There are no shortage of builders out there making bold promises about how quickly they can build a home for you.
Arming yourself with the knowledge of what is and is not realistic will allow you to accurately assess these bold predictions.
In this blog we will help you understand where the time is spent in building a new home in Perth...so read on!
Understanding the Home Building Process
Designing your new home is where it all starts. How long that process takes can differ with every client. For some, the design process is rather quick, which is often the case when a client falls in love with a display home and makes minimal changes. For others the process may be a bit longer due to varying factors. For simplicity, we will start this discussion on building time frames assuming that your design is finalised and all of your costings for your new home have been received.
Including the time that it will take to get all of your paperwork finalised, finance confirmed and government approvals arranged - it will take approximately 12 months until the day you get your keys to your brand new home. This is assuming you are building a single storey home.
If you are building a two storey home it will take approximately 17-18 months. The longer time frame is due to the additional walls, ceiling and roofing of the second storey.
For those choosing to build their second story with EPS (light weight alternative construction material to double brick) the walls for your second storey will go up quicker than if you are building with brick. This usually saves you approximately 2 months in total time.
The overall building process can be divided into 2 distinct stages.
- Pre-construction (Approximately 5 months)
- Construction (Approximately 7 months single storey and 12 months for a two storey home - these timeframes can vary slightly depending on the size of the home and the level of specification)
Pre-Construction
This is the 'paperwork' stage!
There is a lot of preparation work that goes into building a new home before anything can happen on site.
Contour surveys and engineer reports must be carried out; working plans and building contracts have to be prepared; your prestart selection meeting needs to be completed; a building license has to be obtained from your local council; water authority permission has to be granted along with a myriad of other administrative tasks and requirements.
You also have to obtain unconditional approval for your finances with your mortgage broker or bank once they have assessed your building contracts and application.
You can rest assured that your builder will try and reduce the amount of time that your job stays in the pre-construction phase. This is because builders do not start receiving progress payments from your financial institution until the construction phase has commenced, so it is in the builders best interest to cross all of the 't's' and dot all of the 'i's' and get your paperwork all finalised so they can start construction.
Construction
Once construction on your home is underway, things will start to progress quite rapidly and you will be amazed at how quickly your home takes shape.
If you are building a single storey home you can expect your walls will be built within the first 3-4 months, your roof will be on and before you know it your house will be at lock up stage.
If you are building a two storey home, you should reach lock up stage at approximately 6-7 months for a double brick home.
Once lock up stage is reached the internal work will commence. This includes your cabinetry and tiling, toilets, taps, sinks, doors, light switches and powerpoints and all of the other finishing touches. At this point your house will start to look more like the home that you have been dreaming of!
A final word
The key to an efficient build is working with a reputable builder who employs quality staff and trades, and in particular Site Supervisors.
Each individual job requires not only good quality trades to complete the task, but also all of the supplies to be on-site at the correct time and a well thought out schedule for the trades people to adhere to. This is all controlled by your Site Supervisor and is something people often do not consider when choosing their builder, instead focusing all of their attention on the design.
Be wary of sales representatives who promise to have your new home built much quicker than other builders. This is often a sales technique used to tell you what you want to hear in an effort to sign you up rather than giving you an accurate representation of what is likely to happen on-site.
Building a new home is often the biggest investment you will ever make, so ensure you take the time to educate yourself on how your home will be built and how long the process will take.
Look to choose a builder who has stood the test of time, has awards to prove their quality and has past clients happy to vouch for their work.