Provincial Homes

ProgD · Oct 16, 2014 11:00 am

Yeah....

Our DA application is in council. Provincial submitted them yesterday, got a call with the confirmation. So now the fun part of waiting game begins... I guess on every step their is some thing that is exciting and frustrating both. We are looking for our Internal Colours / Electricals in next 6 weeks and hopefully by then council should be back with some decision.

Any ideas on approval time frame with council, etc. ???

Guys, so far touch wood, it has been ok. I am thinking of same as we move forward from here onwards..... I think keeping positive to be less stressful is the key.

Will keep posting of updates as they happen....

jahasabe · Oct 16, 2014 9:41 pm

Congrats ProgD!
We were told allow 6-9 weeks for our council but actually came through in a bit over 5 weeks. Probably just depends on how busy your council is & whether everything fits their requirements? I found Provincial was very thorough in providing everything council needed.

kavehman · Oct 20, 2014 3:26 pm

ProgD, From what I have seen Provincial are pretty thorough when it comes to council applications. i saw one Provincial application whizz through liverpool council in 4 weeks, and another one took 5 months through another builder.

I think you will be through it quite quickly.

On another note, frames were delivered to my site (managed to get a picture from a friend), and I have also been sent details of my site superviser and a schedule outlining the build process.

Pretty informative I might add. One thing to note is you will be allocated a site supervisor once the slab has gone down. Well at least thats my experience.

kifaya · Oct 20, 2014 5:08 pm

Hi guys Finally posted some more photos on the blog for those that are following

kavehman · Oct 21, 2014 7:04 am

kifaya

Hi guys Finally posted some more photos on the blog for those that are following

Looks pretty good. Congratulations, I was looking forward to the inside shots.

It looks like you have done so much since moving in

kifaya · Oct 22, 2014 9:19 am

Thank you!
Yes we have been flat out and still have tons to do! You will be amazed how busy the house will keep you guys after handover

Choosing light fittings, window coverings, landscaping, buying new furniture, buying towels to match the new bathrooms, a clothesline. Everything takes time...

We also need to invest in a decent bin for the kitchen. Did you think of this when you did your kitchen selections? The list is endless lol

jahasabe · Oct 28, 2014 9:36 pm

Finally, we have lift off!!

Today - almost 7 weeks after receiving our construction certificate we had our piers dug & poured. Can't tell you how good that feels!
We had allowance for 80 lineal metres in our contract but they actually only did about 65m so we were well under expectations and hopefully that will reduce the chance of increased site costs.
All looks good (as much as I can tell), and hopefully work will continue this week & we will get a slab soon...

kavehman · Oct 29, 2014 9:25 am

jahasabe

Finally, we have lift off!!

Today - almost 7 weeks after receiving our construction certificate we had our piers dug & poured. Can't tell you how good that feels!
We had allowance for 80 lineal metres in our contract but they actually only did about 65m so we were well under expectations and hopefully that will reduce the chance of increased site costs.
All looks good (as much as I can tell), and hopefully work will continue this week & we will get a slab soon...

Congrats, it's a good feeling when things start to happen. You should have your slab in a week or two I would think, and then the bill shortly after

.

Went and had a look at my site over the weekend, and frames and windows have been delivered. Not sure when they will be going up, but should be exciting to see it all take shape.

kifaya · Oct 29, 2014 10:03 am

Grats guys. Once that slab is down the worst of the waiting is over

You will be amazed how quickly the frame goes up and the roof goes on ... Take lots of pics!

Good to take pics of the wiring before the gyprock goes on if you can. We are already wishing we took more

kavehman · Nov 04, 2014 10:05 am

Kifaya - Nice to see you are still updating the blog. I check in every now and then.

Still waiting for frames to go up, not sure if there has been any action this week. Would be a good week for them to start considering it's a lot cooler.

Has anyone who has built with Provincial done any variations during the construction stage ? We want to take the hardwood flooring out and do tiling after handover, but Provincial have come back with a $1,000

variation which is the maximum they charge.

I think it's a bit high considering they are probably 4 months away from even contacting the hardwood flooring supplier (unless there is something I'm not seeing, which could be likely. I do get that it involves extra paperwork so was expecting something). Anyways have asked to see if they can do anything to cut the fee or maybe take the amount we paid for flooring in the first progress payment out of the second payment so that we aren't paying interest on it as a double whammy.

Will see what they say, but has anyone else had any experiences ?

kifaya · Nov 04, 2014 10:21 am

We had a variation charge as council made us change the garage door colour. Wasn't for that much though.

Remember you will also have to change skirting boards and probably door heights so make sure your fee inc those changes. Somehow our door heights weren't right for our tiles so we had to get our adjusted after handover. Tiler only charged $10 per door but it's better for the paint job if you don't have to get them shaved lol

kavehman · Nov 04, 2014 10:28 am

kifaya

We had a variation charge as council made us change the garage door colour. Wasn't for that much though.

Remember you will also have to change skirting boards and probably door heights so make sure your fee inc those changes. Somehow our door heights weren't right for our tiles so we had to get our adjusted after handover. Tiler only charged $10 per door but it's better for the paint job if you don't have to get them shaved lol

Oh, I hadn't thought of that. Was it difficult getting the skirting boards changed ?

Project 18 · Nov 05, 2014 3:41 pm

We are building the Nu Caprice in Western Sydney. We have knocked down our 50 year old home to make way for our new home. We have DA consent via Holroyd Council and have just signed our Final Variations Contract. It has been a slow bureaucratic process.
Holroyd Council have taken five months to approve the plans submitted requesting only the addition of a retaining wall but no changes to our plans.....thankfully. Bureaucracy!
We knocked down our home in June to enable us to build a pool (Narellan Pools, Symphony 7).
House gone. Pool in. New boundary fence done. Garden bed/retaining wall set up. As much as we can do whilst waiting for our DA consent.
St George Bank have added to the delays. Finance approved in April/May but our letter of commencement has taken 4 weeks.........patience is a virtue!!
Over to Provincial Homes now. We have worked well with them all. Maryse, George, Vicky, Vicky-Sue and Adam have been great to work with.
I have found that being organised has been a huge advantage. We researched all of our selections, electrics, etc.
We looked at Metricon, Champion and All Castle homes. The floor plan of the Nu Caprice suited our block of land well. Provincial's standard inclusions, quality of construction (concrete slab and full brick) and flexibility of design as well as the cost confirmed that we would proceed with our build.
I will try and work out how to add photos and more posts (if this one works!)
Thank you to you all for your blogs. Kifaya, I found your blog a few months ago and I was excited that you were getting your keys but I had not seen updates for a while so I hoped that all was ok.
Now that I found this forum I am up to date with you all!
Good luck to you all. ::smile::

ProgD · Nov 06, 2014 11:27 am

G'day and hello to all. I have not updated the forum for some time now.

As of today, I am still waiting for the council approval (given that it has been slightly over 3 weeks, I am not concerned). Looking at the stage of my DA application, it is waiting the final approval at council after all the preliminary formalities, like da notification to neighbours, etc. That all complete, Provincial told me, the approval is not that far. I am looking at 2 weeks from now for it to arrive.

Next stage is the Internal colour selections and I am doing that, next week. That should be challenging with all the options, etc. Keeping finger crossed over the budget. Also the Electrical selection in not that far behind and should be doing that in next 2 weeks also.

So far so good, Kavehman, I think the key is to get everything included at the tender plan and if (something) left out, get it before the final plan is drawn for signing and construction starts.

We are sticking to our budget more tightly as just heard back from Provincial that council has requested to add the retaining walls locations to the site plan. Looking at the plan, it seems about 25 meters of that needed to be build. Not sure in dollor terms what does that mean.

More updates soon... with some pictures of the land. Please keep updating this blog, it is very much the life line to see how others are fairing in the building process and where we all are.... Good luck to everyone.

kifaya · Nov 06, 2014 4:01 pm

kavehman

Oh, I hadn't thought of that. Was it difficult getting the skirting boards changed ?

We had to have our skirting boards lightly tacked on so we could install our own floor boards. There is a charge but I just realised it shouldn't effect you Kavehman as you are doing tiles :-)

Project 18 - Hi and welcome! Glad you found and liked my blog :-)

Looking forward to seeing photos of your Nu Caprice further down the track.

On my blog - Thinking of doing a couple more posts. Maybe one on our finishes as I have a bunch of photos of door handles, TAPS, bath spouts ect.
Also one on building in a flood zone ... someone might find it useful with all the new council regulations.

Happy building

kavehman · Nov 07, 2014 9:00 am

kifaya

On my blog - Thinking of doing a couple more posts. Maybe one on our finishes as I have a bunch of photos of door handles, TAPS, bath spouts ect.
Also one on building in a flood zone ... someone might find it useful with all the new council regulations.

Happy building

Definitely, post more pics, they keep me going

I'll be going this weekend to have a look at the framing, need to touch base with the site supervisor to set up some time to get an inspector in to give me comfort all is sound.

I ended up accepting the $1000 penalty to remove hardwood flooring out of our contract. I don't know how reasonable the charge is for something that gets organized at the final stage of the build, but it allows us to do flooring and afford air con, which we couldn't before, and which more importantly the wife has been raving on about.

I guess that makes it three or four things in total I haven't enjoyed about the building process. I guess all builders would have there list's.

At this stage if you asked me would I build my second home with them, I'd still answer yes... and we do hope to do so in a few years but ..... lets see if anything else pops up though.

ProgD · Nov 16, 2014 9:41 pm

Unbelievable.....

Got the council approval on Friday itself... :z:

That is with in 29 days. I can not believe it we have the council approval. Even Provincial staff was surprised with the way this has progressed. We have already gone through our colour selections (Internal) last week. Hopefully will get the final updated quote from Provincial next week.

From all your experiences, how long from here to get the construction certificate as that where the thing end and (construction) begins. ?? Any ideas ??

The other big hump is the electrical selections and I am really getting nervous about the addons from the electrical appointment. I guess it will be pretty hefty ::hyst::

More updates after we have our electricals done...

My building TIMELINE =================>>>>>>>>>>>>
Provincial Fixed Price contract signed - 30th Aug 2014
Settlement of Land Purchase - 25th Sept 2014
HIA Contract signed - 26th Sept 2014
DA in council - 15th Oct 2014
Internal color selections - 12th Nov 2014
DA approved from council - 14th Nov 2014
Electrical selections - TBA
Construction certificate issued - TBA
Commencement of work on site - TBA
Slab complete - TBA
Frame complete - TBA
Roof complete - TBA
Lock up complete - TBA
Final completion - TBA
Key Handover - TBA

kavehman · Nov 17, 2014 7:41 am

Congratulations ProgD.

I think you will have a start in about 4 to 6 weeks. Just go with the flow. Oh and good luck with electricals, I can't really provide any extra insight but would say don't go too crazy.

Our framing was completed last week (blog has been updated), and we received the framing invoice the very next day. It looks like there is a few things left on framing to tidy up, but it is largely complete.

I'm trying to get an independent inspector in to give me a sanity check, but I'm sure it will all be ok. I can't see anything out of place, but I need that comfort of a 2nd opinion.

kifaya · Nov 17, 2014 9:11 am

Grats ProgD That is great news!
Like your idea of the building timeline as well.

Kavehman going to check out your blog updates now :-)

jahasabe · Nov 19, 2014 10:55 pm

Congrats ProgD! I told you they were thorough with council. That's great news.
As far as what happens next.... Well....In our case it was all very quick & smooth up til getting the construction cert.... Then it all stopped!!!
We received the construction certificate on 11 September.
We had the portaloo & fill delivered the full 20 days after on 10 October.
Fill was levelled on 13 October
Piering was done 28 October
Finally after numerous emails the form work for slab was started late last week & slab was finally poured today...
It will be 10 weeks tomorrow since we received our construction certificate so I think it has been VERY slow indeed, however, maybe I'm just impatient?
Hopefully things move along quicker now??

Same as Kavehman - if you asked me if I would still build with them I would say yes, but perhaps it will depend on how the rest of the build goes!
As for electricals, if you don't want anything extravagant don't worry. But be sure to really check the plans as we found a number of mistakes and overcharges for power points that should have been included.
I'll try to add a picture of our slab if I can figure out how....