Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 16, 2011 8:34 pm Hi We had our first tender meeting with Eden Brae. During this meeting we discussed our opportunity to be able to run our own data cables and also for home theatre etc. They have told us point blank no. It will be either removed or if we do it we will void our warranty on the house. We are building a double storey so we assume we need to get this all done before gyprock... Our frustration is that my DH wants to run a fair bit of data cable and other wiring so that he can track it all back and run music, tv, movies etc back to the PC, not to mention our wiring for our security cameras. We have all this stuff in our current home so want to do similar in the new one. But the amount he wants to do, I think will cost us a small fortune with the the builder. What have you done in this situation especially in a double storey home... Re: Getting access to do your own wiring when building??? 2Apr 16, 2011 8:42 pm Unfortunately when you build you sign the land etc over to the builder and you are not allowed on the site. Once you get assigned a Site Supervisor speak to them and they may allow it. The office people of my builder wouldn't let me install my own heater/ac and ducting etc during the build but my site supervisor was fine with it - every company/person is different though 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Getting access to do your own wiring when building??? 3Apr 19, 2011 12:50 am From a builders point of view, it's hard just due to legalities. If you are on site and get injured, the builder could be liable. If you run the wiring incorrectly and something catches fire later, the builder could be liable. If you damage anything else while you are in the house, the builder could be liable. And best case scenario, it puts a big grey area over who is responsible for any maintenance that may need to be done to do with the wiring. So unfortunately, as with everything nowadays, it all comes down to legal issues, so it's in the builders best interests to not allow the owner to do their own works on site. Some builders do allow some things to be done by the owner during construction, but you will find that you will have to sign your life away with disclaimers etc. Definitely try speaking with your site supervisor though, they are often more lenient than the office staff who have managers looking over their every move. Re: Getting access to do your own wiring when building??? 4Apr 19, 2011 9:25 am With our data cabling, we told the builder we wanted to get our own work done and they just sent out some forms for the cabler to fill out. The pack included the expectations on the contractor, and required details of their license and personal insurance. I don't see why your builder wouldn't allow similar. Presumably your better half has an open cablers license and some kind of insurance as part of his work, so it shouldn't be too difficult. Homestead Homes SA: The Lamont Bayswood Estate; Aldinga Beach Preliminary Signing: April 2010 Floorplans: 13 June 2010 Building Contract: 19 June 2010 Selections: 28 Sept 2010 Scraped; Trenching: 21 Jan 2011 Slab Poured: 28 Jan 2011 Framing: 17 Feb 2011 | Completed 24 Feb 2011 Roof & Gutters: 02 Mar 2011 Bricks: 03 Mar 2011 Wire-up: 12 Mar 2011 Re: Getting access to do your own wiring when building??? 5Apr 19, 2011 9:43 am I`d speak to your SS and feel him out,some are rule or safety nazi`s,others may be fine with you doing some personal mods to your place. My SS is a safety nazi (from his convo he had with my inspector who had started the insp before the SS had arrived) I had been pre warned that any extra unauthorised cabling/insulation may well get ripped staright back out by a friend who had just finished building,but i took the gamble after the elec rough in and added some extra power point fixtures and cabling and extra tv outlets and added internal wall insulation. All done after hours and it was all left in there(i checked daily) and now i`m ready for handover. As a general rule the SS rarely visits your actual site and inspects it. He usually just organises tradies in sequence and knows when one tradie has finished and lets the next one know to start work. Re: Getting access to do your own wiring when building??? 6Apr 19, 2011 11:06 am As stated above, your builder is well within their rights to decline your request. It sucks, but that is the world we live in. I'd ask your builder for a quote on doing it for you. At least its done, and they will have a sparky on site anyway. Might be less than you think. If your SS does let you do it (mine has been pretty cool with some stuff), then great, but is it worth the risk? Also, they may require you to have a cabling licence? For reference, this is the Austlii reference. My take on this is, that they would be breaking the law denying access to a homeowner in Victoria, or their agent from having… 1 9094 The only thing to add to these comments is that where possible it's always good to try and work with people than just say "no" because you can. Having someone… 4 17149 |