Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Steps and timeline before construction (HomeBuilder) 14Jun 05, 2020 9:41 am Juan For reference our timeline so far is as follows: - April/May 2019 began speaking with builders, visiting display homes etc - Choose on builder June 2019 - June 2019 paid for soil report and drafting of plans (at our cost - no contract signed at this point) - Contracts signed Sept 2019 - Council approval November 2019 (took around 6 weeks with City of Holdfast Bay - not sure where you are building but think other councils are notorious for taking longer ie Marion) - Slab poured November 2019 - Framing/Roofing March 2020 - Lock up May 2020 - Builder reckons he is in track for completion beginning of August. Hope this helps as a guide! Hi Juan, thanks for that. Seems like a fairly straight forward process for you (relative to some others on here). Do you mind telling me who you're building with? We'll be in West Torrens. The builder we talked to yesterday advised 6-12 months from the briefing stage to construction and approx 9 months from the start of construction to hand over. Another question. Did you get to view the soil report? I have access to an old (2012) environmental site assessment report that was done on our block prior to subdivision. I know we'll have to get another one done but I'm just wondering whether we can use the old one as a guide to get an idea of what our soil is like under where the slab will go. See below for a bore hole report. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Steps and timeline before construction (HomeBuilder) 15Jun 05, 2020 8:11 pm Yes the process would be similar across the board I imagine. We are building with a smaller company named Den Berger built. They have been excellent to date, up front with costs, super flexible and great quality of workmanship. In terms of the foundations, all builders will want their own engineer to do the report especially the larger builders. Having said that the fact you have some information on the block already would suggest to me the builder should be able to price your footings/foundations with an error margin of +/-5% - I know if we had something like that at the beginning of our build it would when helped the builder scope up. Have you chosen a builder yet? Re: Steps and timeline before construction (HomeBuilder) 16Jun 08, 2020 5:12 pm Juan Yes the process would be similar across the board I imagine. We are building with a smaller company named Den Berger built. They have been excellent to date, up front with costs, super flexible and great quality of workmanship. In terms of the foundations, all builders will want their own engineer to do the report especially the larger builders. Having said that the fact you have some information on the block already would suggest to me the builder should be able to price your footings/foundations with an error margin of +/-5% - I know if we had something like that at the beginning of our build it would when helped the builder scope up. Have you chosen a builder yet? How far along are you? Why did you decide on them? I've made a couple of phone calls - one with Bradford. Also spoken to Goodhouse a bit about their methods and pricing. They're hopefully within our budget. Have seen one of their houses and were impressed with the quality and energy performance. We're looking for a high performance house that's modest in size and simple in design. Hence we're looking for builders with experience in working with passive solar principles. Re: Steps and timeline before construction (HomeBuilder) 17Jun 09, 2020 8:29 am We are currently at Lock Up and I believe the kitchen cabinetry is going in as early as this week. Having spoken to many project builders - we decided we wanted to work with a builder who was part of the process from start to finish, rather than a chain of individuals ie salesperson, selection consultant, site supervisor, administration officers in head office. The company we choose, the owner is a carpenter by trade and employees other carpenters - the workmanship to date has been great. He still uses external contractors for other works such as electrical, painting etc but they are all local trades and we have been very impressed so far. We also needed someone who would be upfront on costs and flexible as we are often chopping and changing part of the design - something larger builders wouldn’t allow. I think Bradford are affiliated with Scott Salisbury so would likely have the pick of the trades and do good work. In regards to energy efficient home I think most would be able to accommodate as long as you give them a concept of requirements - the sticking point may be the cost given that the materials may not be standard inventory for larger builders. Re: Steps and timeline before construction (HomeBuilder) 18Jun 09, 2020 12:54 pm Juan We are currently at Lock Up and I believe the kitchen cabinetry is going in as early as this week. Having spoken to many project builders - we decided we wanted to work with a builder who was part of the process from start to finish, rather than a chain of individuals ie salesperson, selection consultant, site supervisor, administration officers in head office. The company we choose, the owner is a carpenter by trade and employees other carpenters - the workmanship to date has been great. He still uses external contractors for other works such as electrical, painting etc but they are all local trades and we have been very impressed so far. We also needed someone who would be upfront on costs and flexible as we are often chopping and changing part of the design - something larger builders wouldn’t allow. I think Bradford are affiliated with Scott Salisbury so would likely have the pick of the trades and do good work. In regards to energy efficient home I think most would be able to accommodate as long as you give them a concept of requirements - the sticking point may be the cost given that the materials may not be standard inventory for larger builders. Nice one. Who did you get to do all the drawings and documentation etc.? Yeah we are budgeting more for double glazing and a higher performing building envelope. I'm more so worried about the expertise of the trades who may not be used to working with those products and methods. Re: Steps and timeline before construction (HomeBuilder) 19Jun 09, 2020 4:53 pm This was facilitated through the builder using his engineer and draftsman, but as a seperate payment to the main contract (and prior to) and in a way in which we retained full copyright of all documentation (as we paid for it). Following these simple steps will help you mitigate unwanted costs, have your expectations met and give… 0 4535 Thanks very much! And would the landscaper/contractor generally involve the engineer or is that something the client would do? Thanks for your help 2 10026 I am in the same situation, would you be able to give some insights in to this? I am in SA 8 17047 |