Whooo Hoooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is me doing the happy dance!
According to 24/7, we have a commencement date of 11 December 2008. Next Thursday. We are waiting for another set of construction drawings, but something is allegedly happening! Not to mention, my mate Glen Stevens is doing his best so that the delay is not hurting my mortgage loans as much, Big round of applause for Glen. Thanks Glen!
So, I am hoping that commencement means site scrape. Can anyone help me out here???? Is that what it means? I am excited and I hope that I can trust them this time, I don't want a repeat of the issues we had with the building permit and dispensation time line.
On a happier note, we also got a copy of the building permit today as well.
Questions for those of you who are much further down the track.
- Did things happen on site before your commencement date? Like water meters etc, or did things only start happening on that date?
- Did your SS contact you before you started?
- How did your SS take the fact you were having inspections? (if you are)
- How long after the earthworks was the slab poured (obviously hoping for a slab for Christmas) Is it a case of "tell 'im 'e's dreamin'?
Bring it on!!!!!!!!!
20 comments:
Hey BB, that's good news. A chrisy gift from PD to manage to start by 11 December. Wooo Hooo.
Now answer to your questions as per our experience
- We had a water meter and loo atleast 4 days before the official start date. And the site works actually started on the commencement date itself. However, our CSC told us that actual site scrape will happen two weeks from commencement date, but as i mentioned they did start site scrape on commencement date.
Our SS never contacted us until we called him after the slab was poured and as you know by now, it took PD to start slab pour 4 weeks after the commencement date. So, the first 4 weeks did not see much action
I also asked my SS that we want to get independent pre plaster and pre handover inspection done, and his response was very positive.
He is still to get back to me with the date when the house will be ready for pre plaster inspection as he has to be present there during the inspection. But again he was pretty cool about it.
PS: its damn hard to contact our SS, its been two dyas that we have been leaving messages on his mobile and he has not called back yet.
All in all i reckon, you will definitely have slab before the christmas break.
Hope this helps :-)
Sorru for the long post BB
WOHOOO...!!! Congrats BB!!! Yeah... the race is on as you said on my post :)
As you can see yeah we did have our site scrape today on commencement date... but looks like they didn't finish it because lots of big rocks that their bulldozer can't handle.
But then I didn't see any water meter or loo or whatever new...
Basically they never touched our land till today... (other than soil tests)
And no... our SS hasn't contacted us so far... like WBH said... maybe he wont contact us till we contacted him?
Post lots of pics when you have your site start!!! :D
Congrats on the site start! I can't help you out with your Qs as we're just behind you guys in our progress. Wonderful news tho and hopefully you get some dirt moved around and perhaps a portaloo for Xmas from PD! :)
Good to hear. I haven't read the other responses but this is what I know from experience:
The date your building permit is issued partly determines the start date. Generally if you count 21 days from the issue date PD will not start any later than that. You may find that backdating from Dec 11th will be about 20 days.
Your SS will probably ring you to ask you to erect a sign showing your lot number. He will also check that your boundary pegs are visible (just as well you slashed the block).
Usually you get a water meter and then they will start with a site scrape - this is the official commencement of construction. Time taken for them to excavate, put in piping, lay rio and waffle pods and then pour slab can range from 2 weeks to 4 weeks. It is in their best interest (and yours) to pour it before the holidays as it needs to sit for at least 4 days before frame can start.
Good luck!
Thanks guys, very excited as you can tell.
WBH, thanks helps alot. Our CSC hasn't even told us that the file has gone to construction yet. My DH was snooping on 24/7 and saw it. Hope our SS is accomodating about the inspection too. Don't worry about the long post, I ramble on a bit myself ;-)
Hi lex, good to see action photos at your place but the rocks sound expensive, are you on a fixed cost? Race you to the finish lol!
Hey M&J, now I can start whistling "all I want for chistmas is a port-a-loo" Hopefully your start isn't too far off now.
Thanks for all the info Marc. I was hoping you'd post, I remembered vaguely reading that you had issues with your site start too. Will be happy if we get the slab down for Christmas, happier if they delay the invoice until after Christmas, LOL!
Hi BB,
No, we are not on fixed cost >.<
But our excavation cost itself is about $7k... which is considered cheap (according to Delfin) knowing there are lots of rocks on our site.
So... I don't know if it's cheap or expensive compare to everybody else.
Yippee!!!! I can't help you with any of your questions because as you well know I am STILL WAITING!!! But I can say that I am so thrilled for you, and won't it be nice to have a Red Rooster picnic on your slab for Christmas lunch!! YAY!!!! :-) Get your camera ready for the upcoming picfest!
Great news, BB! You'd be crawling up walls by now. I can't answer all your questions, but in our case, "site start" meant when the file when to construction. Check your HIA Contract for the definition of "Commencement" - Page 14, Schedule 4 and Page 15, Interpretation.
PD 24/7 dates are indicative, especially in the early stages of the build. Later, they become more reliable.
Our 24/7 showed the "Commencement" as 11th June, whereas our site scrape occured on 6th June, which was a pleasant surprise!
We didn't hear from our SS until the frame was half done. That's fairly common, espcially this time of the year - the supervisors are flat out just before the Xmas break.
As for independent inspections, our SS has been great. In fact, I think they prefer to deal with "experts" because they talk the same language.
The motive behind independent inspections is to ensure that works are completed in accordance with the Building Code and for your own peace of mind. Your SS should understand that.
It's when Owners start being unrealistic about what's acceptable and what's not, (when they don't really know the legal standards), that will annoy your SS.
Hope that helps.
Looking forward to some photos very soon.
Cheers
Liana
Congrats BB!!! woo hoo!!!! Its so exciting when you get news that your actually going to start building! ehehhe
I think from memory, we got a the water meter, the site scraped, then port-a-loo, rubbish cage and meter box, and then pipes, then we missed the slab prep, then we got the slab...
i hope that helped! nice little xmas pressie...bright side if you dont get the slab before xmas, is u wont have to make the slab payment...hehehe...but fingers crossed u do!!
congrats on the official site date! I'll be thinking about u on the 11th :)
Hi all,
Lexriel our site costs were 27.5k, i'd be very happy to swap!
Kristen - I'd be happy with bred and dripping as long as it means a slab for Christmas. Any news on settlement or start for you?
Thanks Liana, I knew you would be a fountain of information! Will check the contract. Know what you mean about Christmas, our CSC has contract meetings four days this week. Making it hard to get final construction drawings. I have given our inspector a heads up. If they want to scrape, pipe and slab before christmas I think it will be pretty quick. If I do not hear from the SS by the 11th, I will ring. His number is on the 24/7.
Hey Newbies, yes it is so exciting :D you're right there is a positive in everything if you look for it. Hope the wedding plans are still going strong. Does it look like you will get handover before the wedding???
Hey BB, yea, i'm a half full kinda person...fiance is a half empty kinda person...so we even each other out! haha
Wedding plans are coming along...not long to go now. I'm not sure whether we'll get handover before hand...doesnt seem to be much progress on the house this week...but its ur blog, so i won't bore u!
27.5k site cost!?!?! omgosh, u poor poor thing!!
Oh no, the $7k was just for the excavation cost. The total site cost is close to $30k >.<;
So.. I don't think you would want to swap with me >.<
That's exciting news.... :o)
Our build went like this:
Water meter appeared a few days before site start date. On our start date, we weren't expecting anything to happen, but we were WRONG - the scrape was done. We had a slab about 10 days later.
Didn't hear from our SS, we contacted him, only to find he'd left the company. Uh...
We finally got hold of the construction manager and spoke to him once before our new SS was appointed, just after frame stage began.
As for inspections, I wish....
BB. I'm a little late reading this entry, and everyone has already gone to great lengths to answer your very good questions, so there little worth adding.
It's so good to read the excitement from someone just about to commence their build. I remember so well my excitement of seeing a porta loo and fence arrive. If your build turns out to be one with only little issues, you will love the next few months. Buckle up
BB,
some answers to your questions;
Did things happen on site before your commencement date? We sprouted a water tap two days before site scrape.
Did your SS contact you before you started? After we contacted him.
How did your SS take the fact you were having inspections? (if you are) No comment, not from us, from him.
How long after the earthworks was the slab poured (obviously hoping for a slab for Christmas) Is it a case of "tell 'im 'e's dreamin'? 3 days, you'll romp it in, in fact they even get your frame started.
Great to see some progress happening, this is the nail biting period of waiting around.
R&C
Congratulations on getting a date J!
Ours went like this -
13/6 - site scrape
17/6 - plans correct
20/6 - Plumbing installed
04/7 - Formwork done
07/7 - Slab poured
As you can see we had a big gap between plumbing and slab. I don't know why......never asked.
I hope you get a slab before Christmas. Fingers and toes crossed for you!
GREAT NEWS, today we got a water tap!!!!! Thanks to everyone who has answered my questions.
Hi Kek, thanks for reading, I have read your blog and it gave me nightmares! Hope we have an easier time of it.
Thanks for the words of encouragement David, I hope it's going to be a good ride.
Yes, R&C, it is the nail biting part of the build. Sprouting a water tap today makes me feel like it really IS happening. We are using your building inspector so I have high hopes that there will be no issues with the SS.
Thanks T, Just got another set of plans still wrong. Hope they get it right this time, don't want anything to hold it up! Getting a tap today I hope means that our SS is on the ball.
Cheers all
Congrats on the tap - where are the photos??? One small step...but definately in the right direction!
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