Builder discussion about workmanship

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.

I’d like to say a huge thank-you to OWL Construction on Auckland’s North Shore. They worked with my architect Mark Jolly to create three homes on a development site. These houses are built to last the test of time, look great and truly stand out from the usual boxes which we nows see being thrown up in the suburbs. The building crew worked closely with us, kept on track, and finished the houses perfectly. They are easy to deal with, attentive to detail and understood what we wanted and value in terms of quality. Thanks guys, you’ve restored my faith in the trade!

Well if you’re looking for shoddy workmanship, a mismanaged project, total lack of ownership, significant delays, cost overruns and a build eventually having to be picked up by MB then look no further than John Ross Architectural Builders (Christchurch)! The word “Architectural” Builders is an illusional step too far and is more aligned with the Tui’s advert – Yeah Right! To say the stress of the past 3 years has been significant is an understatement and we’re not finished yet as with all the issues that need to be rectified via MB we will need to vacate the house whilst the repairs are carried out (Still waiting on final quote for repairs but have been advised it’s many hundreds of thousands $$$). My husband has been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and the move into the house at the end of last year, (even though it wasn’t finished but we were desperate) caused him unbelievable anxiety and stress so to have to move again is heartbreaking, but appreciate we need to to get the house to an acceptable standard and get code compliance. You’d think by paying many millions $ to this builder (Jack/John Kelleher) and MB having to pick up the mess that JRB would go quietly into hibernation but alas, to add insult to significant injury, we received another invoice from JRB for $15K plus interest a couple of weeks ago and now he’s submitted a claim through the Disputes Tribunal since we refuse to pay him another cent. Just want this nightmare to end!

Hi, Can anyone recommend an affordable quality transportable house building company. We have a section in Thames. At this stage, we are looking at Kiwi Designed Homes ( KDH) has anyone had any experience with them? Also, is it cheaper to go with one of these companies when you have to add on the transportation fees then if you went for a local Builder to build on site? I’d appreciate any honest replies, thank you.

Another negative review for Eco-Smart Homes and Ritesh Mani. If you come across these names, run for the hills. There are 2x developments in Helensville that have not been fully completed through to CCC final stage. Blatent lies and hollow promises, no communication from Eco-Smart or their lawyers, Neilsons, either. Their project manager Spiro Kovac resigned end of 2023 and there are still empty homes without final inspection or any progress. Every home has issues, from major things like no water meters installed, water pumps failing, no master builder guarantee as per contract (Google Eco-Smart vs Jenhash), to less major things like no fences or landscaping, painting incomplete, no physical keys provided for door locks, no house alarm or security lights, shoddy workmanship and plenty of poor finishing. Plenty of unpaid bills and contractual breaches. CCC applications missing tens of producer statements, some being held hostage for lack of payment which is technically illegal – but it isn’t hard to empathise with the unpaid contractor in their scenario. We’re unfortunately all in the same sinking ship when it comes to Eco-Smart. Somehow, despite the challenges completing their paying customers homes, Eco-Smart have managed to fully finish their own lot builds which are now tenanted rentals. It’s not personal, just business – funny that. Take a walk down Kawariki Rd, Taupata Lane or Rongomai St in Helensville. You’ll meet a fantastic community of neighbours who are frustrated at brunting the cost of Eco-Smart’s slimy operations. You might even bump into an owner checking up on the lack of progress before they can move in or tenant their incomplete home. They are friendly, kind and trusting people – taken advantage of and left in the dark with unconsented and incomplete homes. Beware of Eco-Smart. Beware of Ritesh Mani.

I am looking at kitset homes – at the moment, Supremehomes seem to have what I want – taking into account time to build, transports costs, finishes etc. Does anyone have any experience with this company?

Hi! I wanted to inquire if you’re currently accepting new accounts/clients? For commercial/janitorial clients, we’ve developed an exclusive automated system that can get you 6-9 High-Quality Appointments every month, with no monthly retainer or paid ads. Can I send additional info?

We’re looking at building a guest cottage on our property and have been looking at Nook Homes. In my research I’ve found an article in the National Business Review that doesn’t sound good but it’s hidden behind a paywall so I can’t actually read it! I’m wondering if anyone has experience of this company and their build quality. Thanks so much 🙂

Green Homes (greenhomes.co.nz) .are building for us currently, and so far so good. A professional approach. We’re half way through the build and making great progress. The team’s approach to attention to detail and planing has been awesome. It is important we can trust that things are moving ahead and that quality is good. Happy on all fronts right now. Can’t wait for the finished product.

Is there anyone who may have been in the same situation as we have just found ourselves in. We have a claim sitting with master builders and have just found out the builder has put his company in liquidation. Our claim is being handled by MBS lawyers and the builder had unti the end of next week to remedy the defects. Where to from here for us now? Does MBA have to step up and fix the defects or pay us out? This whole thing has been extremely stressful and expensive for us over the last 5 years.

We used Maddren Homes for our build in Milldale, Auckland. They were a bit more expensive that the other building companies we contacted but the quality of the work is excellent. The whole process was really good and we are very happy with our new house (we moved in about six months ago). They have good trades people and they accepted all our changes with no problems. We would recommend Maddren Homes for your new build in Auckland north/west.

MH Builders Waikato So today I learnt that the wardrobe frame built by MD Builders almost 2 years ago is not square by 11 millimeters!! My doors will not close flush. The whole project with them was micky mouse. They lined the walls before their electrician came to wire, used the wrong trim and now I find this. I am so glad I chose not to go with them for our big reno. I highly recommend NOT USING MH Builders. However JCC uD did do our reno and they were amazing.If you want a good job done by quality cleaver builders go with them !!

G J Gardner homes. Much is being advertised as the most trusted home builder. However, we bought a 2013 G J Gardner built home two years ago and have been finding numerous workmanship faults AND design faults. Rats and mice had gotten into the roof space over the years, and although the previous owner had set traps there was quite a lot of chewed up air conditioning ducting. After trapping mice myself, I finally found that the chimney surround had not been sealed off at the bottom. Easy climb for any rodent. Once sealed off, no more mice. The cabinet around the fridge space with a cupboard over the top had ONE SCREW holding it in. One slinding closet door was extremely difficult to adjust because of a hump in the foundation. The walk up to the front door was too steep and friends with walking problems found it very difficult to step up through the front door. Even my fit flexible self wa in trouble from the foot angle on the entry way to skid forward, so the current solution is a very big, slid resistant matt. The driveway entrance to the main road was unnecessarily steep such that most standard cars scrape their noses. Trucks have a hard time draggin their back ends. The slope could easily have been less with proper thought to the extensive driveway area above the entrance. There aren’t any outlets in the bathrooms (bad advice to the owner). The door from the garage to the inside of the house is very poorly oriented and a constant irritant trying negotiate. Bathroom light fixtures had to be changed as poor design and nearly impossible to service. All in all a very poor job.

HI there Has anyone here built with Golden Homes in Tauranga? How did you find the process? Were there any unexpected costs? How were they to work with? Quality and did the build get completed in time? What was your given timeframe? Thanks

My husband just finished getting his Nelson, NZ retirement home built. (I’m from USA) He used Signature Homes and learned a very expensive lesson. Signature Homes lured him away from Jennian Homes with lower prices and comments about Jennian being way over-priced. Turns out, Jennian was probably the honest builder, whereas Signature Homes took us for a wild ride. At first we thought they were just making lots of costly mistakes in judgement, but, in the end, we realize how they used the PC Sum trap to deliberately underquote the build. Some of their “costs” were 164% higher than their quotes! In all, we lost $58,000 due to their overages. We changed NOTHING in our plans. We are starting the process of a formal complaint. Has anyone here ever had any luck with getting these builders to honor their contracts or “price guarantee?”

Hi, Has anyone used Latitude Homes Wellington Alix & Zach (a typical sales man). They look cheap but to start with they are giving estimated build price only with some allowances, I am concerned once signed they might raise the costs or find a way to raise costs. Zach says they are cheap but when I said the other builder doesn’t change so much for x work he then says if they are cheap whatever you will get will be cheap quality as well. He doesn’t know that will apply to Latitude homes as well LOL. Regards, Peter

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 !!!

It has taken me a long time to get up and write this as I try to move forward with building my home, managing the project with my Husband and watch as he works all hours to figure out how to fix all the problems that Gavin, one of the worst builders created. We probably have one of the worst building experiences on this website. We Hired Gavin and Peter Stewart but can’t presently give you full names or company names yet for legal reasons. They are both still in business though. I have learnt to cope with living in a very unfinished house for 5 years now as we save money, fix issues, learn new skills and build our own business to pay for it all. I simply just cope from day to day, month to month and winter is hard. Please anyone who is going to take on the challenge of renovating or building their new home don’t hire Gavin from Albany or Peter Stewart. I want to take them to court and I have consulted Lawyers but getting my house built has been the priority, and even writing this is hard because it forces me to remember everything and think about what has happened because I hired those two builders. We spent $330k with Gavin and Peter before firing them, leaving us financially hit hard. Our house was 90% new build. I can list all the things that were built badly and that list is long so you would need some time to read it all. Two of the major issues is that my entire house cladding was done really badly, the cladding was at all angles, the sizes of the weatherboards were all different and some of the cladding wasn’t even nailed onto the wood underneath so it was held up by the building paper, which was also done badly. The other huge problem was that all the walls, floors and ceilings were not plumb, not level, some on a stupid angle. My entrance way was a parallelogram when it was supposed to be a rectangle. The floor was so bad that most doors would have not opened/closed properly inside unless fixed, and figuring out how to fix all of this has cost my family about $200k. Most of the prenailed frames were way out of plumb, out of square, in fact I don’t think the builder ever used a level? The steel beams had to be re-done because they were so badly installed, the engineer failed them at first inspection. We had to recladd the whole house, ripping out the brand new cladding as it was installed so badly. Face sizing all wrong, out of level, boxed corners not meeting around corners. Even our foundations have needed extra repairs as the poles were done badly. Even when Gavin was on site he was fixing his own mess, but badly and at our expence. Our replacement building firm had a huge task fixing this, costing us another $200k, then they went into receivership so we are trying to manage this ourselves. No building firm is willing to fix this mess, most won’t even return a call.

We are the victims of a cowboy builder in Wellington. $50K of defects and associated costs so far. Our situation aside, was disgusted that he was already the subject of a LBP Board investigation for negligence while he was busy constructing our extension not to plans, consent or building code. Further inquiry reveals that to be an LBP you only need a carpentry qualification, two referees and a telephone interview. No character referees, drug tests, or even a police check. Investigations take months and months, with no restrictions or supervision of the builder (unlike other professions where they are either stood down or work under supervision). No wonder we still have leaky buildings. Of course if it goes wrong, the LBP can quickly shut down their company to avoid all claims. Good to see the government has announced a review of the construction industry: https://www.mbie.govt.nz/have-your-say/building-system-legislative-reform-programme-public-consultation?fbclid=IwAR0R3iEJk1jX86m5bJMjyxmnvvws1sGrV3M1uY2dhUOz3kwpqa4zfwrnC0U Hope other affected homeowners submit their experiences! If you are entering a construction contract, I suggest you add a clause for drug testing and police checks seeing as the licensing board doesn’t bother. Odd that a hammer hand or forklift operator may have to pass these basic requirements, but an LBP director can do what they like.

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.

Spoiler Alert: If you believe a Master Builder is actually giving you a “fixed price contract”, you are probably wrong. We have spent the last 2 months “dating” A1 Homes. We found a plan that could work, with a few revisions, and agreed specs down to the taps and window latches. We have built before, so know exactly what we want, and they provided a fixed price estimate (crucially, not a quote) to our specs. It seemed like a fair price so we were keen to continue. They then said we would need to spend $3,000 on drawings and colour consultants before they could give us an actual fixed price quote. That is a lot of money – we have previously had quotes done on concept drawings that cost us $1,500 and $1,955 respectively. Eventually we came round to the idea, but we asked to see the contract they intended to use before we forked over $3,000. That’s when it got hairy. A1 presented us with a “standard” Registered Master Builders Association contract. The problem is that Clause 46 of the contract (2018 edition) specifically allows the builder to charge us more if ANY aspect of the build turns out to be pricier than the fixed price quote. i.e. it directly contradicts the claim of a fixed price quote. Further, Clause 101 of the contract (which has grown by about 60 clauses since we last built, practically all of them skewed toward the builder), specifically allows for a situation where A1 is building for Mrs Smith down the road and if that gets delayed, they can delay your start and end date. And with Clause 46 locking in their ability to on-charge any costs that might arise because prices rose since they gave you a not-fixed fixed price quote, they’ve ensured whatever their project management skills, you will pick up the tab. Oh and by the way, they have your deposit of 5% while they retain the right to delay indefinitely while they finish Mrs Smith’s project. We queried these 2 clauses and a couple of others. A1’s response was simply that they don’t ever change clauses. They had no answer for my question of how they could claim they offered a fixed price contract when it wasn’t. They said they hadn’t charged more than the fixed price on the 2 years they had used the contract, which frankly didn’t give me enough peace of mind to hand them $500K on the back of a contract that still says they can crank up the price at any time. I spoke to a Director of Master Build Services who confirmed there was nothing stopping them deleting irrelevant clauses in the contract; A1 was simply choosing not to. In the end, we were not willing to risk our money on a “no surprises guarantee” that isn’t any guarantee at all and could potentially hold a very nasty surprise. We suggest you give this a lot of thought and question whoever you build with if they have the same wide-open clauses in the contract.

I’m just wondering if anyone has had any experiences with a company called Quality NZ Homes based in Wellington. thanks

Having built a couple of homes in Nelson and knowing a number of people who have also built I wanted to share my knowledge. We chose Milestone Homes as we liked their approach with the showhome being standard and we knew exactly what we were getting. This isn’t common and friends have been caught out by misleading reps / companies. We dealt with Adam who we had a great connection with and was very helpful. They were upfront with time frames and had the house finished within 17 weeks from wo to go. Orange were quick to put everyone down but have a reputation for poor quality and going over budget. Friends built with Signature and had a lot of extra’s through the process and as I’ve read on here there are a lot of unhappy GJ Gardner customers. Jennian have a strong reputation for quality & service and haven’t heard any negative comments. Hope this helps potential builders.

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.

Hi there, is it possible for new home owners to move into a completed house prior to Code of Compliance being issued? Our new home will sit finished & empty for approx. 1 month prior to Code of Compliance so we’d love to move in ahead of schedule. Is this the norm? Guess I’m just wondering whether we’ll be covered by our insurance company etc and whether we’d hinder the Code of Compliance process?

So…building with Stonewood Tauranga. I am a builder and project manager with no time to build my own home. Do i regret that decision now! 6 months before getting on site. A shift 3 times of end dates and still missing time frames. Very very poor quality build. Frames that werent aligned correctly and pinned down. Im talking anywhere from 9mm to 45mm due to not string lining bottom plates. I still have walls out 20mm and a bulkhead out 40mm. Holes in the roofing underlay. Frames not nailed off. Cladding not on but batts installed. Missing blocking for valley boards. They missed pre piping the gas! Ive had half the gutter on for a month with no sign of the rest. Changing plans without notice or confirmation or acceptance. No communication (until invoicing time then we get calls once a day). Poor poor poor company to deal with. A very unhappy process for my poor wife to have her dream home treated in such a way. We are still in the process and it will almost be 12 months by the time they finish. Ive taken some trades off them and managed them myself with no problems so they havent even had to manage the entire build and still cannot get it right. Kevin Norris….you run a very bad company trading in shoddy workmanship and i have had enough.Time to speak out and warn others off your company.