Below is a list of our Pricing from Tender, with an estimate of additional costs required. We paid our 3% deposit on Monday night but there was a bit of negotiation to get to this point.
We argued our site costs, as an original Soil test stated we needed a H1 slab, not H2. This got us nowhere. But we agreed to continue as long as PD agreed in writing that we would not have any additional hidden costs through the energy efficiency report. As our rear is almost north facing, and no windows had been changed, there was very little chance the costs would go up. But this is not a risk we could afford to take a this stage, as we are already over our pre approval amount. oops.
And here goes…
Base house and Site Costs = $217,874
Base cost for the Dunes 29
$186,900
Build Zone 3 Surcharge
$5,000
Excavation – Cut and Fill, Rock removal etc.
$2,921
Slab Upgrades – H2, extra Steel Reinforcement and Concrete Piers
$11,956
Services – Connection fee, additional run of Water, Trench and Ag drains
$1,604
NBN Estate Pack
$1,600
Local Government and OHS – Permits, Temp fencing and Crushed Rock
$1,945
Dispensation of Garage wall as it exceeds 3000mm
$450
BAL Requirements based on 12.5 rating
$5,498
Promotions – Total $15,797
Free Colourbond Roof
Free Bolero Flooring and Category 1 Carpet
All available Dreams Wait for No One Packs
Upgrades – Total $6,698
Double doors to Lounge Room
$382
Butlers Pantry – Provide Laminate Bench top around entire pantry, 1 x 800mm wide laminate cabinet (2doors), 450mm diameter round sink, mixer, category 1 wall tile splashback in lieu od standard pantry layout. Note, Standard laminate finish and handles.
$1,590
Provide plaster bulkhead above overhead kitchen cupboards
$220
Provide Laminex Silk Finish upgrade to kitchen cabinets and overhead cabinets in lieu of standard finish (Includes kickboards, rear and end panels)
$1,631
Category 1 Essa Stone Benchtops to Ensuite
$495
Category 1 Essa Stone Benchtops to Bathroom
$365
Telecommunications infastructure to home
$462
Add additional Square Ceiling Dumper to ensuite to make double shower (Note, will need additional mixer tap)
$448
Provide Category 2 Carpet in lieu of Category 1
$1,105
Allowances and remaining upgrades (Approx amounts only) Total $13,900
Allowance for Driveway and blinds after handover
$8,000
Electrical
$4,000
Mixer taps in lieu of standard
$400 (approx)
Upgraded front door and basic entry handle upgrade
$600
Upgrade underlay to category 3
$600
Upgraded bathtub to 1700 Decina Uno
$300
Total Build Cost of $254,269
Building in Ballarat 
This is soooo helpful. We are currently doing our money and appreciate your insight to all the extra hidden costs that we did not know about or factor into our costings. We are going to Hopetoun & National this weekend to get a good idea of how much extra my taste will be!
No worries! Hopetoun and national tiles won’t tell you exact pricing, but if you know the product and search the home one forum you will usually find a ballpark! But I suppose what you can take away from this list, is to add a $30,000 buffer for hidden costs and site costs! Lol 🙂
It’s great to read your blog, very interesting indeed.
It’s so sad to read this NBN pack $1600 plus they also charged you $465 for telecommunication infrastructure.
If you will have nbn in your estate? Nbn will do everything for free for you. There is no need for builder to do anything.
Builder should only offer you Ethernet connections from garage to different rooms (if you want them).
Hope all goes well from here.
Hi mirz, the NBN pack charge includes the NBN box inside our garage, 3 data points, 1 phone point, an 8 port switch and cable testing…. at an extremely inflated price than what it would typically cost… however, this is unfortunately an estate covenant
I believe the infrastructure cost is the price for the trench to be dug and the fibre laid from the pit at street level to the exterior nbn box.
Please read this:
Click to access preparing-for-the-nbn.pdf
I believe the :telecommunication infrastructure’ charge relates to digging the trench and running a conduit from the telstra pit on the street to the premises, if you read this page (http://nbnco.com.au/get-an-nbn-connection/home-and-business/connecting-fibre/fibreinstallation.html need to click ‘show more’ at the bottom) it says the standard free installation must have an existing telecommunication conduit …. which established houses do, seeing as we are in a brand new estate on a vacant block – that trench must first be dug and conduit laid.
Two of my friends built houses in craigieburne and didn’t pay anything to builder, Telstra or nbn to get connected to nbn. With nbn phone runs through nbn.
Nbn guys did trenching for them.
Only reason why I’m saying this, as IMHO PD should have let you spend this money on other stuff you were keen to upgrade.
You house and colour selections are very nice. We will keep browsing your blog.
Please keep us posted.
We got 4 quotes so far from different builders and found PD most expensive for upgrades.
It seems like they deliberately put all unwanted crap in category 1. They know this will push people to upgrade and that’s where they will make a killing.
Lot of bricks in category 1,2, and 3 are exact same price in market but PD is charging between $2-$5k to upgrade these bricks.
Yup! We discovered this first hand… The Cat 2 bricks we wanted (Fawn) are actually cheaper per 1000 bricks on the Austral website than the Settlers Parchment Cat 1 bricks, but cost $900 to upgrade…, however – we loved the floor plan enough to compromise on a few selections.
We did have a false start (paid our $1000 deposit and got to the contract stage) with Dennis Family Homes last year, their standard selections are unbelievable compared to what PD offer, however… their customer service was very lacking and the pressure and sneaky sales tactics being put on us was not worth our time.
That is part of the reason we are happy to have Cat 1 things now, we just want our damn house built and are sick to death of the bureaucracy and red tape… It’s almost over though!
And yeah…. In regards to your NBN comment about your friends in Craigieburne… That’s disappointing for us to hear, no builders can be trusted it seems!
Tell me about it, what a rip off. Bricks, toilets, essa stone, tiles all have same story.
National tiles is much cheaper and offers a massive variety but when you go to PD section, prices go up and no of options goes down.
Its such a hard decision! But I think the thing to remember is how you want to live, and the plan that can work for your family the best. Tiles and carpet and handles can be fixed later. But the floorplan can’t. Resale is important to consider too.
Good luck choosing between two great designs!
TBH all builders have own ways, but the main thing is your lovely house.
PD has nice floor plans compare to few other b
Yup… have you decided who you are building with yet? PD or someone else?
Not yet, but shortlisted.
PD no doubt has great floor plans, but choices and upgrades are just so disappointing.
We will either go with PD (Marbella) or Henley (Sahara Q1).
We were going in great rush but then thanks developer who delayed our land and gave us opportunity to do more research.