Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum 1 Jan 24, 2012 1:23 pm Hi, I want to become an owner builder, but there is a lot of things I do not know. I'm not a tradie and don't know the intricacies of the building process. But I'm interested and keen to learn as much as I can before I start. To give you a bit of background, we have a piece of land in the bayside suburbs (VIC) with an old timber home. We want to demolish and build a double storey home (approx 40 sq). I've been researching on becoming an owner builder but I have the following knowledge gaps. If there is anyone that can assist, I would be eternally grateful: 1) Project plan. I do not know the sequence of steps (at a detailed level) to take to build a home. I know the high level steps (design, obtain permits, demolition, excavate, foundations, framing etc etc) but I need to know the details. Is there anyone that can send me an MS Excel file or MS Project file that contains detailed tasks, prerequisites, durations to execute as an owner builder? 2) List of recommended suppliers. Has anyone got a list of recommended suppliers and tradies that they wouldn't mind sharing? Word of mouth goes a long way, I would much prefer engaging a recommended person who is reliable than one who is just cheap. 3) I work interstate, so cannot be onsite to supervise the jobs. What are my options? I've considered asking a builder to do the whole lot, which they charge 15-20% commission. Also considered asking a builder to build to "lock up" and I take on and arrange tradies from "lock up" stage onwards. Can anyone recommend a supervisor or building consultant to supervise, open/close security gates, check quality of build against contracted plans etc? I understand that the planning stage is crucial, so I'm taking steps to research as much as I can to develop an accurate project plan. Any assistance from expert owner builders would be much appreciated, Thanks in advance Alex Re: Becoming an owner builder 2Jan 24, 2012 2:07 pm If you can not be around to learn and be honest it will be very difficult. You need to allow time to learn as well as build a house. I certificate IV will be perfect for someone like you. It will give your confidence and you will also realize how straight forward building a house can be if you want it to be. Re: Becoming an owner builder 3Jan 28, 2012 8:28 pm Hi, I think you have to ask yourself what is your motivation to become an owner/builder?? Is it just the builders commission that you are trying to save?? If you are going to employ a site supervisor or building consultant (which you probably need if you can't be on site regularly) to be there everyday then I think you might as well get a builder to complete the full build and forget the headaches that go with owner/building. Owner/Building isn't always just about saving money. Most people take on owner/building because they have trade contacts or are in a trade themselves, they have had previous experience in building with a building company and/or they are able to do some of the work themselves. It seems that if you don't have trade or supply contact, cannot be on site regularly then it is going to be a very difficult task for you - can be done but gee .... hard work. Whether you decide to owner/build or not, the starting point is getting a plan drawn up so maybe you could do that & get some builders quotes before decided if you think it is a path you want to go down..... or maybe I should say a mountain you want to climb... Re: Becoming an owner builder 5Jan 31, 2012 6:10 pm Hi Alex, If you cannot be onsite then I wouldn't recommend it. I'm owner building right now & it has been much harder & time consuming than expected. We did exactly as you are - old timber house in Melbourne, demolished & building a large 2 storey place. I don't know anything about building, but my brother is a chippy (& studying for builders license) & I researched for 12+ months beforehand. Luckily, we are renting about 50m away & I work 5 minutes away - but it's my business & I can be onsite whenever required. This has been a huge advantage already. We are pouring the slab in two days time (hopefully) - but it has taken a looooong time to get to this early stage & there have been delays & disasters at every step. I read all about other folks drama's & thought things would run much smoother for us- ha, how naive! Nothing too major, but enough to cause stress all round. So far I've found that if I'm not on site at critical stages then the contractors will often make a mess of things. The demo guys would have ripped up my neighbours gas line & would not have told me about breaking their stink pipe; the site cut guys would have left rocks around; the bored piers would not have been in the correct spot; the concrete formworkers would have left reo hanging out past the formwork in a few places; the ensuite shower would have been in the hallway! So many small errors would have compounded into disasters - nothing was deliberate or necessarily incompetant, but everyone makes mistakes. Someone has to oversee & be on top of all these things. After drilling our 65 bored piers torrential rain hit before we could fill with concrete & it wrecked everything. I had to spend days pumping out water & digging out clay. Now the slab pour has been delayed by a week due to someone forgetting to order our (apparently rare) quartz stone in advance - this meant more rain wrecking our strip footings - I had to spend a few hours today pumping out & digging clay again. So many other small things - has the portable loo got toilet paper & is it clean? Has the temp fence been locked properly? Who deals with the neghbours when cars have to be moved due to massive trucks needing to unload? There is always excess soil/dirt/crushed rock/timber/metal/foam/etc to be removed from site. Always a minor detail that needs to be resolved as the job is happening. It could be done remotely, but I shudder to think of the extra hassle it would cause. Good luck with it - although tiring & stressful at times, I have already found it rewarding. Re: Becoming an owner builder 6Jan 31, 2012 6:19 pm I have to agree with the comments above. We are currently owner building and my oh my what a headache. Time has been the biggest misconception that I had. I can't believe how much time it is taking up. My advice is really evaluate why it is you need/want to Owner Build and go from there. Best of luck with what ever you decide BLOG: thehousewebuilt2010.blogspot.com (And are still building!) Re: Becoming an owner builder 7Jan 31, 2012 10:54 pm alexchao Can anyone recommend a supervisor or building consultant to supervise, open/close security gates, check quality of build against contracted plans etc? You could try employing a project manager to look after your build. There's a regular forum member here named "Builda" and he runs a construction management company here in Vic. You will find his website from his homeone profile. His website will tell you the advantages of hiring a project manager. I'm not affiliated with him. He's very active in this forum and has given us great advice. 13-08 Moved in 13-05 Build restart 13-04 VMIA compensation 12-08 Builder liquidation 12-03 Fixing 11-12 Lockup 11-11 Frame 11-09 Slab 11-09 Start 11-07 Contract 10-11 2K deposit 10-06 Titled land Re: Becoming an owner builder 8Feb 01, 2012 1:37 pm alexchao - in short...forget it. I am not a professional builder nor seasoned veteran I was in exactly the same boat as you are - I had the block but have ZERO idea as to where to even begin. For everyday I'm onsite, I'm learning - the problem being that this is few and far between what is ACTUALLY needed due to numerous work and family commitments Luckily for me my mates dad is a semi-retired builder/brick-layer who is happy to look after the build for me for 10% of the building costs, but when I say look after, there is still at least 20 hours a week I'm researching, calling up, investigating numerous things for the build. and you will forget what a weekend is until you finished the build. I'm finding this is one of the incentives to complete the build! All I can say is that if you do go into this, be sure to have a good support system (for build purposes and to-keep-your-stress-levels-down perspective) No one will look after your build and take the care you expect to be applied like you will, no matter how much you pay Re: Becoming an owner builder 9Feb 01, 2012 2:37 pm Hi all, thank you very much for everyones comments and suggestions. It's been very insightful and at the very least, had me rethink the process of OB. It's important to talk to people in the know, and I appreciate everyone's feedback. Re: Becoming an owner builder 10Feb 15, 2012 7:34 am WOW! This is exactly the thread i have been looking for. I am in the exact same boat as alexchao. My brother and I just purchased a home in Melbourne (North West) that we plan to knock down and build 2 duplex town houses on. We were thinking of going down the owner builder route but have no idea where to even start (I work in IT my brother is an electrician). I can honestly say the more i read the more i get scared stiff! Up until about a week ago i have been thinking all the horror stories wont happen to me but reading what is required i really think that is just naive! Appreciate everyone's posts. I definitely think for piece of mind and sanity i will pay the extra builders commission and sleep a little easier at night. Re: Becoming an owner builder 11Feb 15, 2012 4:45 pm I also agree with what everyone else is saying. I really don't understand how you can do it without being able to be on-site most days. Even if you're sub-ing out the whole build, someone has to be there every time a tradie starts to run through exactly what you want done and how, then when they're doing the job we've found that little problems or questions always crop up and quite often you need to see in person what they're talking about. Once they've done the job you need to be back on site to check over everything that's been done to make sure everythings right. That's not even considering getting all the quotes. Just getting all the quotes is a 3 day a week job for me, and you need to be on site to show them around. We are living on site so its sooooo much easier, and my mind boggles at how much harder it would be if you were living remotely from the site. Owner building is definitely time consuming! Our owner-builder journey - viewtopic.php?f=38&t=45187 Re: Becoming an owner builder 12Oct 04, 2012 5:31 am the thrust of this is just this. it is not easy even if you are on site and you know what you are doing. sounds like maybe do it to lockup and then , if you are around, not so bad. a lot of people think they will save a lot but they dont. i just wrote an article about this called the economical house. pm me if you want it. leighton at clark new homes Re: Becoming an owner builder 13Oct 04, 2012 10:41 pm As Kennedy said, "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." Being an owner builder isn't easy. It's hard work mentally and physically. You are completely out of your comfort zone from day one. Fear, tears, stress... Though just because its hard, it isn't insurmountable. It can be very rewarding and exciting. What a great level of accomplishment to say you ran a large expensive project and built a house. It's often a once in a lifetime opportunity. It is also something many of our ancestors have been doing for centuries. My own opinion is that you need to be there to supervise, and the rest of your time is spent organising quotes, researching and labouring. Though I also know a lot of owner builders that have worked full time jobs and finished their house, some have even done it while living in different cities, so it is definitely achievable. Just be prepared to lose some control and possibly end up with a different end product. Whether you save money is up for debate, not all builders are created equal and not all owner builders are created equal. One of the advantages we found so far is being able to make changes on the fly without being slugged with an alteration fee, and being able to choose which trades person best suites our style and having a direct relationship. Also having he ability to shop around your jobs will give you a good indication on price. Re: Becoming an owner builder 14Nov 04, 2012 11:17 pm If you have not build a house before I would definitely not recommended, We contemplated on going OB all the way but in the end we hired a Manager to help us, even still it has been a lot of stress and headaches along the way. If you are thinking of saving money but in the end your build will take more time and you will definitely encounter some mistakes which can be avoided with experience, those together also equates to more money spent. Or you could still owner build but hire a supervisor which may work out cheaper then giving it to a builder to build it. Re: Becoming an owner builder 15Nov 05, 2012 7:22 am jjfttss If you have not build a house before I would definitely not recommended, We contemplated on going OB all the way but in the end we hired a Manager to help us, even still it has been a lot of stress and headaches along the way. If you are thinking of saving money but in the end your build will take more time and you will definitely encounter some mistakes which can be avoided with experience, those together also equates to more money spent. Or you could still owner build but hire a supervisor which may work out cheaper then giving it to a builder to build it. Just something to think about. Those people who have built a house before at some stage would have had to build there first house. Hi VK, Think it's worth investing time in an Owner Builder course to equip you with basic knowledge on Australian Building Industry and its regulations. Also, I suggest… 11 23903 Hi all. Anyone know when the $11,000 limit was set in legislation for renovations in QLD? Ive been renovating for 5 years now and this was the limit back then. As we know,… 0 4439 |