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Price creep on the SIPs. The Grand Designs Effect?


curlewhouse

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Hmm, sent the full plans off for the SIPs price a while ago, and got the proposals and price back showing where steel beams would be required and were factored into  the price etc.  Sent our deposit off and now getting emails (in language we struggle to understand what they are actually trying to say) saying they'll have to add this that and the other - starting to get a bad feeling that the price is getting bumped.  The designer is saying they did not allow for X, Y & Z in the price and so on - but they had the plans all along, and this is making me begin to feel a little wary about what is happening. So I've been quite frank and asked him what price is it he is trying to work up to and just tell me rather than go round about the houses. Personally I blame all those "Grand Designs" where the people say they have a budget then pull an extra £100k+ out of their hat - so a lot of firms seem to have come to think self builders have secret pots of money (I'm sure some do, but oh how I wish we had!) they can access  whereas our budget is what it is and there's genuinely no more after that. I've come to call it "The Grand Designs Effect" a few times already with solicitors and the like just getting to this stage. I'm not saying that is happening here, but it is beginning to concern me how far this will go.

 

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"The designer is saying they did not allow for X, Y & Z in the price and so on"

 

What does your contract with them say?  Presumably by the time you got to sending off a deposit the price was fixed?  It would be a strange contract for this sort of thing where they're allowed to come back and arbitrarily add stuff they decided not to include in their quote (unless it's clear that the quote didn't cover everything).

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My quote clearly stated what was and what wasn't included. I would go back and check your earlier correspondence/quotes. I did however notice a very different tone in their dealings with me once they had received my deposit. They turned out to be complete $&*£% in the end. >:( Hopefully you haven't gone with the same outfit as I did.

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11 hours ago, oranjeboom said:

They turned out to be complete $&*£% in the end. >:( Hopefully you haven't gone with the same outfit as I did.

 

Might be worth a quick private message.  If it is them, it might be useful to know now, and to have some idea of what to keep an eye out for.

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Well, I got a call from the designer assuring me he wasn't trying to bump the price but had realised there were a couple of issues more complex than at first realised. Now looking at them, I think it's probably fair enough - one being extra beams where we are having one of these sort of windows https://www.keyliteroofwindows.com/roof-windows/vertical-bi-lite at the top of the stairs which are larger than one SIPs panel so will need more support, and an issue where the stone outer wall would have been above the porch SIPs which obviously could not support it without some beams (which I've solved cheaply by a simple change). So in all, I suspect it won't be much of a hike but we shall see. They sent me their plans and asked me to check all the dimensions - so I did the sensible thing and sent them to our  architect to check for me, who spotted a few issues, of which only one I had noticed!  So the plans are back with the SIPs folks with my architects notes for now.    

Edited by curlewhouse
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Well, the beam and block is all done and foul drains work starts on Monday. Today we've been sorting through stone for a drystone wall. 

20170129_131150.jpg

20170129_135425.jpg

20170129_150846.jpg

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