babygirl03, thanks for your reply. I agree completely with the house being solar passive which is what we want to achieve also. I don't want to put our sketch on here until we have a builder. Ours is also fairly basic in design (4 beds, main living/kitchen dine,lounge/media and a butler's kitchen - a definate must!). Which area are you building in as I would like to check out the F0rmat build if they are close by. PM if you like.
In regard to the plans being yours from an architect, according to one of the builders mentioned that we talked to, we can pay to have all the footing reports etc ($1500 from memory) which would form part of our deposit but if we dont go ahead with them we keep the plans and can use them elsewhere. Apparently most people are happy to continue with them.

The Format build is in Glenunga which is probably a bit far for you to do a drive by. However, am happy to pm you actual address if you're interested still or when there's a bit more up. There's still only a slab and nothing else at present.

That's good that one of your builders is happy to give you their reports should you decide not to go with them. One of them told us something similar as well but a friend said just be aware that it is very common that those reports usually don't have sufficient details on there for it to be useful enough for builders to provide a quote.

It seems there is just so much to consider especially the pitfalls

Dreamcometrue, we are in a similar position. We have purchased a place to demolish and build our new home in SA.

After building with a project builder 13 years ago we knew that was not the way we wanted to go this time. We are after something that ends up like the high end builders mentioned by babygirl03 but we thought we could achieve a similar outcome at a cheaper price by using a high quality smaller builder.

While you can achieve better value for money because the smaller builder does not have the same overheads ( ie admin, marketing, show homes etc) it can be harder because you have no show home to go to show you what everything will look like etc.

We have engaged an architect to draw up the plans and attended to council development approval ourselves. We were very aware that architects can get carried away so we were very specific about what we wanted but prepared to listen to ideas on how to bring it all together.

We are in currently in the process of having the working drawings, engineers reports etc done.

In the meantime we have engaged a "colour consultant" who has assisted us to select and co-ordinate all external colourings such as roof, render, bricks, garage, fences, pavers etc and internally all paint colours, tiles, benchtops, sanitary ware and fittings etc etc.

Once we have all the drawings, reports, selections etc we will approach a couple of smaller builders we have shortlisted for a fixed quote. (We have previously received indicative costings from them.)

Whether going down this path works out or not we will find out but it has so far given us a lot of flexibility and during the process when we have changed our mind it has not caused a problem or cost for anyone. By the time we get everything to the builder ( the process has taken 6 months + so far) we will be very certain on what we want.

Once we get started I will start a blog and post some plans and photos.

Hi Crow, I really look forward to reading your blog and seeing photos when you get to that stage. I don't think I would be confident enough to take the path you are though and we probably need to move a bit quicker than that process would allow (time taken to find an architect and builders plus attending to council matters etc).

Dreamcometrue, we intended to move at a quicker pace but when it takes 4 weeks to get plans back from an architect, 2 weeks to review and adjust plans, 11 weeks for council approval (no problems or changes required it just took that long), 4 weeks while everything shut down over Christmas/ Jamuary and 8 weeks to wait for working drawings, engineers reports etc it doesn't take long to rack up 6 months.
However in that time we have worked out all our appliances, selections eetc and have started on a landscaping plan etc so we are ready to go.

Dreamcometrue, I know how daunting it all sounds. We've not ever built or renovated before so totally understand where you're trying to come from. However, when we voice our uncertainties, the people we've spoken with who have some knowledge / workings in the industry kept telling us that going with a builder will likely to present even more headache and we really should at least consider and speak with an architect first before deciding.

Crow, I would love to pick your brain if you don't mind sharing details. At present, our property manager is arranging for us to rent out the property we've acquired (but yet to settle) for a 12 month rental as she strongly believes it will take us definitely close to that time to have all the preliminaries done. So, based on the timing you've posted, it sounds like she may just be right. We were looking at a 6mths lease originally. We will meet with a friend she recommended next week to see if he can give us some names of suitable architects who we can talk to after he have a look over the property.

Babygirl03, it depends how keen you are to get started. 12 months may be a bit long. 6 months might just be enough.
Remember that things like demolishing can take a couple of weeks ( and the demolishers may require up to 6 weeks notice) and you need to have the appropriate building rules consent from the council which takes a couple of weeks. You need to get the electricity abolished from the property before demolishment which can take 3 - 6 weeks of waiting.( this would have to be after the tenants left obviously)

After demolishing you will need to get the site surveyed and pegged before building and in our case as we are filling so we have to construct retaining walls and fencing before we start.

Once all that is done then ( in our case) the pool can be dug and concreted and then building can commence.

So if you have a 12 month lease and everything that happens after the lease ends happens in a timely fashion given you can organise it to happen just after the lease ends then it may take 14 - 15 months ie 2-3 months after the lease ends to start. (eg our demolition has taken 4 weeks due to equipment breakdowns but to this stage it has not slowed us down as we are waiting for the other stuff)

If you have a 6 month lease then all those things will take you to about 9 months which would be concurrent with the plans prepared, council approval, engineers reports, working drawings, finding a builder etc etc. A longer lease may leave you sitting around waiting but again it depends how long it takes you to get organised.

It was not an issue for us as the place we are demolishing was uninhabitable. We have just been going as fast as we can and will get there about 9 months.

No problem, we are indeed building in GG, its on Hallet Road. Nice area. Now, does anyone know anything about the rumour that a Pub is going to be built nearby next to the "new shopping centre" as well ?

This is on Wikipedia, I couldn't find anything else on Google.
In 2007, further land was released at Greenwith. This land was acquired by Fairmont Homes, as a new housing division. The land is said to hold a Tavern, a small shopping complex, a nursing home, and a retirement village. 220 blocks of land will be released. The land is known as 'The Settlement' estate, seeing as this was the land of Captain Adam Robertson (hence the name 'Captain Robertson Drive'), who named the suburb of Golden Grove (as above).

Captain Robertson's original homestead still stands, centered in the new development. The marvellous double storey architectural masterpiece will be restored to its former majesty.

there was a pub (tavern) to be included but i am unsure if it is still on the cards,
i do not think so, but the football club is there.

i am a buiding consultant in the area and do free designs and drawings and quotes, however i belive i am not supposed to adverstise my details on this website, i am happy to answer any questions though impartially.

generally this discussion i can inpart that you check standard specs and get a quote a snear as possible to what your after befor ea contract, and beware of pc sums type quotes as these items are not fixed and will be adjusted later.

also its worth being aware that builders standard footings inclusions/ spec varies
its worth asking what spec there standard footings are

i hope i have not intruded and provided impartial help

Hi Philip01
I'm guessing you work for one of the local builders then?
Any advice given is a help and appreciated. We have built twice before, the last one 12 years ago (our current home). It seems there is a lot more to look out for these days and I am trying to research as much as possible before committing to a builder. I want to be sure, as much as possible, that I have included everything and received a fixed price including footings before starting. That's where this forum has been invaluable for information and guidance.

If you want a fixed price get your soil tests done before going to any builder. That way the builder can work out your footings much more accurately. Otherwise if you ask for a fixed price they may add a lot more to cover the footings than necessary to cover there cost.

Any soil report you get now can be given to the builder. You have to pay for a soil test no matter what, so you might as well use it to your advantage.

I have a preliminary report and footing recommendation which I received when the block was purchased. The bores were drilled in Oct 2009. There is a sheet that shows the borehole location, notes the depth of bores, approx fall of site, surface, resistance. The cover sheet reads: This is a preliminary report giving alternative types of recommendations and indicating characteristics of the site. This report shall not be used for construction purposes. Before construction can commence on-site a Footing Construction Report is to be prepared by the Consulting Engineer.
Then it goes on to list soil and/or site characteristics, footing type, preliminary footing details and additional notes.
I don't know if this would give a good indication of what footings may be required before getting an actual report by the Consulting Engineer.

That should be good enough to avoid any expensive surprises. I built a house around 7yrs ago with sterling homes at Craigmore just off Uley Rd behind the new church ( if you know the area ) and my footing's came in at a extra $13,000.

Thanks for that aza0; I would much prefer not to have any expensive surprises!

If they are doing their job properly, they should get it to within +/- 5%.

Our footings were estimated at 29K, came in a 33. Awesome

prelim soil does help along with contours if there is a slope , but large builders (like us)
can simply draw on surrounding knowledge base and be very close , plus if the deposit for the build is around $1500 only , then prelim reports can be a waste of money as reports
are inculuded in contract price already .
nevertherless the more info you can provide your builder the better

Well, we have started the process of selling our current home and have had three agents in for appraisals. It seems the market is not good for sellers at the moment and the value of our house is not as much as I'd hoped

We have been working on a design for our block and have a couple that we like but we're not ready to take it to a builder yet. Can't see the point if we haven't got it just the way we want because there would only be changes or variations down the track which can be costly.

Does anyone know how to change my signature to link to this thread?

Deb

dreamcometrue, that leads to a question, where abouts is your house and what is it like?
and also wondering who is doing the design work for you and what do they cost approximately for that service?

ATM we are drawing up the design ourselves using software purchased and downloaded from the internet. When we are satisfied that we have included all our needs and wants we will approach (preferably) custom builders for quotes.