Problems with my builder.

This is typical of Cyprus ... .sorry to hear of these issues mate.

@Toon Cyprus is supposed to be a First World country now, but they behave like a Third World one

Fraid so..   these issues are indeed quite common with new build developments. Things take time...so you now know the Cyprus shrug.....

I hope things get sorted timeously for you

@Toon I am sure they will, I just don't like being blindsided like I was this morning. When I queried all I got was an actual Cyprus shrug.

You might laugh about it one day....

@Toon Maybe when I am in the house.

I will be honest the builders etc seem to think my complaints about the amount of time some things are taking is being unreasonable. When I think the amount of time the house is taken to be built is just absurd. They are telling me it will take another 3 months, in the end, it will be 14 months in total.  Every time I compare things with the UK, they just shrug and say this is Cyprus. They even agree that the timelines from EAC are ridiculous but just accept them. I despair sometimes.

Maybe, I still need to work on getting that laid-back attitude sorted, my wife has suggested night classes in patience  may work

I've been here 10 yrs and had same experience in Malta ...and it still gets to me. So don't think classes in patience is the way to go .....

Hi,

Do not get to upset there are always ways around everything, do have a temporary supply of electric at the moment, if so just move in and use that, just don't run to many things at once

Once EAC do their inspection and connect the full electric I would not wait for any certificate of compliance, just start using it, nobody will interfere, nobody bothered me and I was on a temp supply for months.

If there is water in the road then at least where I am the mucktars office deals with this and will fit a meter by the front gate, all you need to do is connect to your water pipe to the house.

One option is not to get connected to CYTA, use a mobile phone and get the internet by wifi, Cosmps or Alpha will hook you up a couple of days, I have quite an heavy usage so have both CYTA and Alpha, both working good.

Yes the PV system first needs EAC to be connected and maybe some bills before you can apply so will take time, but there is a new way to pay for it coming early next year, maybe, no need to fork out 7k euro just pay for it via your electric bill, check it out in the Cyprus Mail.

In theory you should not move into the house until it has a completion certificate, which can take years, but again nobody bothers with this at all.

Just talk to the builder/architect he must know how to do these things.

I remember some new builds being built  near me and their pv system was in for almost 9 months before connection. EAC arent efficient in connections .... Or indeed anything really...

@graham6 Our problem is there is nothing in the road, no water, no electricity, no telecommunications. All of that needs to be installed before my house can be connected to anything. My builder is making lots of reassuring noises, but they would wouldn't they?

I have realised that the builder was very keen to start building and getting the stage payments from us, which they have done. What amazes me they have started building without putting the infrastructure in place to support the houses first. They seem to have done things the wrong way round. The infrastructure should have been the first thing done, but of course that would have meant the builder forking out money prior to any money coming in from the clients.

I keep being told that this is how things are done in Cyprus, seems pretty shit to me and we feel exploited. I am sure it will all happen but the builder now has 95% of the price of the house but we are a long way from having 95% of the house delivered.

When I raise this with the builder they just shrug. I have a meeting next week with the CEO and the Engineering team to try and get some answers.

@MacGeorge8035

3 words--- THIS IS CYPRUS

@charles533 I hate those words as they are a complete cop-out.

Saw this this morning

https://youtu.be/EREiy7BE-oI?si=AamFEyofYEH6ZQEX

Plenty of properties have been built over the years and are still empty and decaying for various reasons.. plenty of builder developers have not adhered to permits or completed projects left the build without completing road lighting bio-plants and much more despite full payment.

Buyer beware

@MacGeorge8035

Some folks do get fed up with the pace of work, and just cut their losses and move to somewhere more organized.

But it's a tough decision, and almost certainly not feasible for you after paying for 94%.

It might be a shock, but now you know the situation. I would suggest that you kinda just need to go with the flow, and reset your move-in expectations to 9-12 months rather than a few weeks.

I agree, it sucks. But what can you do? Shout at the builders and EAC, and stomp around like a frustrated gringo, and put your blood pressure through the roof?

Chill out, enjoy the beach, make sure the house itself is finished properly. Good things come to those who wait. :-)

Having tried unsuccessfully to find a suitably located property in the east of the island its shocking how many we found that dont have deeds or had problematic deeds with notes. IE incomplete projects unauthorised works completed and authorised works not completed...

I wonder if prospective golden visa arrivals understand the big issues with buying property in Cyprus! We all expect things in another country to be as they were in our homeland. Unfortunately it appears Cyprus is 20 years behind in a lot of things and even 100 years behind on some lol

As you said buyer beware and trust no one. Always check everything yourself and go to the horses mouth rather than trust a developer or agent :-/

I posted another article on the things that some agents and developers promise prospective buyers relating to being able to get fast track PR  as part of the sales pitch despite the sales price not being €300k plus vat as they say it's the value not the price...  which is totally wrong

Search for "property scam" subject

@Toon interesting post for sure. Sounds worse than I even imagined :-/

Cyprus being a Financial centre? More like a crooks paradise lol

Corrupt in all fields am afraid

I feel your pain! I'm not sure if this would be helpful, but maybe the estate agent you bought the house through might be able to have a word with the builders, as I'm sure they all 'know people' and can push things along. I am an experienced property project manager in my home country and decided to embark on what I thought would be a fun, renovation project in Cyprus!  What a fool I was - I thought I'd have a stroke with the carry-on by certain people involved in the job.  I thought that projects worked similarly to my home country, and got a full quote for everything to be done.  I didn't understand that he wanted to do one bit at a time, then let the workers go elsewhere for other jobs, and then come back when they decided to, which really doesn't suit a full renovation when you have to be in by a particular date and we ended up living on the property with a full renovation and all that goes with it.  He caused many problems for all of us by trying to control us all, despite the rest of us working fine together. Things got so bad that we stopped working together towards the end of the project and I have thankfully found other workers. It was a shame as the subbies were good, albeit very slow.  It took 14 months to get what we got on a 180m2 house, while it took 18 months to restore an 8 bed 750m2 ft listed building at home.   I did the PV project and dealt with EAC myself, and found that the only way to get anything done was to constantly follow up.  I used to visit suppliers almost on a daily basis looking for updates because I quickly learned that phone calls and emails are totally ignored once answered or read. The only way is to stand in front of a designated person and keep the pressure on until they get so sick of seeing you that they will want to get rid of you.  It's not what we were used to in our home country, so it's hard to understand.  One major piece of advice for anyone launching into a building project - order everything well in advance BUT DO NOT PAY more than a deposit until you receive the goods, and check that you have received exactly what you ordered, the quantities, and that there are no damages.  Try to ensure you are on the premises when deliveries are made. Check, double-check, and triple-check what quantities you are being advised to order as some people will try to screw you over.  And do your research on prices - I'll say no more!!!!  It's a small island at the end of the day and it can be difficult to find supplies that are readily available in mainland Europe.  Also, the transport of goods is very high.  From Jan 24 I will be available to help source goods and issue advice on Interiors if required, so I'll post again in the New Year if anybody shows any interest.  Good luck to anyone about to embark on a project - it's not for the faint-hearted but will hopefully be worth it.

Personally, I blame Grand Designs and Mr. McCloud! :-) Many of their houses are spectacular... and we all ignore the episodes where the project took 3X longer (or never got completed), or cost 5X as much, or caused a fractious divorce. Renovation and construction projects often seem to be a "triumph of hope over experience". :-)

@gwynj I personally pay specific attention to the ones who overshoot the timeframe, budget, etc....otherwise one might as well log onto Pinterest or Instagram to see instantaneous gratification and perfection