New Build?

[redwing]

Having a look through the forum, there doesn't seem to be much information regarding new buildings and the process therein?

Maybe thats more suited to a new homebuyer forum?

We've only been looking over the last few weeks at a couple of blocks of land in a several areas which are rapidly expanding.

We've never built new before, so it's all baby steps with regards to the process

A block we are currently interested in is 920m2, with a 21m frontage and 43.8m length

A nice quiet street on an elevated position (can be windy according to a neighbour) facing the perth hills

Of concern (or not) however, is an apparent sewer inspection plate off to one side and the telstra box, any ideas what impact these may have with regards to vehicles/driveways/crossovers/access or encumbrences

Inpsection lid?

Telstra (baby Dalek) box?

When purchasing new land is there anything that needs to be added into the agreement i.e. "Subject to......" ?

Or additional clauses with regards to due diligence?

Special terms & Conditions?

Anything else we need to not only ask, but get in writing?

i.e.

Ask the developer or local Council about the minimum distance required between the front of the house and the road and the distance required between the house and side fences Have asked the sales person as an initial query and it was 1.5M?

We have had a look at the proposed locations of a new shopping centre, plus driven around to see parks, access to current shops from the block, distances to schools etc

I'm sure 50% was mentioned when we talked to a sales agent, however a drive through of the area and looking at a number of houses in different stages of contsruction had me thinking that must be a minimum rather than a maximum

Nothing like looking at a concrete slab on a vacant block to give you a perspective of coverage

 

[redwing]

Funnily enough the last one we looked at had access issues also with regards to its odd shape

That 18m side length is approx 1m high, and not an access area of the street...leaving the 4m access point ??

 

[Jake D]

I'm pretty sure the little green box is power.
They are usually shared between two blocks (most have the lot numbers of each lot stuck on the sides of them) and located in the verge almost exactly in front of the common boundary, so they shouldn't interfere with any fences or walls as they are not on your property. As far as driveways, you could lay your crossover (section of driveway on council land) precariously close, but most crossovers these days require "wings" at the kerb, meaning your driveway would have to be a minimum of about 1m from the side boundary and (assuming it's in the standard place) the green box.
Plant some shrubs or hedge around it and you'll never think about it again. I assume that's why they're green.

The sewer lid appears to be trafficable, non-trafficable is pretty rare in perth these days. A call to water corp or an enquiry on 1100.com.au will help you figure this out pretty quickly.

Edit: Just realised you'd already mentioned crossovers. Let's assume I was dumbing it down for any other users with similar questions.

 

[Jake D]

Ask the developer or local Council about the minimum distance required between the front of the house and the road and the distance required between the house and side fences Have asked the sales person as an initial query and it was 1.5M?

...

I'm sure 50% was mentioned when we talked to a sales agent, however a drive through of the area and looking at a number of houses in different stages of contsruction had me thinking that must be a minimum rather than a maximum

Nothing like looking at a concrete slab on a vacant block to give you a perspective of coverage

Both of these things come from the r-codes.

http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/dop_pub_pdf/R_CodesSPP_3_1_2.pdf

To find out if you're R20 or R30 or whatever, you can either call the council or most councils publish the rcodes for land in their boundaries on their websites - can be tricky to find.

 

[Ed Barton]

and located in the verge

is it only WA that uses the term 'verge'? we don't in qld, and from what I remember of my childhood in Melbourne, the same.

 

[Ausprop]

is it only WA that uses the term 'verge'? we don't in qld, and from what I remember of my childhood in Melbourne, the same.

what do you call it?

 

[INVSTOR]

what do you call it?

Verge = Footpath

Bathers = Togs
Assembly = Parade
Flannel = Washer
Canteen = Tuckshop

My daughter was soo confused on her first weeks at school.

 

[Jake D]

Verge = Footpath

Nah. Because "footpath" connotes some sort of pavement intended for walking on. Quite often the verge is grass/garden.

 

[redwing]

Hi Jake thanks for the feedback

I'm pretty sure the little green box is power.

Thanks Jake, you're probably correct

They are usually shared between two blocks (most have the lot numbers of each lot stuck on the sides of them) and located in the verge almost exactly in front of the common boundary, so they shouldn't interfere with any fences or walls as they are not on your property.

Are they always one per two blocks? I'll have a better look next time

As far as driveways, you could lay your crossover (section of driveway on council land) precariously close, but most crossovers these days require "wings" at the kerb, meaning your driveway would have to be a minimum of about 1m from the side boundary and (assuming it's in the standard place) the green box.
Plant some shrubs or hedge around it and you'll never think about it again. I assume that's why they're green.

The sewer lid appears to be trafficable, non-trafficable is pretty rare in perth these days. A call to water corp or an enquiry on 1100.com.au will help you figure this out pretty quickly.

Thanks again for the feedback

Edit: Just realised you'd already mentioned crossovers. Let's assume I was dumbing it down for any other users with similar questions.

 

[Ed Barton]

what do you call it?

nature strip, but i prefer theft.

 

[redwing]

Both of these things come from the r-codes.

http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/dop_pub_pdf/R_CodesSPP_3_1_2.pdf

To find out if you're R20 or R30 or whatever, you can either call the council or most councils publish the rcodes for land in their boundaries on their websites - can be tricky to find.

R40 with caveat not to sub-divide?

50% max

Here's some nearby lots

hence my confusion that 50% must be a minimum when looking at some of these

PS: the lower far left pad is 2 blocks not one

 

[Jake D]

Are they always one per two blocks? I'll have a better look next time

I only said usually because I'm not certain. At the very least, I think they have to be at or near the side boundary, but I no longer have access to the documents explaining exactly where or why.

I think some builders/architects get pretty creative with the 50%, at least from a lot of the house plans I've seen.

 

[Jake D]

nature strip, but i prefer theft.

Try not to be too upset about it.
It was never part of the lot - always part of the road reserve, it keeps your house from sittting dangerously close to the road without (Even more) ridiculous setback requirements, and it's where all the undreground services to your building lie. Without the verge/nature strip you'd have a massive easement there.

 

[srini]

Having a look through the forum, there doesn't seem to be much information regarding new buildings and the process therein?

Maybe thats more suited to a new homebuyer forum?

We've only been looking over the last few weeks at a couple of blocks of land in a several areas which are rapidly expanding.

We've never built new before, so it's all baby steps with regards to the process

A block we are currently interested in is 920m2, with a 21m frontage and 43.8m length

A nice quiet street on an elevated position (can be windy according to a neighbour) facing the perth hills

Of concern (or not) however, is an apparent sewer inspection plate off to one side and the telstra box, any ideas what impact these may have with regards to vehicles/driveways/crossovers/access or encumbrences

Inpsection lid?

Telstra (baby Dalek) box?

When purchasing new land is there anything that needs to be added into the agreement i.e. "Subject to......" ?

Or additional clauses with regards to due diligence?

Special terms & Conditions?

Anything else we need to not only ask, but get in writing?

i.e.

Ask the developer or local Council about the minimum distance required between the front of the house and the road and the distance required between the house and side fences Have asked the sales person as an initial query and it was 1.5M?

We have had a look at the proposed locations of a new shopping centre, plus driven around to see parks, access to current shops from the block, distances to schools etc

I'm sure 50% was mentioned when we talked to a sales agent, however a drive through of the area and looking at a number of houses in different stages of contsruction had me thinking that must be a minimum rather than a maximum

Nothing like looking at a concrete slab on a vacant block to give you a perspective of coverage

Hi Redwing,

We bought a block of land and built our new PPoR on it last year. We asked for the fencing to be completed by vendor. We also asked for a site clean before settlement. If its hilly, may be a good idea to have a builder assess the block for site costs. Friends of ours made this mistake and had to sell at under market value.

Cheers
Srini

 

[Steve Fitz]

Redwing - I would call the council and ask them for any planning issues.

Check if there are any design covenants in the area or DAP's for your block. I know many people who purchase a block with ideas of what they want to build, only to find out there are a lot of restrictions so they can't have their perfect house design.

Right now there's a subdivision in Swanbourne that has a $30k loading on anything you build there because of the (so called) 'green' inclusions you have to have.

There's another in Guildford that is in the flight path which requires $10k+ worth of upgrades for noise control.

Or there are these that we had to deal with this year alone;

• Couldn't have a double garage - had to be double carport because of the stupid outdated policies. (Lathlain)
• Couldn't match the rest of the streets 2m high retaining, and needed to have it tiered because common sense does NOT prevail. (Hillarys)
• Had to have a $3k greywater system even though the house is to be fully paved with only potted plants. (Swanbourne)
• Couldn't have a modern design and could only have the upper floor 1/3rd the size (Shenton Park)

These clients were totally unaware of these conditions, and weren't told prior to purchasing the block.

 

[akiwinut]

These clients were totally unaware of these conditions, and weren't told prior to purchasing the block.

A little thing call due diligence could have prevented those problems

 

[redwing]

Redwing - I would call the council and ask them for any planning issues.

Check if there are any design covenants in the area or DAP's for your block. I know many people who purchase a block with ideas of what they want to build, only to find out there are a lot of restrictions so they can't have their perfect house design.

.

Thanks Steve,

I appreciate the input

 

[redwing]

I chanced across this today

5 reasons why you need to take an approved Owner builder course.
1. The first and most important reason why you need an owner builder trainer course and probably the only reason that is important to you at this point is the fact that this course is required by law for anyone who wants to do their own building or renovation. Without an approved course you won’t be able to apply and qualify for the necessary licensing you need to be able to work on your own home.

2. Construction sites are in many ways built in accident zones, even if you take every precaution possible and follow all the rules and guidelines to the letter an accident can still happen. By taking an owner builder training course you will not only learn what insurance is mandatory for you to carry to protect all those who may be working on your site, but your training should also inform you of other insurances that are available and recommended to protect you and your helpers should an accident occur.

3. Building and renovating homes are costly undertakings when you consider the price of materials, the cost of hiring plumbers and electricians, hiring those extra hands to help with the building itself and all the other incidental costs. Taking an owner builder training course can help save you money by offering tips on how to buy materials cheaper and by saving you from making mistakes that could prove to be costly.

4. Taking an owner builder training course will teach you how to supervise those workers working under your guidance so that you don’t end up paying those workers for time that they are not working. Knowing how to supervise those working under you properly can shave thousands of your final building cost and help you to keep your construction going forward in a timely manner.

5. If you are a first time builder taking an owner builder training course will give you the knowledge and the confidence to tackle and oversee your building project from start to finish with less stress and worry that you may think is possible. That knowledge and confidence is something you are going to need to use time and time again to solve those problems that crop up on every building project.

An owner builder training course will give you all the necessary tools you need to not only comply with the laws regarding building or renovating your own home but, also the tools and confidence you need to turn your dream into a reality. This training will help you to build a home you can truly be proud of both now and in the future.

 

[redwing]

and

Gantt Project

GanttProject is a cross-platform desktop tool for project scheduling and management. It runs on Windows, Linux and MacOSX, it is free and its code is opensource. What can it do?

Gantt chart.

Create work breakdown structure, draw dependencies, define milestones.


Resources.

Assign human resources to work on tasks, see their allocation on the Resource Load chart.


PERT chart.

Generate PERT chart from Gantt chart.


Export.

Save charts as PNG images, generate PDF and HTML reports.


Interoperate.

Import projects from and export them to Microsoft Project formats. Export to spreadsheets with CSV.


Collaborate.

Share projects with your colleagues using WebDAV.

 

[redwing]

Also Sweet Home 3D

And I love those 3D Images as my brain can't fathom a floorplan...however, drawing/sketching etc comes easy to me; does that make me right sided or left sided?

Sweet Home 3D is a free interior design application
that helps you place your furniture on a house 2D plan, with a 3D preview.

Hope you find these handy