Sips Industries Ltd - Dalgety Bay

Curly

After a horrid experience trying to purchase a house at their Kirkton Lea development we took SIPs Industries to the small claims court. With hindsight it looks to have been a lucky escape reading the reviews about snagging and their reluctance to address them. Whilst we didn’t get all our money back we did get some and they have also been ordered to pay the costs for going to court. The hearings were mainly WebEx based video calls. Throughout that process their representative, the office manager, proved themselves to be an incredibly incompetent individual, it involved 6 calls over a 9 months period, the 1st of which they ignored the comms sent out by the sheriffs clerk on how to log into the video call and turned up at court, they were instructed to go away and log in but didn’t bother. On each of the 5 subsequent calls they could not mute, unmute, turn their video on or off when requested to do so by the court. On numerous occasions the clerk had to remove them due to disrupting other hearings. A truly embarrassing performance. This is a company that claim to build cutting edge homes but can’t handle a video call. Run a mile!

Pam A. A. K.

SIPS Industries manufactured, delivered and erected our architect designed house in a very efficient and friendly manner. They allowed us to visit their factory to see how the panels were made and talked us through all the process. The structure was erected in 4 1/2 days and after the windows were installed, a couple of days later, the house was weatherproof. The difficult bit was all the finishing that we undertook ourselves.

Philippa A.

I bought a SIPs house and have been chasing the company for over a year and a half to deal with serious snagging such as leaks, damp smells and unusable doors. I have constantly asked via email and left messages with reception for help to resolve every week and offered to contact suppliers to fix if they are too busy. I am getting zero response. I was assured in Nov 22 by the MD who came to our home it would be resolved. Not one item has been looked at. I’m hoping they can resolve the issues so that we can enjoy our home as it’s having an impact on us daily.

Nona

If you are considering purchasing a house being built by SIPS Industries at Kirkton Lea in Burntisland - save your money, and save yourself the stress and headaches.

You will notice all the negative reviews for this company have the most likes on them, and there is a lack of positive reviews from anyone that has bought one of these houses.

You are nothing but ££££ to the company, and if you give them your money, the service will go from very poor to non-existent.

You will have many issues and be lucky to ever get a reply, let alone a plan of action or resolution. The keyword in previous reviews of "untrustworthy" certainly holds true. Lies and failed promises come natural to the company.

Brian W.

!!!!! WARNING - AVOID KIRKTON LEA, BURNTISLAND !!!!!
My wife and I had the misfortune of putting down a reservation fee for plot 15/no. 12 on the 11th of May 2023. The agreed price was £429, 500 with a £2000 incentive coming back to us. We’d agreed the sale of our house and made it clear we needed to conclude our sale in order to complete prior to putting down the reservation. Our money was happily taken and a week later we visited their office for an overview of the plans and then went on to their supplier Mihaus to select tiles for the bathroom. We upgraded some but it was nearly 6 weeks before the invoice was received, despite it being chased by us with no reply. Then in less than 24 hours we’re rushed for payment with threats of cancellation. Our date of entry was delayed repeatedly. Initially we were told the entry date would be end of May/start of June that became the end of July before changing again to the 18th of August. During this time, they constantly pressed for missives to be concluded, with us responding that we were happy to do so once a date of entry had been provided. When moving home you need a date to work to. Eventually the 18th of August was given on the 28/06/23. The next day I was asked to go to the to view tiles as they’d ordered the wrong ones. On route I got a call from our solicitor to say that the further delay to 18th August would result in our chain collapsing. When there I immediately said that the incorrect tiles were not ok, the Managing director then imposed himself on me without prior arrangement and put pressure on to accept the incorrect tiles and in return could bring forward the entry date to 04/08/23. The MD then of his own volition told me that we were getting a very good deal, that the house was worth more than we were paying and that it would be good for him if we were to withdraw. Initially I very reluctantly accepted the tiles, but we decided that evening it wasn’t ok. It was resolved the next day as we went to a tile centre and choose acceptable tiles in stock to avoid further delays. The employee we meet at the tile centre commentated how uncomfortable he felt about the MD “strong arming” me the previous day. We also got word back that our chain was happy with the 4th of August late that Friday afternoon, 30/06/23. Now with everyone happy with the date we were working to our solicitor issued the acceptance of our sale the Monday following in prep to complete on our purchase. At 2pm the next day we were advised that SIPS has issued a 3hr deadline to complete or our reservation or it would be cancelled. It was totally unworkable not to mention unreasonable. It was extended to 12pm the next day but that was barely an improvement. We’d waited months on them, they couldn’t give us 2 days! We were left in a position where our house could have sold and our reservation cancelled so advised our solicitor to cancel our sale if the 12pm Wednesday deadline could not be met, which it wasn’t. SIPS response to this was to extend the deadline yet again to the Friday at 12pm and now blame us for cancelling and refuse to return our reservation fee.
I don’t know if the aim was to hound us out in pursuit of more profit or if they are just incredibly unreasonable people. Either way Plot 15 is now relisted for £25, 000 more than what we were paying so perhaps that explains their motivation. Dealing with this company has been a truly horrific experience, you’ll wait weeks for a response from them to straight forward quires but be expected to react instantly to them, with bully boy tactics being used. I have no doubt they offer an excellent product but dealing with them is horrendous. I could not in good conscience recommend them to anyone.

colin M.

SIPS Industries provided excellent quality and service.
From the start, the scope of works and responsibilities were clear. The quality of the manufactured kit was excellent, and was delivered at the scheduled time. Bruce and his team were a pleasure to work with for the installation, and they clearly knew what they were doing from start to finish.

Gerry G.

So pleased I bought 2!
As an architect with a desire for excellence, value for money and quality products, I chose SIPS Industries for my first self-build, 11 years ago. I arranged the sub structure to carry the frame SIPS did the frame, the rest was self-build. I chose the higher insulation spec despite the additional cost, and boy oh boy was it worth it. I now heat our open plan house with nothing more than a 4.5Kw log burner, supplemented with 1.5m underfloor heating in the bathroom. If the stove is on for more than 5hrs I must open windows upstairs to cool the place down!
Good insulation is not worth a sook of rock if the build quality is poor. Touch wood, we have had no settlement cracks, and a mere hairline shrinkage crack that was filled 5 years ago and never returned.
So apart from punctuality on site, admirable response to calls, knowledgeable tradesmen, good aftersales advice, and value for money this company has little to offer when I did my self-build !
Oh, I was so please with the first building some years later I built the structure shown on this review, using the same form of construction.
Gerry
PS May I offer a word of advice? TAKE YOUR TIME FINALISING ANY DESIGN, change on site is where the extras start. Fortunately I did and the final cost of the build matched the estimate. It is also wise to supplement the high insulation properties of the house with equally good windows and doors. In this respect I was given great advice from SIPS Industries

Frances H.

All the members of the Sips team were exemplary in every way. They went about their work in a most professional manner and we did not feel inconvenienced in any way. The project was finished sooner than we expected and we are extremely happy with the result.