3 Learnings from 3 Months of Building

And just like that, the Lambies are over three months into building their dream home at Seaton. We sat down with Pat to find out more about how he’s found the whole process as well as a few key lessons he’s learned along the way. Here’s what he shared with us.

Lesson #1: Be realistic about timing
“It took 9 months to get out of the starting blocks and to break ground on site. Assembling a professional team, designing our home, plan submissions, plan approvals etc was all done efficiently – we felt. Follow this with 11-12 months of construction, it seems that building a new home is an 18 – 24-month process, so anyone wanting to build a home from scratch, that’s a good estimation on timing.”

Lesson #2: Make peace with paperwork
“There is a lot of documentation involved to start building a home using a building bond. To name a few, the bank needed:
• Bill of Quantities from Quantity Surveyor
• Contractors Quote and Appointment Letter
• Contractor Minor Works Contract
• NHBRC Certificate
• Waiver of Builders Lien
• JBCC contract with the builder
• Contractors All Risk Insurance
• CIPC Certificates
• Engineer’s Report
• Engineer’s Personal Indemnity
• FICA documents
• Company Resolutions
• Independent/bank appointed QS assessment report

As a result, the process to start building a home and all of its paperwork can feel rather daunting. Having a good team behind you to help you tick each box as you go is key. We’ve had a wonderful partner in KR Projects, who have held our hand through it all and made it all seem manageable.”

Lesson #3: Money matters

“Cash flow is important for building a home as is aligning plan approval with building bond registration and construction start date.

We have carried the first 15% of the build cost using savings because we started construction as soon as we were able to do so (on plan approval), before we had access to our building bond. We were prepared for this. It did however take a little longer than expected for access to our bond to materialize. It stings somewhat, but importantly we have been able to keep work on-site going as per our desired schedule.”

For more updates on House Lambie, be sure to follow Pat on his socials.

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