New single storey home scaffolding question

Newbie here, in the process of planning to build a new house with Achieve Homes.

Does a single storey house with 2.55 m ceiling height require scaffolding?

The reason I asked this question is I quoted to upgrade from 2.55 m to 2.7 m, and Achieve Homes quoted me $12,000 to upgrade plus brick work above window to replace FC sheet, plus additional $7,000 for scaffolding due to 2.7 m ceiling height (WHS requirement).

That makes to total of $19,000...

So if scaffolding is needed to build the house with 2.55 m ceiling height they should not ask me to pay $7,000 extra scaffolding which is already inclusive...

The upgarde itself should be between 5-7K if originally it was all brick veneer instead of FC. In your case, originally you have FC sheet above a certain height. Builders use these to lower their cost. They 'sell' it to you saying it will have a unique look that you can render (paint). In reality it is structurally weaker than brick. So when you increase the ceiling height, the FC sheet (being weak) needs to make way for brick. The scaffolding may be required if you have peculiar external terrain (slope?). Scaffolding is also required when roof work will be done, so builder can project plan correctly and use scaffolding only once to serve the bricks and roof work.
19k for 2.55m to 2.7m is simply too high.

The house was all brick to 2.55 m ceiling height, and FC is only above window to roof, and scaffolding was not needed.
And the house is to be build on a very very gentle slope.

However I asked for raising the ceiling from 2.55 to 2.7, with additional brick above window to replace the FC, then the quote was $12000 plus $7000 scaffolding.

But is scaffolding required for building a single storey home with 2.55 ceiling height?
and just 15cm increase in ceiling height, which maybe just two rows of bricks, will need scaffolding?

https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/scaffolding

which says if you can fall more than 2 metres you need scaffoldnig, so maybe working to 2.7 now makes it nessecary.

Interesting point from IamSAM regarding all the follow on costs by building a little bit higher.

In this case, even 2.55 m ceiling will require scaffolding right?
As the roof is close to 4 metres scaffolding is already required, a merely 15 cm increase won't make a difference...

Maybe the threshold is at 2.55 before scafolding is needed, which is why they design the homes that way?


I imagine the roofers would use the type that just puts a rail around the roofline?, so wouldn't be useful for bricklayers.

Have they said how long the $7000 covers in hire terms? Is it a provisional allowance?

Hope you get a suitable answer, it does seem a lot.

Builder replied me it was the skillion roof design, front brick wall is above 3 metres so scaffolding is required.


https://i.imgur.com/T6BzWt7.png

It not a true skillion roof, kind of like saltbox roof / gable roof...

But compare to a cheaper hip roof (which has no extra cost), this roof is facing north / south and has more surface for me to install solar panels later.


So this roof will cost me extra $17,000... looks more modern compare to boring conventional hip roof, worth it? Would that really add $17k value to the property?

Skillion / gable roof owners, do you guys pay a lot extra for it?

I have a gable wall on side of garage. The builder got that wall done with scaffolding and same scaffolding was retained for other roof work.

We built a skillion with 2.7 ceilings. We required scaff at the front but it's not a cost we ever saw, I assume it was built into the price of the facade. Our build was poorly managed and the construction manager did have a whinge about the cost of it staying up for so long, so I'm guessing it wasn't cheap, but wasn't our problem.

Hi Jean,

We are building with Achieve as well. I didn't think the $17k was worth an upgrade, but that is down to personal preference really. You are right, increase to 2.7M will set you back by $12k or $6k should you go with FC sheeting, but I guess, if you are spending $17k for the facade, you wouldn't really want FC sheets above your windows.

Let me know what you went with, given that we are with the same builders..

I ended up ditch Achieve Homes and lost the $3000 deposit and go with another builder, very lucky. My current builder quoted me if I go with the Achieve Home's inclusion list it would be at least few tens of thousand cheaper. And my lawyer told me one of their clients was asked by Achieve Home (which is their builder), asked them too pay like $20k extra due to some price for their supplier went up, this is ridiculous.

Achieve Homes is building Project homes, like apartments, you only can go what they have and have a very limited choice of what you want. They have low price because they supply cheap low end stuff, like data ports in the inclusion list, which is cat 5 and not even cat 5e (cat 5 has 10mbps typical speed and cat 5e is 100mbps), and Achieve Homes told me $120 to upgrade to cat 6, PER PORT! Another example is $150 for one additional LED downlight.
That's how they make money.

On the other hand, the builder I go with is building Custom homes, so I choose what I want from the pool of money, and if you don't want something or save on something, the money goes back to the pool.

So now for the same building price, I have the exact same things in the inclusion list as Achieve Homes gave me, plus
the $17k high rendered facade,
colorbond roof,
double glazed windows throughout,
3-zoned air con,
~30m2 worth of concrete to wrap around the house,
freestanding bathtub or spa...
If I am adding this to Achieve Home's quote, sure they would charge me well over $30k.

House is the most expensive thing you buy in your lifetime and you want to choose what you want, so I go with a builder that builds custom homes instead of project homes.

Good luck for your build.

HI Jean,

Yes, that is true - choices are limited ; but that is why they are cheaper a well..
So who did you end up going with?

Hi Jean,
I was wondering if you can spare a few comments on how your project is progressing.

My guess in practical terms is how will the bricklayer reach those two top courses of bricks without scaffolding? they would have to hire 7 foot tall guys also scaffolding needed to paint eaves etc

Anyway, $7k is really high. I am paying $7k for a really large two storey home so a single storey should be much cheaper

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