Level 1 construction Shock!!!

Hello all,

Havent been on the forum for a while.. went away on a wonderful holiday to thailand. Back to building!!!!
My land is level 1 bush fire so the builders tender now has the following addictions. ( house about 40 sq)

Provide non corrosive flyscreens to all windows 2030
Provide draught excuders to external doors 360
Provide aluminum mesh flyscreens to external doors 2180
Provide noncorrosive spark guards to all vents and weepholes 450
Duct bathroom and ensuite exhaust fans to outside air 760
Enclose eaves between rafters 500
Provide metal gutter and valley guards 5800
Provide perimeter seals for garage door 250

None of the builers earlier tenders have relfected this.. so I am gobsmacked. These fig look very high..

Has anyone built at level 1 for bush fire I will really appreciate your info.

Thanks

Raz

Oh no Raz, what a nasty surprise!

Is Level 1 the best or the worst area?

Had to laugh at your tender's "addictions". My tender with Westminster seemed to have a nasty addiction of increasing prices too.

Hi

Our block has a level 1 bushfire protection rating (in Canberra) and our quoted costs to meet the requirements are as follows:
Heavy duty sarking under the roof tiles $1610
Aluminium mesh to window and sliding door flyscreens $550
Spark guards to weep holes $260
Mesh protected roof ventilator $280
Hinged grilled security door and door seal to rear garage door $360
Hinged grilled security door to front & laundry doors with aluminium mesh $820
Gutter guard protection $1590

The big thing in your list seems to be metal gutters which are standard for our house. Whilst we were a little shocked intially at the extra costs, we now see it as an "insurance" that our house is well protected in the case of a bushfire.

Good luck!

Rachelle,

Rising prices is exactly what I am finding!!!!!!!!!!

My tender doenst look anything like what I started out with!!!

I think i will get my own quotes on all of this.

Raz

Rachelle,

Forgot to answer your question- level 1 is the lowest level ie the least bush fire prone. Mind boggling to think what the cost for the higher levels would be.


Raz

wow crazy.

I don't like the look of those prices compared to Vegemite's.

Vegemite how big is your home?

Vegemite,

Thanks for providing the detailed prices.. yours seem so much better than mine. I cannot understand how metal guards can cost me $5800!!!!!!!

If level 1 which is the least bush fire prone area has such high prices for all the protection measures then I wonder what level 3 would cost.

Raz

I guess the standard gutters were made from some other material?

We are building in a site that I think will be Level 3 - $15k worth of extras including toughened glass

Our house will be 224.11m2 on a 540m2 block.

Hi Raz, just saw this thread and thought I would re-iterate your concern re cost of your gutter guards. We have just been quoted $1,502 (incl builders margin) for our metal mesh gutter protection system (also required to comply with HAPZ regulations). So, unless the valley guards are very expensive (we didn't require these) I would be asking for another quote.

Either someone's having a lend of you or you've forgotten to put in the decimal places.

Yeah! a Precious metal perhaps!! I would so like to keep a calm equilibrium during this build process but really what do the builders think!

Raz

Hi stonecutter1309,

The grand total for mine comes to $12,330. Prior to sigining the tender I had asked about an estimate of costs and they said 3000-5000. How is it that builders prices can increase so dramaticlly.

Were you prepared for these prices ? prior to tender?

Raz

HI Paul,

What is the size of your home? Defitnitely going to ask for another quote!!

Also what is HAPZ regulations? is this bushfire regulations?
Thanks for your reply and advice

Raz

Hello ausdesign,

Oh! I wish it was the case of mistaken decimal places. I might put the question to my buidler as you have !! Like to see their faces!

I am so unprepared for this.. it all adds up and completely blows your budget

Raz

Raz, our house is a little smaller than most at 18sq so you might expect your quote to be a little higher but not three times as much - unless your house is 54sq?

Yes, HAPZ regulations is the term our builder used for our bushfire requirements - not sure what level we are - just that we were required to have a metal gutter guard system but not required to have sarking.

Good Luck.

The builder was going to put us down for Level 1 protection but by my calculations I think we may be Level 3 - they didn't give us an estimate before tender because there were so many things to cost - but we knew it would be a bit. We were happy to spend a bit more money on fire protection as I've lived in a heavy bushfire area.