Big Dilemma with Dual Occ

M

molif

I have a bit of a dilemma on my hands in that my wife and I decided back in April 2011 that we'd use Metricon to build our dual occ in Bentleigh and what a disastrous decision that proved to be!

It has taken them from April last year to now just to submit a planning application to Glen Eira council. Council came back and essentially said that their design was just totally inappropriate for the area and so they have had to rejig it significantly.

We're now at the stage where our relationship with Metricon is just untenable and we want to give our business to someone else. My intention is for someone else to take the existing design and make some changes to it to the extent that Metricon can no longer claim it as their design and then I'd be looking for a builder to take it over; any recommendations would be greatly appreciated or any draftsmen/builders out there looking for work, I'd love to hear from you.

Does anybody have any suggestions as to whether I wait for Metricon to get it through Council first and then reassign it to someone else or should I just take it away from them now? We've already paid them just over $15K so we will obviously lose that but we just cannot work with these clowns any more; nothing gets done!

Any input greatly appreciated as we are at our wits' end.

Thanks guys.
 
We're also doing a dual occ. We've gone through Design Equilibrium 03 9878 6118 and are very happy so far. We're not at the council submission stage yet, but the designs are very well considered, especially given the complexity of our site.

I'd be talking to someone else before you get the approvals. It makes sence if the next group you work with had a different design which may have different site considerations.
 
You will not be able to use the Metricon design as they hold the copyright. Even if you tweak some of the details it is still basically theirs. Don't believe the urban myth that if you change 10% then you are OK. It is what you DON'T change that counts - if it still bears a resemblance to their design they have you on toast. Even more hard to defend since you have been in the process of buying through them.

Looks as if the best course of action is to write off the $15K.
MNarag
 
As marg/propertunity have said - start from scratch. Just write off the 15k as a tax deduction and at least you get some back. Metricon are clowns - never ever go with the big builders.
 
Aaron_C said:
As marg/propertunity have said - start from scratch. Just write off the 15k as a tax deduction and at least you get some back. Metricon are clowns - never ever go with the big builders.
Click to expand...

Some of the smaller ones aren't any better......... if they survive.

Have 2 clients chasing insurance for incomplete construction coz the builder went belly up..........

Its a serious mess that may force one of them to the wall

Ta
rolf
 
Thanks all for your contributions; it's sounding like I write off the $15K or somehow try to muddle through this mess with Metricon until the bitter end :(
 
I agree with everyone else in starting from scratch. I like to steer clear of any work to do with metricon as they're nothing but trouble. Talking to some of my tradie mates who have done some work for them have been stuffed around with pay. Their homes are all to the minimum standard and for anyone working on them to make any money the work has to be rushed.

If you want I can give you the details of my architect who can do some realistic designs.

Cheers,
 
I have no idea about Metricon, but I'd agree with the others to go with someone else now.
I'd also be trying to get some money back from Metricon. It sounds like they did not provide a timely service, and they also should have known if the design was "totally inappropriate" for the area.
In effect, they havent provided you with the service you paid for.

See if you can get at least a partial refund, and if not, try going to Fair Trading to see if they can help.
 
dont walk away from the $15k. Google metricon and youll find the names of some good property/building lawyers, who you can also use to go over the next contract you enter into.

there is at least one other volume builder that gives you a guaranteed site start when you first deposit with them.

Note, most volume builders dont like doing dual occ, and of those that do a fair proportion will ask you to get the council permits building permits and subdivision etc. Again, outsourcing this to a good property lawyer may be very cost effective.
 
$15k written off to Metricon, or at the cost of another couple perhaps recouping it with costs? In my experience it has been well worth paying proffessionals.

the other alternative is Today Tonight, although Im not sure how interested they will be in the 'battlers in bentliegh' story. Sewerage in tarneit bedroom due to shoddy workmanship seems to get their attention though.
 
Thanks again to everyone for your input. As much as I'd really like to walk away from this now, the 2 reasons I'm considering sticking it out is obviously because I don't want to lose what I've invested already and secondly, and just as importantly, I can't face having to start this whole process again with another designer / builder - another 3 - 6 months lost!

I would prefer not to enter into any sort of litigation as there's usually only one party that wins there. I had the Metricon team lead contact me today promising to do his best to get this over the line with council ASAP. Let's see how we go....any more hiccups and we 're out of there. I'm sure I'd rather forego the $15K by that point and retain my sanity!

Keep you posted.....
 
molif said:
Thanks again to everyone for your input. As much as I'd really like to walk away from this now, the 2 reasons I'm considering sticking it out is obviously because I don't want to lose what I've invested already and secondly, and just as importantly, I can't face having to start this whole process again with another designer / builder - another 3 - 6 months lost!

I would prefer not to enter into any sort of litigation as there's usually only one party that wins there. I had the Metricon team lead contact me today promising to do his best to get this over the line with council ASAP. Let's see how we go....any more hiccups and we 're out of there. I'm sure I'd rather forego the $15K by that point and retain my sanity!

Keep you posted.....
Click to expand...

sounds like metricon hasn't been paying (the protection money), ops i mean political donations.
 
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