Tas

We're finally in. Moving in is always going to have issues but we are thrilled and now that the building is being finished up and has actually been registered, life is returning to normal.
TAS have been great with all of the problems that we've had, customer service actually got better as time passed.
Good experience overall: timely construction, proper quick registration, and TAS made a big effort to involve community at times. I'd consider another condo from them but Kingston AND Co (VicPark and Kingston) is already sold out.

Before you consider buying a product from TAS DesignBuild, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Do I care about quality of workmanship?
2. Do I care about honest and professional customer service?
3. Do I care that my new home will be delivered as promised, on time, and if not on time, do I want reasonable notice that it will be delayed?
4. Do I want working smoke detectors?
5. Do I want my outlets and light fixtures hung at straight, 90-degree angles?
6. Do I need a bathroom sink, closet bars, and working appliances right when I move in?
7. Do I need good quality hardwood floors, carpet, and door locks?

If you found yourself answering 'yes' to any of these questions, please, for your own good, steer clear of TAS DesignBuild.

We bought our condo in 2005, and were delayed a full year (we finally moved in in July 2007). Final registration didn't take place for almost another year, until April 1, 2008.

No less than 30 defects were noted during our pre-delivery inspection (which, by the way was delayed with 1 day's notice because they didn't have a chance to install our hardwood flooring yet). There are things that might be excusable, like a few scratched cabinets or hardwood floor planks or perhaps a receptacle not working, but our list included broken granite, missing sinks, missing closet bars, incorrect colour fridge being installed, smoke detector malfunctions, sloppy carpet installation, missing caulking in bathrooms, and broken door locks.

Worse yet, the quality of ALL the materials was sub-par. A year after move-in there is still no address number on the outside of the building, and the exercise room isn't complete. The quality of finishes in the common elements is questionable, and the building even has structural issues.

The quality of customer service leaves just as much to desire. The company is a small family-run operation who normally builds expensive custom homes (do some research and you will see that Dia was only their second condominium ever built, and they are currently working on M5V, their 3rd, and there will be a 4th coming soon called "Giraffe"). When you ask a question about something to the representatives, they will speak in front of you in a different language before answering your question as if they are trying to hide something, and are completely rude to you when you suggest that anything might be your fault. e.g.:
-Your receptacle isn't screwed on tight? Well, you must've jiggled it too hard.
-Your shower rod keeps falling down? You must be bumping around too much in the shower.
-Your carpet doesn't go all the way to the wall? You must have dragged something over it to make it like that. Oh, and your carpet is worn out--what were you doing to it??

TAS is a family company with big dreams and even bigger egos, but unfortunately they just don't have the experience, access to resources, quality workers, or people skills necessary to create a good product. Please steer clear for your own good! It may look great on paper and the layouts might be the best offered anywhere, but trust me, you will be much happier with a [another company] or a [another company] condominium.

We moved in to our new condo in august 2007. We loved the modern but natural design of the building, and the unit has a great layout.
Unfortunately there have been customer service issues, from the beginning. Communication (with customer or within the company) is not strong - we often felt left in the dark, and many processes seemed disorganized. For example - owners were sent a letter announcing the hours of the newly opened decor centre - and we drove across the city to find the decor centre dark and locked. No explanation/apology was ever sent.
As for the actual product - the flooring and tiling work was done very well. The general contracting work is poor - the finishing of the walls & painting in particular, is careless and sloppy. We have electrical outlets installed on an angle (noticeably). Requests for patch-ups, have resulted in only a marginally better work. We were without without a kitchen sink for 2 weeks, and had only cold water for the first 5 days. Other less "vital" items which we paid for, such as undermount cabinet lighting, mirrored closet doors, a bathroom vanity, and our kitchen backsplash, took several weeks and even months to appear. Deadlines were several times promised to us - and then passed by without a word from the builder. The above concerns have been echoed by many of our neighbors.
There is no question the architecture/design team is talented. I can only hope the builder learns from this development, and in the future hires professional, skilled contractors, and improves their customer service policies. If you do choose TAS - be prepared to take a firm stance when dealing with the company.