Lighting who chooses what? Builder or Client?

sim_mun · May 12, 2012 8:56 pm

If you are building a home who chooses the lights?

Eg. to my knowledge most pre design houses say for instance dennis family homes come with one light per room.

IF you want extra light like downlights/pendants etc you need to pay for them as they are not included in the one light per room like in their packages.

Who will actually decide which lights go where? Are you meant to go to a lighting shop like "beacon" and choose/buy the extras light you want then your building company will charge you the extra electrical work for wiring of the extra lights?

Or do building companies have "lighting designers" on hand that will let you know the extra lights they have available?, and at what cost for the extra lights and wiring from there sparky?

bashworth · May 12, 2012 9:37 pm

At the end of the day you choose all the electrical fittings both lights and power sockets.

Normally as you say the builder has one or two batten fittings per room. You should have an appointment with an electricician as part of the selection (or Pre start) they will provide additional fittings but if you want something special it might be best to get the builders electrician to run a fitting to that point and then get the fitting installed after completion.

You will find more info on my blog here http://www.anewhouse.com.au/?cat=32

sim_mun · May 12, 2012 10:28 pm

So the electrcian will choose the lighting design of the home? Or you will go to a lighting place like beacon choose the lighting and give it to the electrician?

grom40 · May 12, 2012 10:41 pm

Normally your builder will include one standard light fitting per room (or more in a larger area) & they come as a bare bulb with a plastic hat over it. If you want something else you will typically have to buy it yourself (at somewhere like beacon) & pay an electrician to install it (unless the fitting is DIY).

bashworth · May 12, 2012 10:55 pm

sim_mun

So the electrcian will choose the lighting design of the home? Or you will go to a lighting place like beacon choose the lighting and give it to the electrician?

The electricians will put light fittings where you want. They may be able to give you some advice (depending on the builder)

If you want some professional design you could go to Beacon or similar but some builders won't put up owner provided fittings. In that case you will have to get the fittings installed to the position that the builder provided batten fittings

Graham B · Jul 16, 2012 9:07 pm

We are building with Dennis Family and we had a electrical appointment with the electrician before any wiring was started. Before the appointment we went to Beacon and discussed the lighting we wanted and positioning of these lights and the electrician is more than happy to fit the lights we purchased before handover where we want them.

our dream home · Aug 30, 2012 2:16 pm

Hey graham,
We are building with DFH did you have to organize the appointment yourself or was that something that they contacted you with before they wired the house? I have a few pendants I'd love to add!

Graham B · Sep 02, 2012 7:10 pm

our dream home

Hey graham,
We are building with DFH did you have to organize the appointment yourself or was that something that they contacted you with before they wired the house? I have a few pendants I'd love to add!

Hi,

Yes they did contact me but I did mention that I wanted to move some power points to different locations. I cant see why they could not fit you pendants for you though

Our Electrician called us to organise our first appointment before he started wiring the house before lock up stage. We went through the house with him showing where we wanted additional power points, lights and switches. We had down light points and 3 additional single pendant light points fitted over our kitchen island bench then and he came back after paint and fit off all our fans, pendants and down lights and switches/power points then. We had all the fittings that we purchased ourselves beforehand installed then so he didn't have to fit the standard baton lights. He still has to come back and fit our appliances though.

Not sure if DFH does the same thing in all areas as all our addition electrical work was organised with the Electrician directly.

our dream home · Sep 03, 2012 6:48 am

Thanks hopefully they organize something I have most of my pendants . Was that then added at the end in variations or. Did you give the electrician money directly?

Graham B · Sep 03, 2012 12:35 pm

our dream home

Thanks hopefully they organize something I have most of my pendants . Was that then added at the end in variations or. Did you give the electrician money directly?

Our additional electrical work is all direct with the electrician. It had nothing to do with DFH, I guess some tradesman have an agreement with DFH to charge for additional work seperately as we were told by our SS that any extras were invoiced to us by the electrian. It was the same with the plumber and tiler.

our dream home · Sep 03, 2012 8:54 pm

Thanks for the info the site manager called today and left a message looks like they are about to start very soon! bad timing though, husbands in hospital, but we are very excited and can't complain I've been waiting for so long! I will give him a call back tomorrow and ask him about the electrical side of things thanks for your help

Graham B · Sep 04, 2012 11:45 am

our dream home

Thanks for the info the site manager called today and left a message looks like they are about to start very soon! bad timing though, husbands in hospital, but we are very excited and can't complain I've been waiting for so long! I will give him a call back tomorrow and ask him about the electrical side of things thanks for your help

No worries. Good Luck

ItalianGlassDecor · Sep 12, 2012 9:52 pm

HI

I would say from experience that in order to make the right decision, it must be an agreeable solution between both builder and client. Obvioulsy, the Client is the one paying the builder so they retain ultimate control over the final decision

Dean

our dream home · Sep 13, 2012 1:56 pm

Just a quick question graham b or who ever can answer! What lights or fittings do DFH put outside? I forgot to ask the site manager! If u have pics that would be helpful not sure if I'm meant to just go buy our own . We have 3 at the front each side of the garage and one on the pillar

Graham B · Sep 14, 2012 6:39 pm

our dream home

Just a quick question graham b or who ever can answer! What lights or fittings do DFH put outside? I forgot to ask the site manager! If u have pics that would be helpful not sure if I'm meant to just go buy our own . We have 3 at the front each side of the garage and one on the pillar

Hi,
we changed the portico baton light to a downlight that we purchased so I am not sure what is standard, we added a down light above the feature matrix board on the facade and 2 downlights in the eave above garage door and 2 sentry up/down lamps on the rendered portico piers. We purchased most of our lights through Beacon Lighting. I posted a few picks on Mac25 thread a while ago of what we have done. I will try to take a photo of the standard inside fittings which would have been used in the Portico as soon as I can but I am not sure if this is a DFH fitting or if the electrician puts them in as a replacement to a standard baton fitting. Though I am not sure if all regions are the same. Best to ask the electrician when you have your meeting

our dream home · Sep 14, 2012 7:32 pm

Thanks a pic will be great! I have bought a fair bit from there. Can I ask did you pay the electrician? Or DFH does it as a variation? I have about 7 pendants that need to be wired!
Thanks

Graham B · Sep 14, 2012 8:28 pm

Yes, everything that was an extra from the standard electrical plan was completed directly with the electrician though I do not know if this happens in other regions with DFH. Best to ask.