Sunny_Glesga

Is there anyone out there who has project managed their own build and done a lot of the work themself?

If i were looking to do this, apart from all the usual paperwork that needs to be done by professionals, i.e Drawings, engineer reports, what work would you be allowed to do on your own? to standard required obviously!

Would it be possible to organise or carry out yourself: Drainage,Foundations, brickwork/blockwork,Roof Trusses/Tiling,Landscaping, Internal partitions, Gyproc, and so on.......

I expect it would be the same as UK regarding a few things like, Electrics, Gas, Air con, and so on........

I would like to just get a "yes" you can do this or "NO" it need to be a qualified Concrete finisher,brickie, Plumber , Landscaper

I am a Plasterer by trade and when needed a jack of all trades

And no i`m not crazy thinking about this, Deadly serious

Forgot to mention this would hopefully be in WA

decca

Hi, We have been here in WA just South of Mandurah for just over 2 years.
There are some owner/builders in our area. You have to apply for a license to build (A bit like planning permission). You can then organise trades, quite a few trades have to be licensed, Plumbers, electricians, drain layers etc The biggest problem I can forsee for you is finding someone to work for you when you want them. There is so much work with the builders that trades are not really intrested in doing private work, so it takes a lot longer to do things.

Decca

Sunny_Glesga

Hi decca, I expected that finding the tradesmen to do the work when needed would have been the big hurdle with all the building work going on over there. My brother who actually lives in Sydney fortunately has quite a few mates in the building/construction in WA whom i know from the chats we have had would be willing to help me out with this side of things ( Fortunately)

I know that there can be times where stress levels will rise ( slightly i hope) but at the end of the day i`m sure i can cope withought any major drama`s. As i said, i feel fortunate that there will be help when i eventually get things moving i just feel that i need to try and do the groundwork on this to see if its feasible ( is there more costs involved in Aus?) and worth the time and effort or just simply look for a reputable builder.

I have also been fortunate to have the opportunity to be a big part in a self build for a family member just recently finished. The end result was mortgage to value was roughly 58% giving them a 42% equity which i thought was excellent.

Is this not what we all want?

At the end of the day we hope to build to our own specification and have as little mortgage as possible! A main factor in this will almost always come down to who you know rather than what you know.

Siren & Brian

Any plumbing, electrical work needs to be done by licensed tradesman. The rest you can pretty much do yourself

Sunny_Glesga

Bump

want2bthere

hi

we want to do the same. oh can brick lay, plaster, plumb etc. from what i can work out is if you want to do anything over in aus you need a licence!!
i would have hoped that if it was your own build then you could do it yourself like you would be able to in the uk. anybody got any more advice?? .

thanx
tracey

Sunny_Glesga

Hi Tracey, Going by timescales for using builder we are hearing things like up to 2 years from start to completion and the soaring costs of new houses :scared: i reckon this is definitely the way to go. where are you planning on moving to in Aus?


We have come across this website which may be of help to you.


http://www.brb.org.au/OwnerBuilder.htm

want2bthere

hi there

we're planning on moving around the sunshine coast. cheers for that address. just found a similar one for queensland. www.bsa.qld.gov.au, think i need to read and read again seems like there is alot of regs and red tape, but this is our dream and god help any one who stands in our way .

good luck
tracey

Hels Bells

We are doing it right now as it goes!!

We are owner building and so far, its been a doddle...

I think the hardest bit for me has been finding the time to committ to it because we both work full time.

We have been lucky in that the Carpenter we are using is so on the ball and is helping us through the process step by step.

I am just about to put some pics on my gallery if you want to have a look...

Oh, as far as what you can and cant to, not sure. We know we cant do buggar all because of ability so havent even bothered with it. There should be a Master Builders organisation that you can go and talk to about the legalities of what you can and cant do I would expect.

Billabong

We have friends down at Kingscliffe who did it and the hoops they had to jump through to get the licence were horrific.

Sunny_Glesga

I did imagine that there would be some red tape, this is where the missus will show herself as i aint to good at keping a calm head over this side of things.

I like to just get the head down and get the work done.

want2bthere

hi ya

well my oh has no idea when it comes to paperwork and leaves all that to me, same as yourself he just likes to get on with want he does best. emailed contact on that web address i mentioned before and they replied within 24hrs!. basically you have to apply for a owner builders licence if you are going to get contractors to build for you. if you want to do most of the build eg brickwork and plumbing yourself you have to apply for a builders licence. my oh would or could never let someone else do the work. hes got standards and all that .
lots of luck

traceyx

want2bthere

god do i waffle. on second thoughts after reading email again dont think above is correct. oh well think we'll soon found out when we eventully get over there!

brasso

Hi! We live on the sunshine coast and are just finishing our own self build. My husband has been working on it full time for 14 months. We applied for an owner builder licence and because he is an electrician we didnt have to do any courses or exams, just sent the money off and proof of his trade and that was it. We drew up the design ourselves and went to a draftsman to do the final drawings, then we started. my husband has done all the work himself apart from the plumbing as you need him to certify that and issue a cert at the end. We didnt need a special waterproofer as long as we got a cert from the company we got the paint from to say it was the right standard. We had to do a lot of research and bartering for the price of goods, but would you believe we got a lot of the lighting and bathroom suits off ebay, the ebay stores were so cheap compared to the retail shops.
Hope this helps and assures you that it can be done yourself if you have the time and patience to shop around, in the long run it saves thousands of dollars!!! Maggie x

moneypenny20

Can we have some pics please