[Boostaholic]

So my friend bought a new home from Onni, she moved in 3 months ago and one of the window developed a stress crack on it's own.

The window has three layers of glass and crack developed in the center layer. There isn't any crack on the surface of the window, which means the crack can't caused buy an outside impact or the outside window will break first.

After contacting Onni about it they just point finger at her that she must've broke the window and they can't cover it under the warranty. This seems quite unethical and is causing her quite a bit of headaches after going back and forth. Any tips on what she can do?

[Hondaracer]

Consult HPO's Manual and see their guidelines in terms on warrantable window issues.

Also typically when buying a new home you have a year grace period to address deficiencies such as drywall cracks, nail pops, etc so usually if your friend has a list of items around 8-9 months of ownership/warantee onni or whoever the management company is should be coming back and addressing the defincinies (as long as your friend is actually going through the proper channels and filing the items accordingly)

However, if Somone had come and checked on the window and there was a considerable amount of interior condensation from cooking, showering without fan/windows open, etc and this was documented then she could very well be SOL because these types of conditions are laid out in the home owners manual provided upon moving in.

I wouldn't paint ONNI with such a broad brush as they literally build thousands of homes a year and I've rarely heard of issues with them.

[NNT]

ask your friend open a case with Home owner protection office. new condo require to have a 2-5-10 warranty and HPO can step in for dispute.

[Hondaracer]

Also is it the slider or the stationary part of the window? If it's the slider and the inner pane is broken I'd probably say it was on the home owner as well.

However typically in good faith they should replace it either way.

[Boostaholic]

It's a stationary window, not a slider. She will contact HPO and see what they say.

[VR6GTI]

omni does shit work

[blkgsr]

home owner warranty claim....it'll get fixed then

[meowjinboo]

omni does shit work

depends on the building and subtrades.

[sdubfid]

all these years I thought it was omni

[ed99]

I also heard from family and friends to stay away from Onni Development . Horrible built quality.

[nah]

I can attest that Onni customer service sucks balls. I am an owner of a unit in one of their buildings, they will do whatever they can to get out of NOT fixing deficiencies.

If it's an external window, that should be on strata to fix so get them to fight Onni to have that replaced.

[Gunsmokez]

You are not allowed to fix it anyways, it is considered exterior. You need to contact your Strata manager and get pics and send it to him. Then he has to pass it by the strata members and they will contact a repair company (Either Omni,or third party)

Happened to me actually, was heat related. Windows crack due to the heat, had a window company take a look at it and first thing he said was " Sun caused it" .

Also, your strata has a window comprehensive coverage which you pay for. So worst case scenario you would just pay the deductible.

[Mr.HappySilp]

ask your friend open a case with Home owner protection office. new condo require to have a 2-5-10 warranty and HPO can step in for dispute.

this and nag and nag and nag the starta, building managers. Basically if you stay quiet so will they. Make it so they have to fix it. Come up with any excuse.

[Boostaholic]

You are not allowed to fix it anyways, it is considered exterior. You need to contact your Strata manager and get pics and send it to him. Then he has to pass it by the strata members and they will contact a repair company (Either Omni,or third party)

Happened to me actually, was heat related. Windows crack due to the heat, had a window company take a look at it and first thing he said was " Sun caused it" .

Also, your strata has a window comprehensive coverage which you pay for. So worst case scenario you would just pay the deductible.

The window is from bedroom to balcony. Does that count as external?

[Hondaracer]

Any window as part of the exterior envelope is exterior. Only windows that wouldn't count as this would be like a pass through from bedroom to enquite or somthing

[blkgsr]

it's a stress cracked cause by the settlement of the building. The window might have been manufacturer a hair tall or installed just off, the window system is designed to allow the concrete slabs to sag

[Gunsmokez]

As far as I know all windows from outside are exterior. Owners are not allowed to touch it. It must be repaired through the strata. They have insurance coverage for this so you do not need to worry about it.

Either way, strata should handle it for you and should not cost you a dime.

[SpartanAir]

I can attest that ONNI is a HUGE problem. Not just in build quality, but on a larger scale...

In terms of build quality, my mom bought an ONNI built apartment on the water in Steveston about 8 years ago, from someone who bought it brand new, never lived in it, and flipped it. There was a big crack in the granite counter that couldn't have been from anyone as no one lived there. ONNI has an appearance of luxury ie granite, stainless appliances, modern colours etc, but they do the minimum necessary.

The worst part of the apartment was the sound insulation. My mom had area rugs everywhere and always had her shoes off, and would step from rug to rug to avoid any kind of noise, and would CONSTANTLY get noise complaints from downstairs. And the neighbours above had a new child who would run around and would play fetch with their dog, and it sounded like they were in our apartment.

Also, a veteran Lower Mainland real estate agent I know once told me that years ago ONNI just straight up didn't pay their contractors. The buildings would be built and they would find a loophole and delay or just not pay the contractors.

And aside from all of the above bullshit, I would say they have had a strong hand in forcing up housing prices. They build these lavish LOOKING apartments in key new areas, and make them overpriced from the beginning. But their properties are tiny compared to older Vancouver apartments. And their definition of a "single family home" has no lot whatsoever and is butted up right next to another home, where you could literally reach out the window and touch your neighbour's house.

ONNI is all about producing the the minimum livable spaces, making them appear lavish and high-end, squeezing as many of those spaces as possible on their plot, and overcharging to make them more desirable.

ONNI is creating havoc in Vancouver.

/rant

[turbomelon]

Its pretty much the modus operandi for all large developers. After working in the Bay Area for a few years, you would be amazed at the garbage quality of stuff that goes into these so called "luxury" apartment homes and condos.

Equity Residential, Essex Property Trust, Irvine Group, Barry Swenson Builder.. the list goes on out here. It's all the same crap different window dressing. I've seen so many of the same appliance packages with 'stainless steel finish' and bargain basement functionality.

The only difference is some developers are better at hiding it than others, or find more creative(and sketchy) ways to pad their bottom line, giving them a bit more room to seem super helpful.

Some will try to impress with their countertops/tile, others with their appliance packages installing seemingly legit wolf/viking/sub zero units. Others with the amenity spaces, and 'high end' LVT, and skimp on the HVAC. Its same principle with all things, quality, money and reliability, you can only pick two. Just in the construction/development industry its a lot easier and beneficial for all developers to cut corners wherever they can with minimal impact to their bottom line.

Its just a simple fact of life, they're out there to make money not give everyone a great deal.

[Berzerker]

Also look at the Owners of the Onni corp ;) I worked for them for some time and I know first hand that one of the higher ups had his house in the Properties completely reno'd for free using the tradesmen and materials from the Buildings on lower Lonsdale. He would bring up materials and workers from the building, have them install it and have free labor as they were being paid from the other job site. A simple search of their last name should provide insight as to who is actually profiting from these ventures.

Berz out.

[donjalapeno]

I can attest that ONNI is a HUGE problem. Not just in build quality, but on a larger scale...


/rant

+1

My sisters year and a half old apartment is leaking in various places. Noise insulation is BRUTAL. The neighbour above has a small Pomeranian and when it runs around it sounds like a gorilla trying to find its mating partner. The windows have really bad condensation.

[Hondaracer]

no offense but if she bought in a woof frame low-rise, thats the reality of all these buildings.

[hk20000]

not true. I have seen good and bad wood frame lowrises but the window issue is an isolated incident. Happens to the best happens to the worst, you might just be unlucky.

But whether to cover that window, on the other hand, speaks volume to the amount of fucks the developer has to give.

[IMASA]

For those in the industry, what do you have to say about Penta? They seem to have a few properties in Richmond.

[willystyle]

Is there a site that does reviews of various developers?

[Hondaracer]

not true. I have seen good and bad wood frame lowrises but the window issue is an isolated incident. Happens to the best happens to the worst, you might just be unlucky.

But whether to cover that window, on the other hand, speaks volume to the amount of fucks the developer has to give.

Any wood frame will have noise issues regardless of finish. Even pouring a self leveling compound and adding that additional Barrier does not prevent noise pollution

[Lomac]

ONNI is all about producing the the minimum livable spaces, making them appear lavish and high-end, squeezing as many of those spaces as possible on their plot, and overcharging to make them more desirable.

ONNI is creating havoc in Vancouver.

To be fair, they're only working within the allowed means that various cities have given them. If cities truly didn't want them to build a dozen houses on a single acre, then they would amend the laws to prevent it. Or all the citizens of a particular neighbourhood where a new development is occurring can band together when it's proposed and see if their city hall can do something about it.

Look at Langley's Brookswood/Fernridge development battle. Developers had plans to triple the population in that area, yet the people already living there got together and managed to defeat the proposal when it was brought to the Council.

It can happen; you just have to be willing to fight for the change.

[meowjinboo]

Also look at the Owners of the Onni corp ;) I worked for them for some time and I know first hand that one of the higher ups had his house in the Properties completely reno'd for free using the tradesmen and materials from the Buildings on lower Lonsdale. He would bring up materials and workers from the building, have them install it and have free labor as they were being paid from the other job site. A simple search of their last name should provide insight as to who is actually profiting from these ventures.

Berz out.

evelynn never again.

[quasi]

Also look at the Owners of the Onni corp ;) I worked for them for some time and I know first hand that one of the higher ups had his house in the Properties completely reno'd for free using the tradesmen and materials from the Buildings on lower Lonsdale. He would bring up materials and workers from the building, have them install it and have free labor as they were being paid from the other job site. A simple search of their last name should provide insight as to who is actually profiting from these ventures.

Berz out.


Unfortunately this is fairly common in the industry, it happens a lot I've seen it first hand working for multiple subs from a handful of different general contractors. Typically they wouldn't do it from there own developments because that's coming out of there bottom line. When there doing a sizeable project for someone else they might pad subcontracts with kickbacks or pad CO's to cover the costs. It's shady as hell but it happens a lot more then you'd expect.

[blkgsr]

ya that's not exactly out of this world....as the owner of a company it's pretty common place and expected

[Boostaholic]

no offense but if she bought in a woof frame low-rise, thats the reality of all these buildings.

high rise concrete actually.

[nah]

To be fair, while their customer service is shit. My concrete building has been noise free from what people have described form the floor above and below.

[ed99]

Next time if you ever viewing an Onni building, check out the hall ways. They can't even get that straight. The walls and base boards are not straight. Scary when they can't even do that right lol.

[ImportPsycho]

Omni, bosa, polygon, all same sht
Every developers have horror stories.
My co worker bought a polygon condo Richmond.
When finished, they ended up installing wrong colour scheme for one washroom.
He fought and fought but at the end.. too bad so sad. I think they offered Keg steak giftcard.

[Selanne_200]

^ But if your friend did an inspection when they finished and found out its the wrong colour scheme, wouldn't it constitute a breach of contract and they have no obligation to go through with the purchase? Unless he is desperate for a place to live. If colour was a big deal to me, I wouldn't have taken delivery of the unit

[lgman]

Glass Deductible is/can be as low as $25

[Mr.HappySilp]

^ But if your friend did an inspection when they finished and found out its the wrong colour scheme, wouldn't it constitute a breach of contract and they have no obligation to go through with the purchase? Unless he is desperate for a place to live. If colour was a big deal to me, I wouldn't have taken delivery of the unit

That's correct. Friend but a place in Richmond where half of the things wouldn't work and the developers keep forcing him the sign off which he didn't.

In the end after everything then he sign the paper. Of coz it help coz since he is in construction as well so they agent that walk him through the inspection can't BS their way out.

[akira112]

It's already been said, some of you guys clearly don't know how the industry work. The "side projects" are pretty damn common.
Everyone is submitting bids to be part of these large developments, how do you think they come try to come out ahead of others competing to be on the same job, and possibly setting them up for multiple projects down the road. These side projects are chump change in the grand scheme of things.

[Hondaracer]

^ But if your friend did an inspection when they finished and found out its the wrong colour scheme, wouldn't it constitute a breach of contract and they have no obligation to go through with the purchase? Unless he is desperate for a place to live. If colour was a big deal to me, I wouldn't have taken delivery of the unit

Sounds like most people are just getting bent over and fucked in the ass then complaining about it a few months after the fact. Or puting no effort into their complaint process then using other avenues to vent..

If the color scheme was wrong in the place they should have walked away from the orientation/walk through that second and said they will come back once it has been fixed. The only time developers are going to sweat is when you're holding off completing.

The complete wrong thing to do was to accept the color change at all, period. The orientation should not have continued for a minute more with such a drastic mistake because the process of fixing it will most likely cause additional defincicies which would not have been noted if you completed or moved in prior to the fix.

When buying a place use your brain and your leverage.

I've done about 60-70 home owner orientations with buyers ranging from first time home owners to 7th time retiree's. 90% are clueless as to what they should look for/point out in their orientations.

If I was to buy a new place I'd be a developers worst nightmare. I'd literally be picking out things like caulking beads where the guy pulled his finger away early and there's a smudge. And it's all within your right to do so as the buyer.

[MitchK]

depends on the building and subtrades.

Unless it's a real high-end building, it's all low-bid gets the job for projects like this. You don't get good subtrades in for that.

[Hondaracer]

define "good"

...

the people doing the 30 million dollar trump tower penthouses right now are some of the same who do 4 storey low rise in Surrey. So what is "good" ?

[MitchK]

define "good"

...

the people doing the 30 million dollar trump tower penthouses right now are some of the same who do 4 storey low rise in Surrey. So what is "good" ?

It depends on the trade. It's the finishing that it's more of an issue, because things like electrical/plumbing has to all pass code. Things like finishing carpentry and flooring (I spent 5 years putting floors in) aren't regulated.

You aren't getting a good quality finishing crew into multi-fam developments for low dollar. Anyone worth their keep is probably staying busy enough doing renovations/single family houses.

[Hondaracer]

well yea, finishing and drywall are the major quality factors the rest i wouldnt really say theres too much difference from the top to bottom. Maybe concrete finishing and stuff like that

[MitchK]

well yea, finishing and drywall are the major quality factors the rest i wouldnt really say theres too much difference from the top to bottom. Maybe concrete finishing and stuff like that

You've obviously not seen a bad drywall job, or at least haven't noticed it. There's a big difference in good/bad with that.

[Selanne_200]

Hmm I think Hondaracer was saying drywall finishing IS one of the major quality factors along with finishing

[winson604]

About 1 year ago I did some work at my parents house with my bro in law who builds houses for a living. Nothing crazy, new laminate flooring, new base boards, new light switches. So of course things like caulking were involved and I saw the workmanship of my bro in law and thought ok this is a standard.

Since then I've been looking at places to buy for months now. New, old, Condos, Townhomes you name it and man the finishes look like shit in most of these places. Sloppy caulking, baseboards all crooked among other things. I'm with Honda, If I bought a place id keep off on signing and nit pick about everything.

[Hondaracer]

Too bad our company didn't have any townhouse sites on the go or else I might offer to give prospective home buyers a little crash course on things to look for during a walk through