Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum 1 Jul 26, 2009 9:09 am Council have finally approved our kit home to be built. Now we have to order it & for the owner builders course to be done. Very excited & can't wait to start!! Anyone have any helpful information. Kit is from Wide Span & planning on the owner builders course via internet. "A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality" -John Lennon Re: We're Approved!! 4Aug 13, 2009 8:09 am My husbands father is going to do the OB course this month so very excited. It's all coming together, not long now & we can order our kit!! "A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality" -John Lennon Re: We're Approved!! 5Oct 12, 2009 6:34 pm OB course is complete & so are soil tests. Mainly clay which we suspected. Now just to sign the cheque for deposit so we can get the official plans & council can go over them. God, if only council was out of the picture, we would have this thing built by now!! "A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality" -John Lennon Re: We're Approved!! 6Apr 09, 2014 1:37 pm I know this post if a few years old, but would love to hear how guys went? What council area are you in? We are wondering what is the best way to deal with council, we are currently trying to find out if the Tenterfield Council will consider our application to be Complying Development or require us to put in a full Development Application. Trying to avoid the $1000 plus for a survey since it is on 17 acres so there should be plenty of room to put a house without worrying too much about boundaries! I am trying to get a quote from Wide Span for a Getaway, but not sure if the council would be ok with that as a permanent dwelling. Not sure if phone or email is the best way to deal with council, I like email best as it is all written down for later reference, but having trouble getting replies to my emails! We have started the owner-builder course but wondering if we are jumping the gun as most other people seem to be leaving that until later in the process. Next step is to get soil tests but read that we should decide on our greywater system first so they do the right kind of tests. Getting confused with conflicting information and not sure which to trust Re: We're Approved!! 7Apr 10, 2014 10:10 am ITs better to create a new thread for your own topic, than revive an old thread that never got completed (very common here) the best way to deal with council is - hard! - record every conversation, always note names and dates, and what was said. - ask for legal references on everything the tell you to double check (by default do not trust anything they tell you) - note timeframes, and follow up with phone calls when the inevitable non replies to your questions occur. Survey on 17 acres should not be necessary if setbacks are not an issue. In Qld the OB licence is good for 6 years, so check what it is in NSW. If similar, do it first while not much is happening, you cant do much else without it, esp. your Dev Applic. The sewerage designers do have an interest in the soil profile of the area, which they use as a basis for their design. Ask a designer if they have this info at hand (mine did, so paid nothing) , IF they dont have data for your area, they will require a soil test of sorts. Ask them the details of this, so that you can then co - ordinate that test with your site soil test , thus not paying for two site visits. You should get together with Fatman, he is/was doing a Wide Span kit home in Hervey Bay right now. Re: We're Approved!! 8Apr 10, 2014 10:57 am Further to qebtels suggestions about getting info from the council, ours has a statement at their front desk saying " Verbal suggestions are regarded as informative only and should not be considered legally binding. If in doubt ask for this to be put in writing. " or words to that effect. Also the attendants at the counter tend to be only office workers with no building qualifications who can only answer general questions. I always ask for the duty ( town ) planner who are usually the guys who actually process the DA's and can give you better answers to more technical questions. Stewie Re: We're Approved!! 9Apr 10, 2014 12:07 pm Thanks Qebtel, I am planning on beginning a thread soon but just wanted to test the waters first! I like the way you tell me not to trust anything that the council said, especially since my conversation with one of the staff this morning gave me some conflicting information. That is a handy hint for sewerage designers re. soil tests, but I have a feeling I will need a full soil test done anyway. We have a 100m elevation between the intermittent creek near the front of the block and the raised part at the back of the block, so whether there will be clay or granite rocks depends on exactly which part of the site you are on! I have been following Fatman and sounds like he's on my level (cheapo!) but looks like we are going with another company called Best Sheds who offer a Granny Flat which includes bushfire rated windows for much cheaper than we could source them ourselves. Thanks also Stewie D, we are actually in Brissie so have to deal with council long-distance, theoretically it shouldn't be a problem these days with our current technology but not sure if these guys are super busy or just don't bother checking their emails at all! The thing I like about about emails is that it is all written down, whilst I'm sure they would tell me that it wouldn't be legally binding at least I can remember who told me what info. I have heaps more questions and hoping to find some people who have done similar footings to what we are planning so we can figure out the best way to do it, so I will start a new thread when I get a spare minute! Re: We're Approved!! 10Apr 10, 2014 9:51 pm serialstyler OB course is complete & so are soil tests. Mainly clay which we suspected. Now just to sign the cheque for deposit so we can get the official plans & council can go over them. God, if only council was out of the picture, we would have this thing built by now!! As you aren't in a sewerage serviced area, you'll need to look at installing a HSTP (Home Sewerage Treatment Plant), and you'll need a Land Capability Assessment done on the ground in the area where you are planning on installing it. The soil tester will do a soil percolation testing on it as part of that assessment. We went with a Worm Farm Treatment plant for our system here, and in our case because of a sloping block, ours will use ZERO electricity. We heard that the more regular version of a HSTP will use up to $700 per annum on electricity cost, which are only going to rise. So how did you find the OB course ? I thought it was too easy to get myself. Took me all of around 2 hours or so to do the online course. Owner Building at Jimboomba Woods in Logan City Qld. Blog : http://bandlnewhomebuild.blogspot.com H1 thread : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=68283 . If your patio is going to be 35 sqm then that's going to need Council Approval. The fact that they previously approved your 25sqm patio will be irelevant 1 5505 |