Hi, Can anybody give me feedback on their experiences of building with Signature...

My friends are building with Signature Homes in Rodney and they’ve had a whole heap of problems – majorly under estimating the PC sums and ending up with a massive bill – they screwed up 3 key feature points in the house and the big boss doesn’t care or want to try and find a solution

Major under estimating of a PC sum is a major problem for the Company and a small one for you. If the item is listed as PC Sum in the schedule then the final cost must mot exceed that amount by more than 10%. Contract law.

Hi Graeme, I’d be interested to know where you got that figure of 10%, because based on the meaning of PC (Prime Cost) Sum I do not see how it can be correct. It is usually taken to mean an allowance for materials to be supplied by the contractor, but on which the principal (owner) has yet to make a final decision. The actual price is to be substituted for the allowance in due course. So for example, they might put in a PC Sum of $1K for an oven, but if you decide you want an oven that costs $2K, then you have to pay the $2K. So the onus is on you to look at the PC Sums before you sign the contract, to make sure they accurately reflect what you might later choose. Do not confuse PC Sum with Provisional Items, Sums or Quantities. These are for things like earthworks, foundations and drainage, where only estimates of quantities or sizes etc can be made during design, as the final figures might depend on things like soil conditions, or in some cases what the Council might require in the final design. In this type of case you’re much more in the contractor’s or engineer’s hands to make realistic estimates of what might come up. But of course in general the builder will tend to want to err on the low side, because if he’s too conservative it may actually put you off giving him the job. So most engineering/building contracts would include a contingency sum (allowance for the ‘unexpected’, and that’s not you choosing a more expensive oven!) of at least 10% of the total contract price.