Builder discussion about franchise

Platinum Homes – Hawke’s Bay We are considering building with Platinum Homes in Hawke’s Bay. Does anyone have any experience building with them or another franchise across the country? Henry has been great to deal with to date. I am especially interested in: – Quality of the final product – Adherence to budget and timelines – Communication throughout the project Thanks.

Looking for anyone that has had recent experience with Sentinel homes Auckland North & West Franchise. Maree and Leon Van de Water currently have the Franchise and we are looking at entering into a contract to have them build a family home. Communication has been good so far but we haven’t yet handed over any money. Not to much on them in the comments section and it’s always such a gamble when spending that much money so keen to hear of people’s experiences.

Hello, I am hoping someone can help me with some advice I entered a build contract in Feb 2021 with a national franchise to build a simple two storey home. To date progress has been excruciatingly slow, for a long time I gave them the benefit of the doubt as the previous home on the section needed to be demolished and this relied on external contractors but now that the build is on them and they are continually failing to meet any deadlines and make promises of work timeline that aren’t met. A concrete slab was finally laid March this year and to date they haven’t yet managed to complete the wall framing almost 3 months later. I drive past other builds regularly and see must faster progress. The speed of the build is causing me financial and emotional stress but the project manager and franchise owner don’t care and believe the speed of the build is reasonable and have heavily blamed covid. They have taken all access to timelines off me and when I ask for updated timelines and expected handover date either my e-mail is ignored, they tell me that timelines are just for booking contractors or give vague approximations of a handover date. The whole situation has left me feeling completely powerless and often in tears. I don’t want to name and shame the business yet but I wouldn’t want anyone to sign a build contract with them and have to go through what I am. They have all the power in this situation and can take as long as they want to build the house. I understand covid has caused material/trade problems but the delays I am seeing seem completely unreasonable. Is there anything I can do? Thanks

Hi All, I’d just like to draw your attention to an article in the NZ Herald today (17/3/22), page A7, concerning a legal dispute between some house owners’ and the Nelson franchise of G J Gardner Homes (LSK Builders Ltd). The dispute is obviously long standing and complex, and I have no comment on who is in the right. The point of interest is that it appears the builder has used a clause in the Contract to ‘register a mortgage over the title to the property’. I may be wrong, but I suspect the Contract may be the Master Builders one, which contains a clause like this. This issue has been discussed before in this blog. I’m not a lawyer, but in my opinion common sense should tell anyone about to build who is presented with a Contract containing a clause like this that they should ask for it to be deleted.

Hi folks, I am wanting to demolish my house on a cross lease property I own and build a new house. I found this site very informative and thanks to everybody for posting valuable comments . I am now very wary of getting my house build through Franchisee builders like GJ Gardner or A1 Homes as they are mostly pretty much the same in terms of cost overruns, time overruns etc . I am planning now to employ a town planner cum architect to do my resource consents , house design and then building consents . Then have a local builder build the house. Can some one kindly suggest whether this is a good move or are we stuck with these franchisee companies to do the builds

Homes by Maxim or Maxim Homes. Great at the start but disappointed about the follow up service once signed up. Over promises and under delivers. No follow up service at all. Would not highly recommend as there are better builders in the Canterbury region way better and economical than them.

I’ve worked for multiple “group housing firms” (10 years total) and been in the building industry for 25 years. Here’s the thing with 99% of these franchises… they are generally owned and operated by people with little or no knowledge of house construction and very little or no knowledge on how to actually run a business or manage the people within it. Directors very quickly get a god like complex and their ignorant opinions hold sway over fact and reality. They are more interested in hiring people who agree with them than those who actually know what they are doing… both firms I worked for where horrified when I told them that their documentation is misleading. It is quite literally a culture of lies, deceit, arrogance and incompetence being rewarded and applauded… honesty and integrity are quashed well before they have a chance to surface and if you highlight any of this you will be shunned, mocked and ridiculed. They chased me offering big dollars to do their work on contract after I left but in the end… I got sick to death of lies and deceit being employed to cover the arses of incompetent snakes.

I’ve read most of the comments on Platinum Homes and want to know why the master franchise and CEO haven’t been held accountable. The franchisee pay huge amounts to the master franchise, the master franchise clips the ticket on every item in the home and receives rebate payments from the suppliers of the products. The master franchise is absolutely creaming everything and then not stepping up if there are any issues. James 9.8.19 you are correct Shaun Riley the CEO is very much to blame he directs the company, he must know when payments have been made for homes to be built he must be aware of homes that haven’t been completed on time or at all. Why has he let this go on for so long. There are people who have been waiting two years for their homes to be built. Shaun Riley was to busy covering his arse and accruing his personal wealth so he could exit stage right and leave a mess behind.

Being in construction all my life I having sold multiple products in the industry and dealt with many building companies throughout. I am disgusted with the amount of shoddy building work that is being performed in our industry and the attitudes towards customers. It is crippling our industry and reflecting badly on the good ones striving for best business practice. It is a minefield of stress and worry for most people building and/or renovating and getting the right fit as a provider is paramount plus its nearly always the biggest amount of monetary investment made in most peoples lives. The public need to do their due diligence and I mean do their due diligence. Point 1 – we have just completed a build addition and renovation and the two other providers were nearly $400K above us (yes, $400K) and we didn’t cut corners and have made good coin and thats because we have good process, a great team and we pick the right sustainable jobs to build our business. Building does have a right price point but cheap is not always the way to go. Cheap comes with a low quality finish. You need to tick off all the boxes for supply, communication, follow through, personalities and robust business ethics. Contract contract contract limiting the likes of variations or where there are to be variations a set margin added. Point 2 – People think they can manage a build. Some might but some are just plain kidding themselves, want to supply items but don’t realise the ramifications on delays, wrong product and then expect builders to sit and wait whilst not charging for time. This is unethical and not good business practice and any builder who is prepared to do this will not be in business in future and as such you have no warranty comeback. Point 3 – selecting an lbp does not get you the right supply partner. An lbp can be anyone that is a builder but hasn’t done roofing, hasn’t installed windows, hasn’t laid flooring, hasn’t done foundations, has never built a complete residential dwelling from ground up. And people are selecting a builder just because they are an lbp not knowing this. Did you know that most group home builders use contract builders in their businesses and those same contract builders hold the lbp licence for future issues, not the group home builder. Most of these group home builders pay low rates to their contractors and that is why we have so many shonky workmanship comments on this site. Point 4 – there are companies out there marketing renovation franchises specifically detailing they don’t want builders in the business. This is a major issue for NZ going forward and the overheads for any franchise company are huge with franchise fees you pay for a build starting around the 5% mark upwards and all that goes into head office coffers. All I can say is that our industry is amok with disreputable and greedy companies who are not there for a win/win but just to take your hard earned cash and ce la vie so this brings me to my final comment. Do your due diligence, ask them what builds they are currently doing (minimum of 5) ask for referrals you can physically visit and demand to go to the ones of your choosing. Do not take their offered selections. Go to some of their suppliers and ask them what the business is like to deal with and if they are current in trading terms. This will give you a good indication of who you are signing up with and give you some perspective on what they are like. Sales people from most build companies don’t know anything but basics in building and will promise you the earth to get you to sign up and make that deposit. Then you are a captured customer and on the path of no return when the build cost climbs and the variations kick in. Diligence is paramount people PARAMOUNT !!!

Hi. Anyone built with Platinum Homes Taranaki/New Plymouth? I realise the lower North Island guy is a shocker, but this branch is owned by someone else I hear. Thanks in advance.

We recently had a terrible experience with latitude homes hawkes bay. Please don’t use them! Debbie the owner is unprofessional and worse customer service ever. They don’t seem to understand the variation process. We thought we had been very thorough in our specs and drawings and every turn they added money or delivered anything but what we had specified with excuses at every turn. We went over time and budget and still didn’t get what we wanted. The final product was rubbish. We went to lawyers but latitude homes didn’t seem to care and didn’t comply. We have now found two other couples in our small neighbourhood who have the same problems recently. We’ve had issues with costs for site works and foundations. Windows and doors arriving too large so the builder hacked away at the framing to get them to fit then made the holes too large and used extensive amounts of expanding foam to just fill gaps. They installed sliding doors that weren’t the ones we asked for then made us pay for new ones. We still have a double bed sitting in our hallway as they made the hallway unusually narrow and used narrow doors. We now cant fit a standard bed in to a 4mt by 5mt room! to be honest we didn’t think to even check. Terrible paint finish we still have holes in our walls where the electrician has moved plug sockets even though we moved in in October last year. Trying to get anything remedied has been a nightmare. Weve sent lawyers letters but they just don’t listen. We are not sure what else to do. We have concrete patios that are uneven and rough and multiple colors. The list goes on. The head office seems to have no control over the other franchises so these sorts of companies are terrible to work with. One piece of advice would be don’t go with a group type builder. In this case it seems latitude homes is just a logo that any ‘builder’ can buy and head office have no control over quality or if things going wrong. The business owner is unprofessional and extremely defensive as the builder is her son. Her son was often rude to us and had terrible time management often showing up to site in the late afternoon and then rushing to get things done leaving a un satisfactory result. In our opinion he was too young and inexperienced and if we had met him prior we would of cut our losses. We’ve built before and know the process and the two companies couldn’t have been any more different. Debbie at latitude homes is terrible to deal with and seems to have no process for anything. On our final inspection she showed up with no paper work and kept denying being able to see any issues. She took a scrap paper out of her handbag to write things on. It’s ridiculous. They kept using different contractors as they burn bridges and contractors don’t want to work with them. Then when work isn’t to standard we just get left with the mess or an additional bill. If you want to speak to us please contact me or reply to this message. Small claims court looks like our only other option.

I am looking for a builder in the Mangonui/Cable Bay area that WANTS to build a new house and take a large sum of my money, without expecting me to enter into contracts that are draconian and for the sole benefit of the builder. Someone who will listen to me when I talk about my budget, my requirements, and provide an honest and earnest service that does not charge fees and prices on materials that border on theft, who will not disappear when I ask the difficult questions that all the building guides and people with experience advise you to ask, especially around transparency, duration and cost/variations. I am now more than 20k in the hole with an expensive design for a house that the architect assured me can come in on my budget but the builder priced 180K over budget, that I can not do much with apart from framing it and hanging it on the wall… after 2 years and talking with many local builders (Masterbuilders too, mind you) and national franchise builders it seems that builders are either cherry picking or trying to get you to enter into a contract that WILL cause you grief. Kudos to Advance build in Kaitaia though who was very quick off the mark with a design and pricing, but unfortunately have the limitation of maximum size that can be transported resulting in a number of deliveries and other difficulties with more complex designs. So, is there anyone on here that can make recommendations for a reliable, honest, trustworthy masterbuilder or NZCB builder anywhere between KeriKeri, Mangonui and Kaitaia that will not ask me for a 10-18% builders deposit before they even start with final working drawings? Or at least tell me who I should NOT use and why? Or am I asking for the impossible?

Hello all! We are looking to build in the Dunedin area. We have scoured all the local franchises and would appreciate any recommendations or warnings! Also, is it a far more arduous (& expensive) adventure to find our own builder, architect etc.. ? Thanks.

Hi guys, I’ve read quite a bit reviews of companies in different areas. I know the big franchises companies are more or less the same. Just wondering if anyone have experience with building companies in Queenstown. We’ve visited Classic builders, GJ gardener, Jennian, Signature, Trident, Mike Greer, A1 homes, and some builders. As a first home builder, we tend to go with a big company as we know nothing about the industry and finding a builder by ourselves could ended up with more trouble and more money. We’ve also heard lots of different opinion about the same company, good or bad. And cannot find any of the comments online to help us make the decision. We are interested in GJ, Signature and Jennian. Then I read about all the bad stories with GJ here, so they are probably out. Not sure how different their QT branch will be… They did offer an attractive price though… So anyone here in Queenstown has any recommendation? Cheers

Hi, I recently built home through, GJ Gardner, South Auckland and have found scratches marks on my slider window. I raised the issue with franchisee and head office but they are saying these scratches are not visible from 2m. I can see them beyond 2m. Very bad company to work with. There were a lot of maintenance issues and also leak in the bathrooms. Will advise everybody not to use them ever. Liars!! Junk Builders!Does anybody know how to escalate it to MBIE?

Hi, we are building in central otago area, we have narrowed it down to platinum homes or Jennian. There a some comments that don’t recommend Platinum but not much on the Southland Jennian franchise, anyone had good or bad experencies with these two? Thanks

Hi there, Thinking of building a home with GJ gardner north shore franchise vs. signature homes (North Shore) currently. Its a big decision so we want to be careful. Lots of comments about GJ on this thread, but none specifically on the North Shore franchise. Can anyone comment on their building experiences with them? Also, heard GJ north shore franchise (Team Build NZ) is currently up for sale .. can anyone shed light on the implications of this if starting a build with them? Appreciate your help

Have had a look at many of these comments and my comments as follows. I am considering a new or major refurbishment and I have time to do considerable investigation. Some observations. Most people do not read the contract before signing or if they do skim over it and any queries whitewashed by the sales team. You cannot tar the franchisees of a particular franchise with the same brush. One might be useless in one area and good in another. I believe its too much effort for a franchisee to change their standard contract, most likely supplied by the franchisor and perhaps a few extra mods/additions by the local franchisee. While investigating a new build during 2015, Platinum Homes in New Plymouth would not change their standard contract. The contract is waited in the franchisees favour. The one post on GJ Gardener confirms my statement. Would be useful to hear from any one else on this aspect. Contractors in general, not just builders rub their hands if you make specification changes during the contract. They make money out of this. PC sums. You can do your own homework on this from a cost perspective. PC sums usually for kitchens, tap ware, bathrooms and lighting. If you don’t have time to do any legwork then be prepared to pay extra on PC sums as what you select is likely to exceed the sum allowed by design. One advantage with one of the bigger franchises is the possibility of them having tied up material supplier to get volume discounts not available to the small one man builder. This has to be weighed up against possible better service and lower overheads of the small builder. Having lived in SA most of my life and in NZ for the last 18 years I’ve come to the conclusion that builders are opportunists and will take as many shortcuts as possible and more if given half the chance. This is probably a world wide phenomena as well. As an Engineer I am glad that since the leaky homes debacle and Chch earthquake that the building standards have been tightened up and Licensed Building Practitioners are required to do building work. There are some people who call this red tape. I welcome it even if it adds $10 to $20k to the cost of a house.

Bloggers, why waste our time making comments on this type of blog!! GUYS WHO ARE WE? Mere homemakers, some first home builders and ignorant at building!! What good does it do to make less than favourable comments on a blog site like this – don’t bother!!! We need the government to sort these dishonest group building companies out. Yes whatever it is that your company does, no matter how you do it, you make a promise to each and every customer that darkens your virtual door. You enter into a contract, even if the terms aren’t explicitly stated. The consumer pays you something, and you promise to provide a product or a service. There are pledges of quality and quickness. Customer service involves living up to your word on these matters, but it really gets to shine when something goes wrong – correct? Here’s the thing. Mistakes are opportunities — golden ones. Here’s why. Studies show that a satisfied customer will tell 2-3 people about his experience with your company. A dissatisfied consumer will share their lament with 8-10 people and some will push that number to twenty and those twenty people will tell 100 people and so on. Is this bog site going to that many unassuming new home building families? But here’s the opportunity. An unhappy customer will become a loyal consumer if you fix his complaint and do it quickly. Eighty percent (80%) of these folks will come back to you if you’ve treated them fairly. That percentage rises to the upper 90s if you respond immediately. Every day you have the chance to transform your mistakes into returning customers — the kind who will tell other people good things about you. Imagine that. It is not so much the trades & suppliers who work for these group housing companies, (who, by the way are screwed down for the cheapest rate and then have to wait a month in Sundays to get paid), it is the actual group housing franchisees, who are making a killing in more ways than one, abusing us along the way. What is happening to the 1128 comments on this site, are the housing companies even bought to task about some of the horrendous dishonest behaviour and shoddy customer service when something goes wrong? We say get together and petition the government. We have taken this to our MP and lawyer, maybe you should do the same, and then maybe we can get some traction on this site. Otherwise post this site to your FB page and make an even bigger fuss.

I am new to city & looking for new house build. In Wellington Region, is it possible to build a house for $400k including section?

We are about to go to contract with G J Gardner Rodney (West Auckland) Franchise. we have been seriously impressed with the support and professional advice so far. Very responsive to our communications, fully listen to our requirements, looking forward to the build.