If you aren’t prepared to take your lawyer’s advice – and that’s your prerogative – then I would walk way from this. In fact, I would have been long gone by now. Being badly treated by the developer/builder before you even settle is a very good indication of how they will treat you after they’ve got your money.
I recently had the chance to get in early in a prestige new development but the contract was huge – enough to fill a massive ring binder. My lawyers asked for an extra week to read it (three rather than two) before we signed but the developer refused. We pulled the plug. It wasn’t the only reason but we got the sense that this could be a problem development if it wasn’t handled right and the contract issue was a bad sign.
I know you feel wronged here and you are entitled to what was agreed in the contract but getting what you want can take a lot of time, money and emotional energy, now and in the future. These builders haven’t behaved well and there’s unlikely to be a massive change in their attitude once you have settled.
The very idea that they might play games on the defects after you have moved in should be enough to get you backing out of this as quickly as you can.
One more thing about the CTTT; as you aren’t yet an owner you have no ‘standing’ so that isn’t an avenue open to you.