Category: Starting

10 Things Before You Pay The Deposit

OK you have looked round lots of show houses and found one you like.

The sales representative is now asking for a $500, or more, initial deposit.

Do you pay straight away?……..Well you are currently in your best position to negotiate so don’t rush!

10 Actions

Here is what I would do next:

  1. Tell them you need a week to think about it.
  2. For the house you like get copies of all the Floor Plans, facade plans, specification and standard list of inclusions. (Once you have got the plans don’t think you can shop them around other builders)
  3. Walk through the Show House again checking what fixtures and fittings are extras so you understand the difference between what you will get and what you might have thought you will get.
  4. Take the plans and specification home and go through every room one by one to help you decide if the rooms including fixtures and fittings are what you want.
  5. Make a list of all the changes you want, for instance:

It will be easier, and cheaper, to make the changes before you commit!

6. Go back to the representative and ask them to price the changes.

7. Remember that there will still be extra costs such as site works, fences paths etc. See “What Will It Cost?” for typical details so make sure you will be able to afford the estimated price, with some extra for things you forgot! You don’t want to be paying a loan on a Ghost House.

8. If you are happy with the price pay the deposit and you are on your way.

Limited Time Offers!

Some builders make limited time offers to get you to sign up quickly.

I’ve never let this rush me . . . as at the end of one offer they always seem to have another ‘Offer’ of similar value.

For similar posts see Starting Off

 

Choosing a House . . . A new E-book for only $4 to help you buy your new house

 

Using Friends for Building Work

Some people say “never lend a friend money”, or “sell them a car”.

If things go wrong it can end a friendship!

I think it might be the same with getting them to do building work for you.

Reasons to think twice

  • Are they really ‘friends’, ‘friends of friends’ or just people you know?
  • Is there a chance they will take advantage of your ‘friendship’ to work at a slower rate because they are doing work for other people at the same time?
  • Do you really know how good at their job they are?
  • If they are doing it as a ‘friend’ are they insured?
  • Do you both agree on what the required quality of workmanship and materials will be? and is it written down?
  • How will you resolve things if you are not happy with the result?

Contracts give more certainty

I think that in something as important as building a house you need everything covered by contracts and insurances.

Also if you are a true friend to them you should be happy paying them a fair price for a good quality job.

I have got friends to do small things for me but for a major project I always prefer a fairly written contract.

This has enabled me to become friends of builders through building up a mutual respect.

 

For similar posts see Choosing a Builder

 

Understanding Title Plans

Title plans are quite a bit different to Survey Plans.

The above is typically what you would see when looking at the title plan for a small subdivision.

This is what it tells you about block No 2, which I have coloured in pink.

  • The total width of the Road Reserve of Smith Court including nature strips and future footpaths is 20m.
  • The *survey grid bearing for Smith Court at the front of the block, is 2 degrees 0 minutes and 15 seconds (2o 00’ 15”) almost due North.
  • The width on the road frontage is 18.00m.
  • The top boundary runs at a bearing of 92 degrees 0 minutes and 15 seconds (92o 00’ 15”) which is almost due East for a distance of 38.00m (the depth of the block is therefore 38m)
  • The rear boundary runs at a bearing of 182 degrees 0 minutes and 15 seconds (182o 00’ 15”) which is almost due South for a distance of 18.00m. so the width at the rear of the block is also 18m.
  • The bottom boundary runs at a bearing of 272 degrees 0 minutes and 15 seconds (272o 00’ 15”) which is almost due West for a distance of 38.00m (the depth of the block is therefore consistent at 38.00m)
  • There is a 2m wide Easement at the rear of the Block Labelled E-I. This means it will be VERY difficult to build on this part of your Block.

Within the title documents you will find a reference to each easement on the subdivision saying what the easement is for.

Generally you will be lucky if there are no easements as over 50% of blocks will have at least one easement

Each corner of the site should be marked with a Boundary Peg which needs to be protected from damage.

*A ‘Survey Grid Bearing’ is a fixed direction unlike a bearing from Magnetic North which can change over time.

 

For similar posts see Block Dimensions

To find out about Easements see Restrictions

Easements

When I worked for a drainage contractor almost every month I have to tell people that they are going to have to take down their shed, dig out part of their raised garden bed, or take up part of their paved patio.

Why? ……………because they have built them on top of a manhole on a drainage easement that needs to be cleaned or inspected.

How Common Are Easements

About 50% of properties will have a drainage or sewerage easement generally running along the back fence.

These will be shown on the title plan.

Between 5 and 10% of all properties will have a manhole within their property.

This will be used to access the sewer or drain for maintenance.

When buying a house block be very careful if you find a block that has an easement running from front to back, as this will severely restrict your options on what you can build.

Why are there Easements

Easements are a method of giving other people some rights over your property.

Examples are:

  • The right to have a pipe or other underground, or above ground, service laid under your property. The most common easements are for drainage and sewerage pipes. You will sometimes come across utility easements for water supply, electricity, telecommunications and gas.
  • Right of access, for example; to come onto your property and maintain, repair and replace the services.
  • Right to use a shared driveway

Although the person or organization having benefit of the easement has the responsibility to restore the land after maintenance and repairs this does not usually extend to rebuilding any structures such as sheds or replacing expensive paving.

Building on Easements

It can be difficult and expensive to be allowed to build any permanent structure such as part of your house over an easement.

The actual width of a pipeline easement will depend on the size and depth of the pipes, and on having enough room to carry out maintenance and repair.

Another factor is keeping the foundations far enough away that they don’t damage the pipe.

Do you check your  Title Plan?

 

To better understand what you can build see

Restrictions in the Blocks section

 

Site Investigation

As part of the design and approval process of building your new house you will require a ‘Site Investigation Report’ sometimes referred to as a ‘Geotechnical Report’.

For a typical suburban subdivision for a one or two storey house on a standard block around 800m2. these cost in the order of $1,500 – $2,000,

What They Do

The site investigation company will normally send out a truck mounted drilling rig to site.

The rig operator will have a look at the site for any potential problems and drill three holes to a depth of about 2 – 3m, or until they hit rock.

At least one of these holes will include any problem areas identified from the visual inspection such as wet areas and disturbed ground.

For larger blocks, larger houses, and houses with more complex structures (e.g.underground garages) more boreholes, deeper bore holes, and more testing will be required which will all add to the cost.

Samples of the different materials encountered will be classified to be able to assist in assessing the strength of the material

The Results

A report will then be prepared based on the tests, and any previous information about soils in the locality.

The Report will give recommendations about foundations for structures on the site.

The key part of  the recommendation is usually a foundation classification  as this can adds tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of the build

Limitations on Report

A couple of things to remember about these reports are:

  • The recommendations assumes that the boreholes accurately reflect the condition for the whole site.
  • The ground can be exceptionally variable and the borehole are testing much less than a hundreth of one percent of the soil that the house will be standing on. (During excavation the builder may encounter worse conditions that need a stronger foundation with additional costs)
  • If the site has a slope which requires cut and fill the foundation may need to be to a higher classification than the report recommendations . . .  at an additional cost.

 

For more posts related to land see Blocks

 

Building On Pipeline Easements (Or Close To)

Previous posts have talked about Sewer and Drain Easements but you build close to or over a pipe on an easement?

Permission

You must get permission from the owner of the easement to build on the easement.

Some easement owners won’t permit any building.

However some will allow certain works after a fee is paid.

This fee can amount to several thousand dollars particularly if you want to build right over the sewer.

Costs

The minimum costs are likely to be a CCTV survey of the pipe which could cost over a thousand dollars.

Additional costs may include either exposing the pipe and encasing the whole line in concrete, or re-routing the pipe and paying for the cost of establishing a new easement.

Getting the Design Right.

When building close to a buried pipeline, whether the building is in the easement, or close to it, the designer needs to ensure no loads are placed  on the pipe.

To avoid placing any load on the pipe the base of any foundation should be below the zone of influence of the pipe.

This zone of influence starts at the base of the pipe and rises at a slope of 1 in 1 to ground level.

In the diagram above

  • Foundation A is unacceptable The base is inside the zone of influence.
  • Foundation B is acceptable Even though it is the same horizontal distance from the pipe as Foundations A because the base is outside the zone of influence.

The base of the foundation is the lowest point of the foundation, that is the bottom of the slab, In the case of piers the base of the piers.

Building Over the Pipe

Some water authorities do allow building right over a pipe. in that case the base of foundations on both sides of the pipe needs to be outside the zone of influence.

Any beam or slab over the pipe needs to be designed to span between the foundations.

 

To better understand what you can build see

Restrictions in the Blocks section

 

Block Boundary Pegs

Your block location is defined by its boundary pegs.

It all looks quite simple when you are looking to buy the block. You can go out to the site and see tall pegs with tape at every corner.

A few months later when the builder is looking to start it can all be very different.

The pegs may have been stolen, or damaged, and your builder will be asking for $800 or more to re-establish the site boundaries.

Here is how you might save that money………………….

The first thing to understand is the tall pegs are indication markers, the actual boundary peg is normally driven down to just above ground level. (See photo below)

While the pegs are still obvious

    • Take measurements so you can find or relocate the pegs accurately, this involves taking measurements to each peg from at least two points that are unlikely to be damaged. Examples are joints in concrete paths, drain covers, existing fences.
    • Where possible you can use paint to mark concrete paths or fences.
    • Make sure the boundary peg is knocked down to ground level.
    • Cover the peg with gravel or sand so it looks different to the surrounding soil.
    • You should now be able to find the boundary pegs, even if the marker pegs go missing.
    • Don’t worry if one peg goes missing the builder only needs three pegs to do their set out.

If you want more information its worth reading the post on Reading Title Plans

 

For similar posts see Blocks

Soil Classification

Before you can build your new house you need to know what sort of foundation is needed, which is based on the ‘Soil classification’

Geotechnical Investigation

A Geotechnical investigations is required to provide a report stating the soil classification.

The Investigation,and the Report should be in accordance with the following Australian Standards;

  • AS2870-1996: “Residential Slabs and Footings – Construction”
  • AS1726-1993: “Geotechnical site investigations”

Standard Classifications

The classification of the site is based on the expected movement of the foundation soils – generally related to the capacity of the soil to shrink or swell.

Your site should be in one of the following classifications:

Class A
Mostly sand and rock sites, with little or no ground movement expected.(see these links: Sand & Rock)

Class S
Slightly reactive clay sites. Only slight ground movement from moisture changes expected.

Class M
Moderately reactive Clay or Silt sites which can experience moderate ground movement from moisture changes (See this link: Building on Clay).

Class H
Highly reactive clay sites. Can experience high ground movement from moisture changes.

Class E
Extremely reactive sites. Can experience extreme ground movement from moisture changes.

Class P
A problem site. This can includes soft soils, such as soft clay or silt, varying depths of Fill (see this link: Fill), loose sands, landslips, mine subsistance, collapsing soils, soils subject to erosion, reactive sites subject to abnormal moisture conditions, or sites which cannot be classified otherwise.

Added category ‘D’

Soil types M, H, and E may also have an added classification of ‘D’. This indicates deep seasonal moisture variation which can mean significant expansion and contraction.
For example, from a dry to a saturated state

  • Class M-D may move up to 40mm,
  • Class H-D 40mm to 70mm
  • Class E-D can move more than 70mm, (up to 250mm has been found in some cases)

Why the report may increase the cost

If you are looking at a Project Builders its worth being aware that their standard price will be based on either an S or M class foundation.

Usually you will be lucky if the foundation is in this range………so you could be up for additional costs.

See the following link to understand why a classification from the developer may be better than the one from the builder: Different Soil Classification Results

 

 Lots more information in the anewhouse Guide to Buying a Block for only $4

For more posts related to land see Blocks

 

Restrictive Covenants

Don’t think because you buy a block you can do what you like on it!

There are often restrictive covenants on land. . . . .That is “an agreement between land owners which may restrict how land may be used and developed“.

Who Is Involved?

The two parties to a covenant are:

  • The party that owns the land burdened
  • The party, or parties, that owns the land benefited by the covenant, which is likely to be either initially the developer, or the original landowner.

On a long established estate the party benefited will typically become your neighbours.

For example if there is a restriction on height of buildings your neighbour benefits from not being overlooked.

In this case if you want to extend upwards you will need your neighbour’s approval as well as planning permits.

Reasons for Covenants

There are many reasons Covenants are used, including to:

  • Protect views from being built up – most likely to be the original landowner if they still live adjacent to the site.
  • Protect the level and type of finish of all dwellings and boundaries within an estate – most likely to be the developer who wants the estate to look attractive to future land purchasers.
  • Protect the type of use that takes place on a site. No car repair and animal breeding are common.
  • Protect the level of development – single dwelling covenants are common, avoid if you may want to build a granny flat in the future.

The presence of a Covenant may only be indicated in ‘The Copy of Title’, or it may be included with your Section 32 or Vendor’s Statement. You need to be sure what restrictions are imposed before you buy.

What can you do about a Restrictive Covenant?

If you find a Restrictive Covenant on title, there are few courses of action you can take.

  1. Decide if the clauses are of benefit to you as they are likely to place similar restrictions on your neighbours.
  2. Pursue the removal of the covenant through legal channels which could be costly and difficult.
  3. Read carefully for possible ’sunset/expiry’ clauses on your covenant.
  4. Don’t buy if you don’t like the covenant, Just look elsewhere!

 

Also see Covenant Removal.

Keeping Records – 5 things to do

My old contract management tutor at university always said that the three most important things when managing a construction contract are:

  • Records;
  • Records;
  • and Records.

Over 40 years in the civil engineering industry I have often reflected on the wisdom of those words.

So what does this mean when you are building your new house.

Well here are a few things you should do in case problems arise in your build:

A. Buy a one page to the day diary and record everything that happens about your new house from the start of the process until all defects from your three-month inspection have been fixed. Sign and date every entry. (Include a summary of any conversations)

B. Keep all correspondence from the builder, council, power supply companies, suppliers brochures, etc, etc.

C. Confirm all discussions and verbal agreements by either an Email or a letter.

D. Write a letter about any concerns immediately you think there is a problem.

E. Take photographs of progress, and any items of concern, with a camera that record dates.

For most builds this will just be an interesting record of your build.

However if major problems occur these records will give you the best chance of a satisfactory outcome.

Did you use your records to get the result you wanted?

 

More posts about the build are in the Construction Section

 

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