What would you like to know?
When you first start planning your building project – be it a new home or a renovation of your existing home – you have so many questions you need answered.
We’ve answered a few common questions here, but if you have something that’s not covered below feel free to give us a call or send an email, and we’d be happy to chat with no obligation.
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Answers to your questions
At what stage should I involve a builder?
We recommend getting a builder involved early in the process. The more the builder is involved in the planning of your project, the better they will be able to ensure you end up with what you want.
A builder can give great feedback on concepts and plans from a practical perspective, which could save you time and expense further down the line.
Getting the builder involved early also helps grow the relationships between everyone involved in your project. Better relationships mean stronger communication, which ultimately means your build will run more smoothly.
Then, once plans are completed or have gone in for consent, your builder can get to work on providing you with a detailed quote, and you’ll be safe in the knowledge that they have a really good understanding of your project, and your budget.
If you’ve already had your plans done and are now looking for a builder, don’t panic! With the right people involved, a build can work just as well whichever way you approach it.
Does my builder need to be a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP)?
It depends what your project will involve, but for new builds and more extensive renovations, you will probably need an LBP. This is because only an LBP can carry out or supervise work relating to a residential building’s structure or weathertightness (known as restricted building work). All new builds, and many renovations, will involve aspects of both these elements.
To become an LBP, you must meet a certain standard of competency. You must renew your licence each year, and complete a certain amount of learning every two years to maintain your licence. This means an LPB is more likely to be up to date with what is going on in the industry. The LBP scheme makes building practitioners more accountable, and gives people embarking on a building project with an LPB greater peace of mind.
Do I need a building consent?
As with the LBP question, whether or not you’ll require building consent for your project will depend on what it involves. More extensive renovations and all new builds will require building consent. In general, you’ll need a building consent if the project involves:
- Building, repairing or altering a house or accessory building (like a shed or a garage) over 10 sqm
- Heating and ventilation work
- Plumbing and drainage work
- Swimming pools, spa pools and pool fencing
An experienced builder or designer will probably be able to identify fairly easily whether you require building consent, by asking the right questions about your project. If you’re still not sure, your local council will be able to help.
It’s important you get the right advice about building consent, as getting it wrong can come at a very high cost.
How can I keep the building project within my budget?
The best way to ensure you stay within your budget is to enter into a full, fixed price contract with your builder.
When you work with us, we take time to put together a detailed quote incorporating the various aspects of your build.
Prime cost sums (PC sums) will be kept to a minimum in this quote, and we’ll also identify and discuss with you any areas where variations may occur during the build, so you have a better idea what to expect if they do come up. A variation is just that – a variation to the work agreed to in your contract – and it will generally increase the cost, so ensuring you have a handle on potential variations will really help you keep within your budget (this is where having a contingency sum as part of your budget is vital).
Finally, we’ll detail what isn’t included in the contract (for example, this could be kitchen appliances or landscaping), so you know that you need to take care of these items, and budget for them.
Our geographical spread of mines and countries reduces our risk and increases our security of production. It also allows us to identify more opportunities, create synergies across our sites and transfer technology and people around the business.
Can I make changes during the building project?
This is your home, and we want it to be perfect for you when you move back into it. Sometimes, this will mean you need to make changes during the building project to ensure the details are just right.
We’re very happy to accommodate changes you’d like to make.
Changes will be treated as a variation to the building contract, and will be priced up and presented to you for approval before the work begins. We’ll always do our best to ensure you understand what, if any, effect changes could have on your budget and timeline.
How do we pay for the building project?
You pay on a progress payment system, as detailed in your building contract.
One advantage of full contract is you only need to make payments to one company, with payments made on set dates or at specific stages of the project. When we give you our written quote, we will provide you with a payment schedule and a construction schedule, so you know what to expect and when to expect it.
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