Should we use a building lawyer to oversee our building contract?
Lisa Fusi
3 years ago
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Lisa Fusi
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Architect, building designer, drafts person, oh my!
Comments (47)Jacinta, am very sorry to hear that you've had no luck with your project pursuits......but may I also add your story is unfortunately not too uncommon and it doesn't surprise me...........after doing this for a fair while now may I add a comment or two.....skimming through the post above, a completely underestimated and often overlooked skill required by a design professional, whether categorised as an architect, designer, drafty or whatever is their capacity to manage the client's expectations of what is viable in a certain situation for a certain budget with their experience and knowledge. Yes construction costs have risen, and will continue to do so, and that's nothing new. $350K depending upon what you're doing and where, once upon a time was a healthy budget, but not anymore when you stack up the components. that is not to say that you cannot do anything, but to achieve something you'll need to be working with people who are all over the current construction costs and can help you strategically and logically consolidate your priorities simultaneously within the design/creative process to resolve an appropriate solution. There is always a (creative) solution to a scenario and a way to successfully navigate/negotiate challenges such as council limitations, challenging context, budget or whatever. Honestly, as a designer that's the easy bit, the hard(er) part is managing people in negotiating their particular "wants" and expectations and relative costs. What I understand really gets to people (like you have clearly experienced here ) is the unpleasant surprise and disappointment down the track after investing time and money with a company/designer in believing that you're working towards a feasible outcome when in reality the concept/direction is revealed to be non-viable, stonewalled or beyond budget. To avoid exactly this issue I service the front end of projects very broadly considering hard costed concept scenario options and hence "cutting to the chase" in order to appropriately align project requirements and project budget against the relevant specific contextual backdrop. Very quickly we endeavour get a realistic and accurate handle on whether a particular project direction is going to be viable or not and manage the client's expectations appropriately and fairly with minimal time and investment from their end. Depending upon the client and situation this step of the process initiates recalibration of client expectations (on budget or brief) and identification of what is possible one way or another so moving forward can occur with confidence and efficiency. From experience this has proven to avoid the exact situation you've unfortunately experienced. This should not be a "nightmare", rather it should be an exciting time in the process. At the end of the day it all comes down to money, it is invariably the ultimate controller of the decision-making process and accordingly you need to find and work with people who inherently understand this and can design honestly for you with respect to this factor and your specific needs. I hope this helps in some way and completely understand and sympathise with your situation :)...See MorePros & Cons of Design & Build company
Comments (4)One of the cons of the design/build process is that the initial deposit commits you to their design and pricing. If you love their design, but don't like their end pricing you can't take their design to another builder to get a more competitive quote. If you can't afford their end price (as opposed to their initial estimate) you are really back to square one, with no design. Realistically a competitive price can't be reached until the design is finalised, selections are made, soil tests completed, and engineering done. If you engage a professional to design your home then you can go and find lots of builders to quote competitively. You also have more flexibility with selections as many design/build companies already have arrangements with preferred suppliers. The design/build proces is often cheaper at the start of the project with a small deposit that doesn't cover the real design costs, but more expensive at the end of the day as quotes from any competitors are excluded. Design/build companies will sue you for loss of profits and copyright infringement if you build their design with another builder without getting a copyright release and their blessing....See MoreInsurance/financial disaster - try to repair or build new?
Comments (10)Thanks for the advice team. So the house is block work on a cement slab, but when we did our renovating in the bathroom and had to cut through and re-lay the floor in the very small bathroom we noticed that the slab was incredibly thin and had no reinforcing. The walls have some cracks however we did have the building inspected when we bought it and thought we had a solid shell to start with. (Its brick and cement we said - what can go wrong?!) Our house is not in the flood zone. There is an asbestos ceiling which has also complicated matters a little - everyone who has quoted on the job has vowed not to disturb it - but I am not sure when you are walking around up there and pulling the original roof off if this is actually possible. The roof is a flat cliplock roof with no crawl space at all, so the ceiling is on battens that are attached to the rafters. The block of land is 822 sqm and will be worth about $130 000 if the house was demolished. (Demolition is set to cost around $30 000- due to asbestos etc) We have spoken to an architect who has told us that it may be possible to reuse our kitchen, the solar set up and some windows, but if we try to force the project to reuse all of our windows and doors it could end up being counter productive. So if it happens to fit we might reuse. I just spoke to a real estate who are telling me that in our area a small new house (3 bedroom) will not reach the $300 000 value point - so it may be impossible to reach the right formula to allow the bank to lend for a rebuild-...See MoreNew house build, to start or not? We knocked it down end Feb
Comments (11)We are literally starting our build in the next week or so, what has been a 21 month process to get to this point, we got our final DA approval last week, we had a chat to our builder and he is keen to progress, like many he is keen to keep working and keeping staff in jobs while he can. We are doing a cost plus build, originally our surveying was quoted at $3300, today the same guy did it for $2700 because he wanted the work, was able to come straight out and complete once given the go ahead. While it’s nice to potentially gets some savings moving forward, it’s certainly nice knowing that our build can potentially help people keep their businesses opened in the midst of this crisis....See MoreMarine Auripod
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