Builder changed the floor plans without notice?

This can’t be real. They turned your home into a rooming house.

Wow those are major changes and they don’t even tell you before walk through.

I had a minor floor plan change without my knowledge as well. A door was placed 3ft earlier. I asked about it during walk though and he made up some story abt being mandatory. I didn’t pursue it but I’m curious if I can be compensated for it or should I just suck it up. The new door location makes more sense so it’s very likely the floor plan had it wrong. But they had sent me other floor plan changes that I had to sign. I guess this was missed and now I’m asking if I can capitalize on it or do I suck it up and carry along.

Holystone wrote: ↑ By adding more walls and doors I can’t even say the builder is doing this to cut costs...

Yup. Not sure what can be done when fire and safety are involved. I d probably be interested to know if the other towns are designed the same.

jeeva86 wrote: ↑ Wow those are major changes and they don’t even tell you before walk through.

I had a minor floor plan change without my knowledge as well. A door was placed 3ft earlier. I asked about it during walk though and he made up some story abt being mandatory. I didn’t pursue it but I’m curious if I can be compensated for it or should I just suck it up. The new door location makes more sense so it’s very likely the floor plan had it wrong. But they had sent me other floor plan changes that I had to sign. I guess this was missed and now I’m asking if I can capitalize on it or do I suck it up and carry along.

Due to COVID I didn’t see the house until my PDI. At least there weren’t any major surprises but a walk through would have been nice.

There’s always a surprise though.

jeeva86 wrote: ↑ Wow those are major changes and they don’t even tell you before walk through.

I had a minor floor plan change without my knowledge as well. A door was placed 3ft earlier. I asked about it during walk though and he made up some story abt being mandatory. I didn’t pursue it but I’m curious if I can be compensated for it or should I just suck it up. The new door location makes more sense so it’s very likely the floor plan had it wrong. But they had sent me other floor plan changes that I had to sign. I guess this was missed and now I’m asking if I can capitalize on it or do I suck it up and carry along.

You can try, but I am sure they will gladly refund you your deposit if you are not happy with the floor plan change.

OMG that sucks what builder is it? I hope you can take the walls down

As much as it is the builder's bad I would say, 99% of the time the contract protects the builder and say they can make changes if needed or whatever legal language they use

William W wrote: ↑ You can try, but I am sure they will gladly refund you your deposit if you are not happy with the floor plan change.

Then I would gladly take my deposit back. This floorplan is very weird, and I can't imagine anyone wanting it.

Something smells wrong to me about this whole ordeal- not from your (buyer) end but most definitely from the builder. Have you tried to reach out and/or view the neighbouring units to see if the same amendments were made? Surely if this was a requirement by fire code the neighbouring units and/or unit type in other areas of the development had the same changes?

Believe it or not, we've had something similar happen with one of our family members whereas their home had 4 ft in total taking off of the width of their home (40ft to 36 ft). They delayed his visits as long as they could and only gave them inconvenient times for structural visits which they couldn't accommodate. By the time they did their first visit the brick was on the exterior of the home and the damage was done. Took the builder to court and got their compensation. They sold immediately upon occupancy but I'll never forget that story. Moral of the story; Talk to your lawyer!

Chickinvic wrote: ↑ Then I would gladly take my deposit back. This floorplan is very weird, and I can't imagine anyone wanting it.

perhaps thats their intend, they can certainly sell higher now.
get an estimate of how much to remove those walls and doors and fire thing, I guess and go from there. It certainly doesnt seem right you need fire hose in each floor of a townhouse, crazy.

Chickinvic wrote: ↑ Then I would gladly take my deposit back. This floorplan is very weird, and I can't imagine anyone wanting it.

Given how crazy the market has gone since March 2020, property value has gone up 20%-30% in the last year, I can't see how anyone will be able to walk away as they will have to buy a home that is 20-30% smaller or pay another $140k to $210k if the original purchase price was $700k.

William W wrote: ↑ Given how crazy the market has gone since March 2020, property value has gone up 20%-30% in the last year, I can't see how anyone will be able to walk away as they will have to buy a home that is 20-30% smaller or pay another $140k to $210k if the original purchase price was $700k.

I couldn't tolerate that horrible chopped up floor plan. If they can't have it put back I'd walk.

if you guys looks carefully - it most likely fire-related regulations.

ohnabatko wrote: ↑ if you guys looks carefully - it most likely fire-related regulations.

But what regulation would require a fire hose on each level of a residential home.

My wild guess is that the builder goofed up on some code and making these absurd changes was the only (cheapest ) way to bring back the unit to code. I can’t imagine all units in the province being built in this manner to meet the fire codes.

Anyone have an idea on how much it would cost to remove the walls?

Would something like HomeStars be a good choice to get a quote? Or are there better places to find licensed contractors?

Steven91 wrote: ↑ But what regulation would require a fire hose on each level of a residential home.

The one that says if your house is above 30 ft (or more than 3 floors) above grade, you need to have a stand-pipe system
Quick search: http://www.buildingcode.online/306.html

My guess these revisions are based on firecode review of the building plans and contesting them would be pointless.

Drethis wrote: ↑ Anyone have an idea on how much it would cost to remove the walls?

Would something like HomeStars be a good choice to get a quote? Or are there better places to find licensed contractors?

figure out if the adjustments are required by law, fire regulations and such because its the only reasonable explanation. if you take it out and something happens you would be responsible.

Drethis wrote: ↑ Anyone have an idea on how much it would cost to remove the walls?

Would something like HomeStars be a good choice to get a quote? Or are there better places to find licensed contractors?

Removing the walls is the easy part. The harder part would be covering the floor beneath the walls. That is if removing the walls is advisable if they are required for codes.

One word is lawyer. It is their responsibility to provide you with the floor plans when you sign the APS, if you APS has the right floor plan and the product you receive does not match then your lawyer can serve them a letter.

Most likely they will offer you something as compensation if you get your lawyer involved.

Except that:

(7) A standpipe system is not required to be installed in a dwelling unit that,
(a) extends not more than 3 storeys above adjacent ground level,
(b) is completely cut off from the remainder of the building so that there is no access to the remainder of the building, and
(c) has direct access to its interior by means of an exterior doorway located not more than 1 500 mm above or below adjacent finished ground level.

Which all seem to apply to this unit. I don't think I have ever seen an individual dwelling have fire hose cabinets on each level, something is not correct here.