What is Shaddock? A big builder/construction company?

Yes they are a big builder here in Dallas area

Production builders often reserve a bunch of rights to make changes without telling you, and also, after some builders were sued for lying about square footage - they brought in more wiggle words.

In a perfect world, the change in square footage would have been clearly called out in the change order so you could make an informed decision - but that's probably wrapped up in the hesitancy to get too specific on that .

You'll find you have little leverage in today's market (and with your contract) and walking away will likely mean losing your deposit.

IF you continue - your lesson here is to document everything in writing and ask questions like "what else would this change impact?" etc - walking you through every decision isn't something more volume builders take the time to do - it's all on you.

I am actually thinking of lawyering up and going to Arbitration to get money back

How big or small is the house? 40 square feet is less than the walk in closet in most new build masters or considered a "tiny" bathroom in most new builds (5x8). Does it really have that much of an impact on the house?

Start by asking out. Some builders will oblige.

This is pretty standard. If this is your first build, I suppose it's understandable that you wouldn't know this, but I don't think it's worth "lawyering up" unless you want to lose more money. Tract builders have their legal ducks in a row. More than likely it does state somewhere that the floorplan varies, so you will pay a lawyer and lose that money too. Also, while the paperwork doesn't specifically state your game room will be 40 sf smaller, it also doesn't state how big it WILL be. Nowhere in your contract does it say they will build you a house with the exact square footage of their example floorplan.

One of our bedrooms lost a foot of width due to the elevation we chose. Normally it would be fine, but that bedroom was already only 10' wide so the loss of a foot was pretty significant. You know what I did? Shrugged my shoulders and made it work.

This is one of the problems when Floorplan and Elevation are a la carte.

Floorplans and elevations should be specific to one another. Instead now they are designed independently and you pick one snap on mask or another one depending upon your taste. But obviously it doesn't always work.

From everything I’ve read, Big Builders hold all the cards. They know what they’re doing and have a massive legal team.

You want to lawyer up? Go for it. (Good luck with that.)

Nowhere in the paperwork it states that game room will have a 40sqft loss. Now, builder is asking me to pay to change permit.
I am pissed, i want to cancel and get a refund!

I am actually thinking of lawyering up and going to Arbitration to get money back

This is clearly not about the loss of 40 sq ft.

Given the dramatic reaction, my guess is the OP wants out of the contract, and is seizing on this minuscule issue as their ticket out.

They probably signed the contract before the economy started to tank, interest rates spikes, housing market cooled, ect.

What is the cost of changing the permit?

Why would a permit need to be changed for a 40 sq ft discrepancy? Its still a reasonable facsimile of the original home.

It might be helpful to know what the impact of the 40 feet is, like I already asked.

If it's a room that goes from 20x20 to 18 by 20 I am not sure that's a big deal. If it's a room that goes from 14x10 to 10x10 it could make that room much less useful for its intended purpose. If it is a room that a pool table is supposed to go in, and it's no longer the right size, it could be a really big deal.

"I am pissed, i want to cancel and get a refund!" & "I am actually thinking of lawyering up and going to Arbitration to get money back"

First, remove emotions, they usually lead to poor outcomes, as do notions of right and wrong. Of course, you should consider whether this may be a sign of even more problems in the future, but how you got in this position and how unfair it is are irrelevant otherwise. You can make a small fortune chasing justice, just start with a large fortune.

Try to figure out what outcome is best from where you are now. That may mean paying an attorney or it may mean paying the fee that is being asked and moving on.

Production builder contracts often have language to protect them, so realize that you may not win. Also to a production builder your money is working capital so even if a builder knows they are in the wrong they may drag you over every hurdle just to keep using your money, essentially they have a no interest loan from you and may delay giving it back.

Good luck

Basically it is a block of wall at the corner of a rectangular game room.

Cannot put a sofa there ! Kind of renders the room useless.

Not sure why the repermit is such an issue!

They are going to let me know the permit cost which could be about 10k is what's being told

"I am actually thinking of lawyering up and going to Arbitration to get money back."

Wrong approach. Build, close, and resell without moving in. You'll make money instead of enriching the legal community.

Thought about it... Need to figure out a way to qualify for 2 loans

Thought about it... Need to figure out a way to qualify for 2 loans

You really aren't making any sense.

I think you may just be in over your head and now you're panicking.

Why would you "need to figure out a way to qualify for 2 loans"?

You don't even know the cost of the permit fee yet. But have been told it will be about $10K. Why does $10K require two loans?

Two loans refers, I think, to hanging onto this house and selling it unlived in because they no longer like it, and building another house.

@booty bums Could you please either send me a PM or an email? I would like to communicate some stuff privately (no worries...good stuff). My contact info is in an ideabook here Architectrunnerguy (houzz.com) Thanks!

@Architectrunnerguy

I sent you a PM via the Houzz website.

@Architectrunnerguy - Is there a "no worries...bad stuff" option?

Is there a "no worries...bad stuff" option?

LOL.....

It's common for production builders in our area to show one floor plan and 3 - 5 possible elevations. They will not provide a separate floor plan for each elevation, and not surprisingly they usually show the plan that has bay windows or other features which enlarge the interior space. Room sizes are stated, but with caveats about everything being subject to change and that all images are artists' illustrations and not the actual details of the plan to be built. People still flock to buy their houses and they have waiting lists.

Custom builders aren't necessarily exempt from similar issues. We were still living out of town when our ICF framing and pour was done, as well as when interior framing was completed. Mistakes were made. We lost square footage and have had to make multiple compromises during this project. We'll live with it, and I'll try to not let all of the screw ups take away from our enjoyments of the new home.