Browse Forums Renovation + Home Improvement 1 May 27, 2011 10:53 pm Hi, I have been reading through a lot of topics and comments on here and find the reading very helpful and informative, thank you. I am a single mother and I am thinking seriously of Owner Building an extension of my existing home in the Illawarra district of NSW. I haven't had much luck at all with builders quoting the job, most genuine builders are very busy so I opted for a quote on an owner builder job and I think th quote was quite reasonable and the carpenter is very keen and comes with high recommendations. Firstly I'd like to find out a little bit about what insurances I will need to take out if I decide to Owner Build, I do intend to stay in the property for more than 7 years. approx how much the insurances will cost and who are the best companies to go with. Secondly who is the best Company to do an Owner Builders Course through, how long does it take, whether it is face to face or online and an approx cost involved as well. Thanks in advance for your help, hopefully I will be able to get a little clearer vision on whether to go for this or not. Re: Thinking Of Owner Builder an Extension 2May 30, 2011 12:12 am Hi, visit www.ownitbuildit.com.au Online course, about 200$ you can do it in 1 hour Owner Builder is ok its its a small job, for ex. up to 30,000 worth but if you are doing large scale renovation, than i would suggest Builder, as it will be finished quicker, you get warranty, less hassle and best of all if you are borrowing you will get your loan straight away. For Owner Builders you need 40% of your own money. pm if you decide to go with a builder. Good luck. Re: Thinking Of Owner Builder an Extension 3Jun 04, 2011 1:14 am Thanks Veseli, my extension is quite large approx $145,000 with a builder and about $120,000 owner building, I don't need finance, I'm trying to initially work out some figures to see if it worthwhile owner building and I'm not totally sure on what Insurances I will need and the cost of them to start with. I have contacted a lot of builders and there are not many that seem keen to quote the job. The ones that seem keen have quoted around the $280,000 for an extension, I suppose I would be keen too if I said yes at that price, the only keen person is the owner builder gentleman, he's a carpenter and he has organised quotes for the other contractors, he has used them for 25 years. Re: Thinking Of Owner Builder an Extension 4Jun 08, 2011 10:49 am Hi, It will really come down to how comfortable you are in getting the work completed. My advice is to first consider the risk of the job? are you knocking down walls, bathroom renovation or changing the roof at all? or is it simple internal works like new floor coverings, new kitchen and painting. You will need public liability insurance to cover anyone working on your job for any accidents, and if you sell within 6 years you will need Home Warranty Insurance. for a project under $150K I wouldn't expect to pay more than $5k for insurance. Owner Builder can be good if you have the time and money and like a challenge, but if you can put a price on the risk you might be better of going with the builder. You will still need to enter into a contract with the carpenter who will be arranging the work and you need to ensure he is licensed if he plans to charge you more than a $1000.00 for the job. Get advice from the Office of Fair Trading before engaging with anyone. Good luck Simon Re: Thinking Of Owner Builder an Extension 5Jul 01, 2011 11:58 am A friend of mine in Brisbane is owner builder on his renovation and the council have him over engineering everything, including a bali hut he is putting up in his yard. They are always doing spot checks on him as well. He feels it is because he is an owner builder. Has anyone had similar circumstance? Check out our renovation in progress at http://www.ourdiydream.com Follow us on facebook http://www.facebook.com/ourdiydream Check out what we are 'pinning' http://pinterest.com/ourdiydream/ Re: Thinking Of Owner Builder an Extension 6Aug 28, 2011 9:01 pm Hi, well I have not started my reno's yet, but I am more and more looking like doing an owner builder job, the builder I had in mind didn't turn out to be a decent one, I looked over some of his jobs and they complained of him not paying his contractors and the contractors complaining all the time to the owners of the house and in turn the finished work was pretty poor. So I think the risk of using this builder maybe bigger than the risk of owner building. I have 1 more building quote to come in but it is taking some time for this one too, also he is a builder who will be using another companies license to do the job, is this a risk as well? , so I'm starting to think the only way is to owner build. My next question is, if I do owner build, can anyone suggest insurance companies to get quotes off and please advise me of all of the insurances I will need to get if owner building? Thanks for your help isn't a garage level with the rest of the house a given? pretty sure they 'came around' long time ago. if you have a flat block, the garage is usually level with the rest… 1 13340 Hi folks, Victoria resident here. I've submitted my owner builder application to the VBA. I thought I'd share my experience so far. I submitted my application… 0 6173 |