Fixed contract / and unexpected added costs....

I have a little development on a fixed price contract.
My builder (is a good builder) has found now frame is up and lockup stage is approaching, that we have issues with space due to structural design regarding heating & cooling accessibility. The only alternative option is to get a different heating cooling system which will cost us an extra $2k per unit.

Is this an acceptable cost to cop on a fixed price contract, being within the boundaries of the unexpected..... or should I be protesting a little that this was not factored in at quote / contract stage....

Cheers

 

What exactly is the problem? ‘Heating and cooling accessibility’ doesn’t really explain the issue...

 

Still to get the answer fully, anyway not enough room to place unit in roof cavity and I guess getting ductwork to some rooms, thus instead of gas ducted heating and ducted air. The alternative is split systems in each room.

 

Have you got skillion roofs?

 

No
We have dual pitched roofs

 

Is there access between the two roofs? Are you building duplexes - each will require its own unit regardless (unless you are installing fire dampers or other engineered fire solution).

 

Was the builder doing the air con etc as part of the contract? I'm surprised the air con people didn't point out this potential issue to the builder or is it because you want both systems to fit in there and each party (gas and air con) didn't realise they'd both be up there.

I'm guessing this is a Melbourne thing but do you really need the ducted gas? If it was just ducted reverse cycle would that fit? Ducted gas heating is not a thing here - we just use the heating cycle on the reverse cycle.

It can be hard to fit ducted air con into roof spaces if the houses are small and the pitch is low. I'm building some at the moment which are small and fitting ducted air con has been difficult but the air con people have found a model which will fit in the roof space and we've managed to get the ducts to work though I did have to lose a linen cupboard in one unit. The model we've been recommended is a Samsung 10kw system

 

PS I believe this is the model I am getting - a 10kw model which is enough for a small 3 x 2 two storey townhouse https://www.theairstore.com.au/TheAirStore/media/Documents/Ducted-Cassette-Brochure_.pdf

 

I guess the pitch is too low (waiting to chat with my builder today)
So alternatly he has proposed a 5 head split system off the one compresser

 

More often than not, due to pitch, size of trusses, you can't fit heating or ducts in roof due to small cavity. There's even a regs compliance min requirement for service people in confined spaces.

An experienced builder will identify this issue before the build starts, or at least when framing is complete. If totally missed, the builder should at least offer not to charge a margin for upgrade.

Split systems are more expensive, if servicing each room. So extra costs may be justified.