Builder, trying to recover quote/drawing costs, NSW

Hello,

We asked a builder for a quote for a granny flat and various other things e.g. pergola and a sunroom.
I supplied drawings to the builder that I created for most of that (except the granny flat) to assist him in preparation of a quotation. I also supplied a plan of the existing layout on the property.
On the drawings I supplied to the builder I nominated a 12m x 5m size for the granny flat (60sqm).

The builder eventually supplied a quote but it didn't include a sketch of the proposed granny flat. We asked the builder for his sketch as we could not relate to the descriptions on his quotation. He sent us a drawing which had west elevation, south elevation and plan view but had few dimensions on it (the 12m x 5m I originally specified and 90mm for wall thicknesses). This was all he supplied to us. a single drawing, after he had sent us his quotation.

We became concerned at the price increase of the written quote which was supposedly fixed price because he had increased the price a few times verbally with us before we got the written quote.
The builder's wife dropped off a blank copy of the HIA contract for renovations and additions for us to read. We were concerned about the possibility for variations as described in the HIA contract. The written quote was already at the ceiling of what we could afford.

Equally important, we had concerns about the termperament of the builder which was confirmed when we decided not to accept the quotation.

We received an extremely abusive phone call from him which was very unprofessional.

He said he was going to invoice us $2,000 for the drawings and plans he had done for us. I mentioned he had only done one drawing in support of his quote.
Then he said he would contact Fair Trading. he also threatened to stop us from getting any other builder onboard in the area.

So I guess we will be hauled before Fair Trading, or. if he decides to send us an excessive invoice we may have to haul the builder before Fair Trading.

All I can say is that we are so glad we didn't proceed with him.

Note, we have not signed a contract at all.

Question
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Can the builder charge for his work in preparing a quotation and supporting drawing? If so, shouldn't he have asked us up front for a fee to prepare the quotation and/or supporting drawing?
If the builder had said upfront that there is a $500 to prepare the quotation for you, I think we would have gone along with that. The fact is, nothing was mentioned. It is only now, after rejecting his quotation, is the subject of money coming up.


Despite everything I personally feel that we should pay the builder something for preparing the quotation and drawing.


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