Ep10 - What documents you need for a successful Build

In today’s episode we outline what documents you require to set you up for a successful build. There are several key documents that are required for a build, however there is several items that seem to be missed. By having the correct plans from the beginning of the project you are setting yourself up for success.

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[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Welcome to building with Bluebird, the design and renovation podcast brought to you by Christian Case and Jeremy Thomason directors of Bluebird design and build highlighting the dos and don'ts of renovating or building your dream home. This podcast will give you the insider's guide to the home building journey, as well as interviewing other industry specialists, Christian and Jeremy bring their knowledge and expertise to the table for you.

The people. Now let's get into this episode. And if you enjoy, please like share and subscribe. Welcome back to building a Bluebird today it's episode 10 and we tackle what documents you need for a successful build. I guess this is something that we work to, or is something we require, I guess, to make our builds a little bit smoother.

Not everybody does it, but this is sort of how we like to operate, just because we've found over the years. It reduces a lot of headaches and the client ends up getting exactly what they want. And everybody's pretty happy because there's very little variations or changes to scopes of work or anything because everything's being detailed correctly from the 

[00:01:05] Speaker 2: beginning.

Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of documents that you need for a build and a lot of them, you will only need towards the end when you're going for certification. So I think we do hear of a lot of people that try. Not spend the money on certain services or contractors or consultants, cuz they're thinking they don't wanna spend the money and they'll put it off till later.

And then when they get to the final stages of the build and the certifier asks where those documents are, they then scramble to go and get them. So 

[00:01:39] Speaker 1: each state's different. We're talking about Queensland and Brisbane in particular with Brisbane city council and what they require. Um, obviously in different states they require different.

So basically all the information that we're talking about today is for Brisbane alone, I guess. In terms of what we like to have ready. So the first one's always a survey, a lot of people try to skimp and use the Brisbane city council cont mapping. Yeah. And it's not accurate. The reason being with survey plans, you get a lot more detail on the land.

And if your survey is decent, they're building a, um, a 3d model for you. So when you import it into your software, you've actually got the land contours modeled for you, which. Great, especially there's excavation because you can actually calculate how much cut and fill you've got. But a big one with that is with the survey is you can find out if your boundaries are actually in the correct location.

So fence lines. 

[00:02:28] Speaker 2: Yeah. That's a massive one. 

[00:02:29] Speaker 1: Yeah. Just because there's a fence there doesn't mean that's the correct boundary 

[00:02:32] Speaker 2: location. Yeah. Yeah. We're working on a job at the moment. We haven't started works on that site, but the owner of that, site's gonna have to have conversations with their neighbors because.

Fence lines are actually well within the property boundary that we're working on over a meter in some spots. Yeah. So that's gonna be a difficult conversation to have with the neighbor and let them know that we'll be resuming up to a meter of land yeah. Of what they thought was theirs. And they 

[00:02:59] Speaker 1: might not be aware.

And that's, what's great about a survey plan because they're actually quite detailed in terms of lots and what's where your boundaries are. So it's sort of information that you can give your neighbor then just to make that conversation a little bit. Yep. 

[00:03:13] Speaker 2: The other really important one too, about that survey is, um, for you guys, when you are designing is knowing the exact levels to make sure that the building is designed properly for just habitable floor Heights and drainage issues.

And, um, yeah. 

[00:03:28] Speaker 1: Especially with all the storms and rain we've had lately. 

[00:03:30] Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. And, and also retaining, like, let's say that the survey is, you know, half a meter or a meter off in some areas. That could be caused for a big sort of section of retaining wall that's needed. Yeah. And the guys 

[00:03:42] Speaker 1: don't know that until they get on site and start cutting it.

Yeah. Putting 

the 

[00:03:45] Speaker 2: swab in and then what would, could have been planned out really well in advance? Just by spending, you know, 1500 bucks or whatever, it might be on a survey for the site to make sure that everything can be designed properly. Yeah. Is now an onsite variation, um, which also has to hold up works because yeah.

So this could all could have been planned out right at the start. When you were designing, cuz you had the exact RLS of all the site and contours and falls. Yep. We could have known well in advance that we needed a retaining wall in that area. Had it all planned been part of the build part of the build contract and wouldn't have to get to it on site and be like, oh God, we've got a problem here.

We're gonna have to stop work and put in a variation and work out what's going on. 

[00:04:26] Speaker 1: Yeah. And the other thing with that as well, if you've got services on your site, so normally the way we do it is if we've known, we've done a dial before you dig, then it brings back all your, your plans that are related to the site with, in terms of utilities and services from the local council.

And, um, if there's any services on the site, we like to get them PE. Prior to the survey. So then when the, um, the guys come out to the locating, they can actually see how far down the pipes are, or if you've got sewer, how far it down it is or where it's actually located actually P it on site. And then the surveyor comes out and records that, and we've got an accurate location then.

And then that's also helping with the design because you have to do a build over sewer or build over storm water, but also it stops the guys on site from actually hitting it when they're starting or peering or going to that sort of construction stage. 

[00:05:10] Speaker 2: Absolutely. 

[00:05:12] Speaker 1: it's um, sometimes those, those locations are not correct.

So that's why it's good to have, get your own locator out because there's been multiple times. Gas pipes should not be where they are. No. And we've hit them. Um, 

[00:05:24] Speaker 2: it does happen. We found that one at Paddington about 50 mill under the, yeah, under literally the top saw just under the, 

[00:05:30] Speaker 1: under the, under the turf.

And it was like three meters in the wrong location. So we found it. Yeah, we did. Um, and they were out there very quickly and we got it fixed straight away. but it tends to happen. These things pop up. So the more detail you can go into, the more you can reduce these issues from 

[00:05:46] Speaker 2: happen. The other one we've noticed with survey too, is if you are doing a knockdown and rebuild, you've probably had the site survey before you get rid of the house.

Yeah. But depending on the style of construction of the house, that could have a big impact on how the levels work after the house is demolished as well. If it's like a, you know, brick and concrete construction, and it's sort of formed into the side of a hill or something like that. And then. After it's been demolished, then you've got a lot, sort of a big void you've gotta work with as well.

Working out those levels after dwelling has been removed, may require another survey as well. 

[00:06:23] Speaker 1: Yeah. Especially if there's actually a lot of cut and fill on the site that additional thousand dollars or whatever you spend on the additional survey could be saved somewhere else very quickly in terms of retaining, because you've got the correct Heights.

So your hot, your slab might be able to come down a little bit more, which then reduces the retaining wall somewhere else. So that that money can be saved very quickly. If you just, I guess, be organized up front and try to detail as much and not try to cut corner. 

[00:06:48] Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, particularly with survey, you're going to need it at some point anyway.

Yes. So just rip the bandaid off and get it up 

[00:06:57] Speaker 1: front. Yeah. Especially depending on most jobs now, even if it's a RA and build or a new home. We're having as a requirement from the certifier, a, um, a set out form at the end of it. So if they've already got all the, the survey points and the boundaries, they're gonna have to come out anyway and provide that as constructed certificate.

So I think at the end of the day, you're gonna be paying for it either way. So why not just get up front? Yeah, absolutely. So that leads us from survey that's normally the basis. We don't normally do a site measure until we've got that survey plan, because it actually gives you a great outline of the house.

And then we move into architecturals or building design, or just the house plans themselves and sort of, we require general arrangement plan, external elevations, the site plan showing the overall location of the site and what's on the site. So you setbacks from all the boundaries. A lot of guys sort of stop there or they just do.

Those sort of plans. So that's just your upper and lower floors and the external elevations and the site plan. We go a little bit further because we like to, I guess, be a little bit more detailed and we get concrete set out plans. So then we can show penetrations in slabs, set downs for doors, step downs for, um, step downs, step downs, step downs for we for wet areas, step downs for septic tanks, I guess, but, um, Yeah, those sort of additional plans can help when say you're gonna do a burnish slab or a polished concrete slab, and you want those door thresholds to be nice and flush that we've got those detailed in the plans already.

So then you've got the correct finish and you end up with the product that you're happy with. We also do reflected ceiling plans, electrical layout plans as well, and a lot of the internal elevations stare details and do a window schedule. 

[00:08:33] Speaker 2: Yeah, I think particularly in architectural or the building layout plans, this is where a lot of people.

Do get what you pay for. Yeah. And there there's plans and then there's plans. And, you know, you can go out there and get a set of plans from a draftee for a couple of thousand dollars, which as you said, have a floor plan and some elevations. Yep. And that's it. But I don't think that's a really good way to bring your project budget down by cutting corners, especially in this point in time, because as we've spoken about before, there's so many different variables, finishes and ceiling Heights and all that sort of stuff.

If you're only gonna save yourself, you know, $5,000 in this area, it could come back to haunt you just through, uh, problems throughout the build because things haven't been detailed properly, and we're constantly banging on about this, cuz we think it makes a huge difference, I guess, spending the money when you need to and getting a proper set of plans that make sure you are covered for your build to make sure that it's.

Detailed specified. And there's nothing that's left ambiguous, I guess. 

[00:09:36] Speaker 1: And it doesn't have to be the most expensive set of plans. It's just more about finding what's in your contract from your designer, I guess, and what's included and excluded and a big one, I guess a lot of guys don't or a lot of companies don't do is the internal elevations.

They normally leave that for, or their additional charge or they get an interior designer. But, um, those internal elevations sort of make up a lot of the finishes and where things will be set out where your plumbing Heights, where they're set out, you fix your Heights and your tile Heights and your tiles set out your cabinetry.

[00:10:07] Speaker 2: Yeah. And just things as simple as getting your shower heads installed at the right height at rough, in like, yeah. You know, if you're a tall person or a shorter person, you, you might want your shower outlet higher or lower. There's nothing worse than having a shower head way too high. So you're not getting that pressure.

Having it pointing straight at your chest outta the wall because it's been installed at the wrong height. So all those critical little things about you and your build really show through, I think with these extra details that are sort of thought through in detailing all those internal elevations, it also helps with 

[00:10:39] Speaker 1: the costing for the build.

So you can get an accurate cost from the builder. Yeah. There's no sort. We'll just allow this for that. Cuz it might happen or it might not. It's like it's black and white. This is what's happening. This is the location. This is the tiles location. This is the height of the tiles. Are you going full height?

Are you going half height? Are you going just the wet area in the shower or are you going skirting tile or are you got VJ? Like there's so many different variables. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:11:03] Speaker 2: There's huge amount of variables just in bathrooms alone. 

[00:11:06] Speaker 1: Yeah. That's without even going into cabinetry, like there's a. Another kettle of fish.

So just trying to get as much detail as possible. Otherwise the client has to provide these details. If we've got plans from somewhere else and they haven't got these details, we allow our cost to actually do these things because they've gotta be done either way, whether we do it in the build or in the design, you're better off doing it at the beginning, with the design, getting it all organized, we can lock everything down, lock the price down, and then you're not freaking out during the build and panicking.

You can actually enjoy the journey of the build. 

[00:11:39] Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. Like not getting questions from the builder on a daily, on the daily. And especially with things that you need to put some thought into, like the builder coming to you and being like, oh, we need our tiles tomorrow. Have you got them ready?

Yeah. And you'll be like, well, maybe you will. But if you don't, that's gonna be a really stressful 24 hours for you cuz you gotta try and work out what you're using and yeah. Get them on site. And, 

[00:12:01] Speaker 1: and especially in the current market that we're dealing with. There's long lead times on everything. Like even just basic rectified tiles are just taking a couple weeks.

So getting those things organized from the get go, it just means the builder can manage it all. You don't have to do it. Like you're not stressing. You're not spending your weekend going to tile shops or bathroom shops. Like you might enjoy that. And that's all well and good at the beginning, but you don't wanna be doing that during the construction phase.

[00:12:26] Speaker 2: We should also probably go through what the different drawings are that we give on a full set and just talk through them really quickly. Cause a lot of people wouldn't have seen. A general arrangement plan 

[00:12:36] Speaker 1: or so general arrangement plans, just basically your set out or layout plan of the house. So it's just a, a 2d drawing that's flat that shows essentially just where your walls and your rooms are set out your bathrooms, basically the 

[00:12:50] Speaker 2: layout of the land without any finishes, isn't it?

[00:12:52] Speaker 1: Correct? Oh, sometimes you show some floor finishes B can't actually say what the product is, I guess. Yeah. Or some drawings don't and then we do external elevations showing all your different cladding. Side setbacks, your height of your building. Yeah. Retaining walls where your, um, services are located. So that's 

[00:13:10] Speaker 2: basically all the outside faces of the house, 

[00:13:12] Speaker 1: correct?

The home and the fence and that sort of stuff. Yeah. So like your height is a requirement for council to get it through. So you've gotta show your natural ground level and then 9.5 above that. And then any other issues that you've got. So you are not going through over that 9.5. 

[00:13:26] Speaker 2: Yeah. So there's normally a line running through the top of the plan horizontally across, which is normally above the roof height.

Yeah. Um, should be. Should be, well, it should be above yeah. Showing the ground underneath and where that 9.5 meters is. So if you've seen that line running through above your roof horizontally, that's what it will be. And then we've 

[00:13:46] Speaker 1: got our site plan where it shows you overall site. So they'll show you boundaries where your powers normally coming in.

If you've got a power pole on site, if any services are coming in. So where you're plumbing and you sewer are leading into the. If there's actually any services on the site and then the, the layout of the house, I guess, from the outside. So any setbacks of your walls from all the boundaries, and then if you've got like a fence letter box driveway, you crossover to the road, parts, what parts pool, your pool, anything on the site itself.

So. That's a requirement as a minimum for your building approval. And then we probably go into a lot more detail, like we spoke about. So we do the set out plans, whether they be concrete or an upper floor set out, especially for step downs for bathrooms. So then the floor supply can make a note that they need to allow for a step down.

[00:14:33] Speaker 2: Yeah. So that's so we can have flush thresholds. So if we're talking about the lower level where it's a concrete slab, we'll create those step downs. In the concrete structure 

[00:14:43] Speaker 1: itself. So you're not kicking that little silver thing you see around a lot of houses and 

[00:14:46] Speaker 2: that's a waterproofing detail so that we can, it's all step down lower.

So that any water that does get sort of under the tile and bed can make its way into the bottle flange engine, into the 

[00:14:56] Speaker 1: plumbing. And then we do a reflected ceiling plan, which shows all your different materials that we use on the ceiling, whether it's pasta or VJ or anything really that we're gonna use.

And also the ceiling Heights as. And then we've got, sometimes we do with the electrical set, depending on if it's a pendant or, um, any other feature lighting. We, we might dimension it, but normally on that reflected ceiling plan, it's just the finishes. And then we go into the electrical plan where we show where your fans are, your lights, your pendants, your smoke detectors, air conducts, coming out.

If they're in the wall or in the ceiling, basically anything electric. PowerPoints mm-hmm, just everything and anything electrical, I guess. And then we go into our internal elevations. So that's every wet room and any area with cabinetry or anything that really needs to be detailed. So like a barbecue area.

Like a study, no kitchen, kitchen, pantries, kitchen pantries there, the number one TV areas where else it's just even just a standard, a robe fit out detail, depending if you're gonna do a custom cabinetry or if you're just gonna do a builder's pack fit out. We detail that. So they can go across every room.

[00:16:02] Speaker 2: Yeah. Cuz even that's one of those details that will normally be on your quote, but won't be actually detailed on it. Yes. On the drawing in a lot of cases or it should be, it should be, but it probably won't be in a lot of cases. So. You know, what, if you are getting just a standard builders fit out in some of the bedrooms, like, what are you actually getting?

Is there a bank of drawers, a bank of shelves, adjustable shelving, is there double hanging long hanging? Like what is there? So again, that's just why it needs to be detailed. So you know what you're gonna get for your money. 

[00:16:30] Speaker 1: And then we detail stairs as well because that's sort of a feature of the house.

Normally be treads you'll ballast trade. Any brackets, if there's any feature lighting. Just any finishes for it. And then we do a door and window schedule so that we can get our suburbs to price it. So whether it's aluminium, timber, the Heights of it, shower, screen Heights, uh, finishes of glass, basically any detail to do with door and window hinges, door hardware.

Basically anything and everything that will be in your project should be on a set of drawings. Yeah. 

[00:17:02] Speaker 2: And like on, on the door and window schedule, for example, even that needs to be quite detailed. Like if it's aluminum, what color aluminum are we doing? What color handles. So if it's all monument aluminum, we're doing black handles.

If it's white aluminum, we're doing black handles or white handles. Yeah. Also like in the bathrooms or what areas are we doing? A frosted glass so that you've got more privacy. Yep. So even little things like the dorm window schedule, there still needs to be a lot of detail on that to make sure it's all captured and, you know, ordered in the correct way.

And the thing 

[00:17:36] Speaker 1: is with like these internalizations we like to show, I guess, the finishes as well. We go a little bit step further as. And this is where a lot of people get an external interior designer. If they've gone through somebody else where they'll detail every product. So every bath fixture, every handle, I guess just literally everything in the house.

Stone, laminates, uh, your cabinetry fronts. What else? Lights. Pendants. Yeah. Yep. Even to the taps outside the spotlight, just everything is detailed. So you end up with about 50 or 60 drawings by the end of it for a house yeah, so many. Yeah, but the thing is, this is the basis and this is what's gonna save you a lot of money.

So it might take between on average. Now I think it takes about four to six months. By the time you go back and forth, cuz obviously there's a lot of changes to drawings and we gotta make sure that what we produce is exactly what the client wants and then the same as everybody else as. There's a bit of back and forth and everybody's waiting for the client to come back with their changes.

So then we've gotta change it. But that four to six month, I think, sort of the, the window at the moment, if anyone's doing it less than that, that's pretty amazing. And if it's, hopefully it's detailed enough, but I've yet to see, go to the level of detail that. You sort of require it takes around that four to six months, but a lot of companies, I guess like obviously we do it in house, but there's also a lot of different teams that work together.

So like building designers work with interior designers, or same with architects working with interior designers. And there's a lot of building designers that do a lot of it at themselves as well. In-house and then there's a lot of architects that do it as well. So it's just about getting the right team together and getting them all to work together.

So your builder and everyone can get a successful product at the end. That's 

[00:19:20] Speaker 2: probably about it for, I guess, the architectural set. So once you've sort of worked through in that order survey, All those items and you've got your architectural set. You're pretty well ready now to start looking at how it's gonna be built and what's gonna hold it all together.

Structurally. 

[00:19:35] Speaker 1: So yeah, like these next ones, I guess you can do at the 

[00:19:37] Speaker 2: same time. And we generally like to see the engineer start quite early as well to at least provide some preliminary. So you feedback once you've got the, I guess the rough layout and lay of the land. So we'll 

[00:19:49] Speaker 1: normally do the concept plan and then once the client's signed off on the concept plan, We get the engineer involved and they can have a look at it.

And we also price it to see, to make sure that it's within the budget as well before proceeding to any detailed, a lot of architects and building designers are doing the same. So it's good to see that people are starting to move towards that where the builders coming in early, but it's still a lot of companies.

Aren't, they're still a bit old school, but most builders are pushing to be in that concept stage or even earlier. So that they can guide the whole process to make sure that it falls within your budget. So obviously the next one, we try and get the soil test the same time, I guess, as the survey. 

[00:20:28] Speaker 2: Yeah. And I mean, the soil test is it's basically just the, the guy, the guys coming in on site with the hand or, or their truck, if they can fit it and drilling ball holes around the property, three or four generally.

Yep. And different areas of the property where we're gonna be building. And that tells us sort of what sort of soil we're working with, if there's rock or clay, or if it's 

[00:20:49] Speaker 1: reactive and always try and get one, if you're gonna put a pool in, try and get the soil test once straight bang in the middle of it.

Yeah. So you're gonna hit when you start digging for the pool. Yeah. 

[00:20:58] Speaker 2: So essentially just this means that when the structural engineer starts to look at your foundations and the structure, he knows what's basically holding the house up and what he needs to design to. So there's a, a range of. Classes of sites that come in from a soil test, seeing a lot of P classes.

I feel like every recently, which is, um, P is, is problem. It's probably the worst type of soil that you could be building on. And it just means that your foundations will become that much sort of bigger and stronger and a lot more reinforcement and stuff like that. But I 

[00:21:30] Speaker 1: feel like every side's a P 

[00:21:31] Speaker 2: side of the moment, it feels like it occasionally get an M.

Yeah. 

[00:21:35] Speaker 1: But I think everyone's just throwing it under the P class at the moment. Yeah. It's too much risk. I. 

[00:21:39] Speaker 2: So, yeah, that basically that's the first step for the engineer to really firm up his 

[00:21:44] Speaker 1: design. And so, yeah, once they've got the soil test, I guess they start their structural design and they overlay your architecturals and then they start putting beams and load bearing walls where they need to go and the structure of the floor and start looking at those sort of details.

We try to work with the structural guys as much as possible because obviously you want to try and reduce as much. Steel as possible. And also with that, there's always more than one way to design a structural floor. So the Joyce might be running a certain direction, but doesn't mean that's probably the easiest way to build it.

There might be another way to run the Joyce or run a beam or a bearer in another location. Yeah, that's right. The same as like on new homes, we're starting to move towards those 

[00:22:28] Speaker 2: trust floors. Yeah. We, we've got a few on the way we haven't actually tried one yet. So I'm looking forward to seeing how that goes.

Yeah. With the 

[00:22:34] Speaker 1: price of, um, eye Joyce at the moment, it's the sort of comparable, but the thing is they can span a lot longer and you can actually get your services between. Yeah. So they've got like a, an interweb, they look like a roof trust, but they're a floor trust. So you can run all your services through it without having to punch holes in them constantly.

[00:22:50] Speaker 2: Yeah. And I think just what we said earlier about you get what you pay for with architecturals, it's definitely the same with engineering drawings, like, oh, a hundred percent. There's guys that take technology really seriously and use proper software and we'll work on your building model. That you've designed.

Yep. Which is the best way to do it in terms of being able to overlay everything. So that, as you were saying before, you can see if sort of beam locations are gonna work or, or if it's gonna mean that you have to have a bulkhead in a living room ceiling or something like that. So. 

[00:23:20] Speaker 1: Yeah. And make like, making sure the models overlay each other.

So like if the Barrow, is it sitting in the same line as the Joyce? Or is it under, yeah, that's like a, a big one as well, which I think doesn't, it's quite easy to miss because it's not, I guess put in 3d and it's just on the 2d drawing. And sometimes a lot of the, a lot of designers or architects are no longer involved at that structural point because the client sort of moved on.

Move straight to structural, whereas they should all be working together to make sure that these things line up and same with like, if youve got a structural beam going somewhere and you need to put air con through there. Yeah. That's right. 

[00:23:55] Speaker 2: Punch and holes through BES or, yeah. So being to overlay those together, the architectural with the engineering's, um, it's really important just to make sure that we can iron out all those things early, like beam locations.

Corridors, 

[00:24:09] Speaker 1: especially, I guess, um, service locations as well. So if you've got the services set out, the engineer knows not to put a beam directly under where your floor waste will be. Yeah. Which happens a lot. Um, 

[00:24:21] Speaker 2: everyone always forgets the poor air con guy. Well, yeah. Or the, or the plumber and he is just the plumber and he stacks and the air con guy and his services.

[00:24:29] Speaker 1: Yeah. And he is trying to put this unit that's 1200 by 1200 and he is trying to hide it somewhere. Yeah. So yeah. Getting all the team together, I guess, is. Going back to one of our, our key values, I guess, as yeah. Just tying everybody together and working together as a team. Mm-hmm. So once you've got your structurals and your architecturals, the, obviously you've already been quoted at this point, and you're just moving to tidy up the quote, the build quote, the, you move to a BA or a da.

So you've gotta development approval depends on your location and your council and your requirements. And if you are pushing any of the boundaries, I guess not conforming to standard codes, then you'll have to apply for a da. Same with if you've got building approval and you need relaxations, you've gotta go get those through a certifier.

So the way the government or council is here, private certifiers, you can't go directly to council and put your plans in. You need to go through a certifier for your building approval and a town planner for your da. So they sort of work together, um, or they should, we've got ours actually works in the office of their own.

They both work in the same office. So it depends on the job, I guess. And we work with multiple different town planners and certifiers, but getting them on early as well. Uh, we normally like to send them a concept plan as well and say, Hey, this is what we're thinking. 

[00:25:47] Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. Great. To get them on board early to get that initial feedback too.

Especially if you're trying to push the boundaries on design a little bit, just get them to sort of run their over it. See if they've got any dramas with anything and chat about it early, before it gets built, and then they have a problem maybe at the end. Yeah. 

[00:26:02] Speaker 1: It happens a lot where something's been designed priced and it's all good to go.

And then they go to council and council's like, no, you can't do that. So it's quite frustrating. It 

[00:26:10] Speaker 2: actually happens a bit. Believe it happens. It does that. A cert will stand a set of drawings and say, And then you go and build that. And sometimes they say, oh, actually though, that's not okay. Yeah. 

[00:26:23] Speaker 1: So it does happen, but I guess it's just working, everyone working together and the more detail you've got, these sort of things won't happen as much because you've got all that detail there.

And I guess from the certifiers point of view, how can they review a drawings based off five drawings for a whole project? Yeah. That's gonna cost X, Y, Z. Like it's. It all comes back to having the correct details and a full design package together. GERS on roofs, GERS on roofs. Yeah, that's another one, but yeah, going back to, I guess the key documents you need for a successful build is get your survey plan, detailed survey plan.

Don't skim on that. Get a decent set of architecturals or building design drawings or layout drawings, including all internal elevations. And also all your selections done. So yeah. So paint colors, like paint colors, you can decide on site, but it's ideal to get onto that early, but essentially like all your tiles, your laminates, your cabinetry, fronts, just anything and everything in the job you want.

Selected prior to signing a contract. Yeah. 

[00:27:21] Speaker 2: So just what you're talking about there is the specifications. Correct? So yeah, we can sheet or list yeah. Or document which may form part of the architecturals just depending on who yeah. It depends on the package and who you, who you go with. But otherwise, a lot of people, it will even put their own specification list together of tiles taps go handles things like that.

Yeah. 

[00:27:41] Speaker 1: So we used to have it like a checklist, but, and we still do, but we. Made sure that we just put on our drawings instead and put it in our specification sheet. So after your architecturals, you've got your soil test, which will require, and then your structural, which hopefully should all align and then you go get your building or your da approval.

Now, one of the things in a building approval is they list them out. The cert you require. They'll need prior handover. So that's like your waterproofing, your engineering it's been designed correctly has been built correctly as well. So they come out and do a site inspection. Yep. But your cert should list these in your building approval.

[00:28:19] Speaker 2: There is a lot of forms that you need now 

[00:28:22] Speaker 1: for. I think we just like the last project was like 16 certificates we had 

[00:28:26] Speaker 2: to sign off on. Yeah, the, the next few there's actually more sort of, every time we go to do a new job, it seems that new certificates are creeping in every time it's quite a job now getting a property sort of certified just in the forms that we have to put together.

To say that things have been built or installed correctly. Yep. 

[00:28:43] Speaker 1: And so, yeah, knowing these certificates at the start of the job is ideal. Uh, it should be on your, your building approval. Sometimes they miss them. But knowing what exactly is on there, so we can collect them throughout the bills. So when we get to the end of the project, We can hand them all over and just have everything certified so you can have a occupancy straight away.

Yeah. So that's about it on what documents you need for a successful build. So key points I guess, to take away is just as much detail as possible so that you can get an accurate build and get your team together to work together. Yeah. 

[00:29:13] Speaker 2: That's it. Just get it all done correctly the first time don't try and cut corners on this because, well, it might look attractive to save a few dollars on these areas.

A lot of it you'll end up having to do. Get anyway, and it'll probably end up costing you more money in the long run. So, yeah. 

[00:29:29] Speaker 1: And time, so, and 

[00:29:30] Speaker 2: stress. Yeah. So really getting all these sort of front-ended will really help make for a really successful build. 

[00:29:37] Speaker 1: Great. Well, that's about it from us. So if you've like what you've heard, hit subscribe and, uh, we shall see you next time.

Thanks for coming.