Buzzy--Bee

Any reason you didn't decide to build your house yourselves as owner builders?

BB

Lois1

Yes, we did contemplate doing this after being there a couple of years when OH more famiiar with the procedures, regs, sub-contractor contacts established etc etc. And may well do in the future, but for now we decided to opt for this decision.

Buzzy--Bee

mmmm procedures, regs, sub-cotractor contracts.....

I built my house as an OB and didn't see any of those

BB

Lois1

just a case of getting familiar with the system i guess, but he will be pleased to hear that for the future then ;-)

Dorothy

It doesn't have to be a surveyer I don't think. The checks are carried out by the local authorities (gas, water, electric, etc). At least that's what happened with us. We never hired anyone to do checks.

I think what people are saying is that you, or someone you trust should be making regular visits to site to take a look around. Do you know anyone in Perth (not sure where you're building) who could pop around to your site once a week or so?

Thankfully we lived about 5 minutes from where we built and like Japonica found faults that we could nip in the bud. Here's a picture of some of the brickwork we found when they started. We also found that the electrician had put a bunch of lights in the wrong places and that they had put the light switches where interior doors were going to go later so they had to be moved. Little things, but they would have been hassles later had we not caught them before we moved in.

ukecadet

This is photo is typical of the lack of care in the building industry today.
I was fixing someone else's f### up.
How hard can it be to cut a hole in a door?
He's had 3 go's at it and in the process totally undermined the strength of the door.One kick and you're in.

LeeWillo

ukecadet, what is that hole all about! Surely it should be routered in from the edge? Or is this standard practice here in Oz?

ukecadet

Bad isn't it? No router required,just drill from either side with the right sized hole saw and in the correct place;something that this 'carpenter' has yet to master.
A few weeks ago I had to replace the wall of a shower and lounge wall because the 'licensed' plumber had not connected the shower tray to the waste pipe.The water was just pooling under the tray.In no time at all it had soaked the plasterboard in the shower and lounge.I had to rip the the whole thing out.Fix shower, re-plaster,re-tile and paint.Keeps me busy.

Japonica

Good grief. This thread's going to turn into a builders bloopers one...

Inspired by the previous pics, thought I'd post two of our build issues mentioned earlier.

Note to builders: that skinny portion at the back of the cabinet that sits next to the range top is not a handle and just gluing it back on is not okay.

LeeWillo

We are thinking of building our own too, I may have to drop in frequently. I work in construction (Quantity Surveyor), normally in the UK I drop that in so they know not to try it on. Hopefully that would be the same here.

LeeWillo

ukecadet, i just clicked on the thumbnail and looked at the picture properly, it is even worse than I first thought!

itigo

We are getting more and more nervous about building now! We have a great plot. Just trawling through the best way to do it. With a friend's advice (who has done LOADS of housebuilding) we are going the survey, designer, quantity surveyor, tender route. A lot more groundwork for us but he assures us we will have a more solid contract and easier time with the budget than signing up with a builder.

It is very exciting, but I think the stress is going to be huge! Luckily, we are the sort of people who once we've decided on things, are unlikely to want to make changes so this should help.........

LeeWillo

Itigo, I think that idea is all well and good but may be best just find a builder with a good reputation and references. The whole survey, designer, QS route could prove costly. Plus you would need to ensure you get good surveyors and architects in the first place. These professionals can fail and cause problems too you know. The builder will have a standard contract. Make sure everything you agree is in there, then take it to a construction lawyer or someone to look over it to make sure you are protected, and it gives avenues to go down to arbitrate in case of disagreement.

perth tiger

there are no statuary checks done on housing in wa. the sparky is resp for the electrics the plumber for the plumbing etc.
if you want your build checked you need to have some idea of building or employ someone to check it for you.
project builders build to very tight margins and screw their trades endlessly. if you want a the best standard of build then you need to employ a more individual builder but he will cost a lot more
telling a superviser on site that you are a qs will mean very little to him. he doesnt deal with them and would doubt they knew anything at all about home building.
saying all that though the houses in wa are built to a pretty good standard

Lois1

After reading all the posts i'm more inclined to get on the next plane over!

OH would feel more comfortable being there too to check up ! His a bit of a perfectionist so will ease his mind, the term "that will do" is not in his vocabulary!

Hopefully they will stick to the schedule for handover, as we coud be homeless towards the end!