something needs to be done.

Additionally we would like to obtain the mechanical and hydraulic plans.

I await your reply and am eager for your assistance in resolving this matter.

Look forward to hearing from you.

---

The agent replied saying

This will need to be resolved via the solicitors as me going back and forward with the builders who are only following plans will not be able to provide you with the adequate responses you are looking for.

I am unsure as to what can be done here therefore I would recommend you take this up with your solicitor.

---

So I will contact our lawyer on Monday and go from there and see what happens. Not going to pursue this obviously if it's going to cost us thousands of dollars.

--------

TL; DR, we have issues with the placement of the a/c condenser, asked for it to be rectified, agent said talk to your solicitor.

Contracts of sale for off the plan apartments are obviously heavily weighted to favour the developer.

However there should be clauses within them about structural defects, ask your solicitor to scour through this in full detail. See if there is something you can claw upon to potentially delay/postpone the settlement until you are satisfied it's acceptable.

That way, you/your lawyer can at least use this as a bargaining chip or threat to the other party to ensure its fixed. Without something meaningful in the contract to cite, unfortunately you may just have to settle and then deal with it afterwards.

But for now, it might only cost you a few hundred dollars for your solicitor to do some intel here and potentially save you the headache and costs later on.

 

[Cruyff14]

Contracts of sale for off the plan apartments are obviously heavily weighted to favour the developer.

However there should be clauses within them about structural defects, ask your solicitor to scour through this in full detail. See if there is something you can claw upon to potentially delay/postpone the settlement until you are satisfied it's acceptable.

That way, you/your lawyer can at least use this as a bargaining chip or threat to the other party to ensure its fixed. Without something meaningful in the contract to cite, unfortunately you may just have to settle and then deal with it afterwards.

But for now, it might only cost you a few hundred dollars for your solicitor to do some intel here and potentially save you the headache and costs later on.

Yeah I am gonna contact him on Monday and explain the situation (he's back from holidays then).

Not much we can do until then. I guess we could really live with it if we had to, but we've paid nearly $500,000, we want it to be how we want it, where possible.

 

[glenferry23]

Yeah I am gonna contact him on Monday and explain the situation (he's back from holidays then).

Not much we can do until then. I guess we could really live with it if we had to, but we've paid nearly $500,000, we want it to be how we want it, where possible.

You've got nothing really to lose trying this. Sure it might cost you a little bit extra (a good lawyer though could read through a contract in an hour or two), but they might uncover just what you need. Some defect pertaining to water spillage etc.

From a developer's point of view, they don't really care. They'll build it as they want and knowing they're so close to settlement and already have your deposit. In that respect, you're cornered.

But having a clause to talk to, that might mean they have to wait longer to get their money, well maybe they'll just suck it up and fix it for you.

 

[Cruyff14]

Yeah, I mean, we've paid our deposit, but if we can delay settlement (save more money), and get an outcome that is more desirable than the current one, we would have won.

Be interesting to see where it goes from here.

Agent probably thinks we're a little difficult haha.

 

[Bojan KantKick]

You've got nothing really to lose trying this. Sure it might cost you a little bit extra (a good lawyer though could read through a contract in an hour or two), but they might uncover just what you need. Some defect pertaining to water spillage etc.

From a developer's point of view, they don't really care. They'll build it as they want and knowing they're so close to settlement and already have your deposit. In that respect, you're cornered.

But having a clause to talk to, that might mean they have to wait longer to get their money, well maybe they'll just suck it up and fix it for you.

move quickly because they'll shut down the company straight after settlement and then you're ****ed.

 

[Zidane98]

How much will it cost to rectify it?


I bought in April 2009 during the GFC. Builder was supposed to include 2 garage doors both with electric motors which were absent upon final inspection. I threatened to pay the settlement less $1500 but couldn't get that through solicitors so just ended up wearing the extra cost rather than fighting it.

 

[glenferry23]

move quickly because they'll shut down the company straight after settlement and then you're stuffed.

Yep, very true. That's the advantage of an SPV I guess, complete the project then wind up the company.

 

[Zidane98]

Yep, very true. That's the advantage of an SPV I guess, complete the project then wind up the company.

So if there's any defects too bad?

 

[jod23]

Any thoughts on the Golden Globes guys?

Atlanta cleaning up has made me want to watch it even more.