E125. Why nothing is happening onsite during your build

You drive past your new home, expecting progress, and yet, nothing seems to be happening. No trades on site, no deliveries, no visible change. What’s going on? In this episode of the Building Design, Prime Time Podcast, Frank Geskus and Amelia Roach take you behind the scenes to uncover the real reasons a build can stall, and why so much of the work isn’t immediately visible.

From scheduling conflicts and delayed materials to inspections, safety requirements, and unavoidable site issues, they explain why a “quiet” site doesn’t always mean nothing is happening. They unpack the ripple effect of client decisions, showing how even small changes, like swapping a tile, window, or deck can impact timelines, trades, and costs.

Beyond logistics, Frank and Amelia shed light on the human side of building. They discuss how personal pressures, mental health, and life events affecting builders and trades can influence progress, and why clear communication is essential to keep everyone on track.

Listeners will hear real-life stories of site challenges, including foundation surprises, safety halts, and even shocking accidents, emphasising why professionalism, planning, and vigilance matter more than speed.

If you’ve ever felt frustrated watching your dream home slowly take shape, this episode is for you. Learn why the smoothest builds aren’t always the fastest, and discover how careful planning, strong communication, and the right team make all the difference in turning your vision into reality.

Tune in to understand the invisible work that keeps your project moving, and why sometimes, nothing happening is actually progress.

About us
Prime Design is a building design company locally owned and operated in Tasmania since 2004.  Our goal is to share as much valuable information as possible about the process of building design, extensions, and more. We will talk about a different topic each week. To suggest a topic you would like us to talk about contact us at info@primedesigntas.com.au

Disclaimer
The information provided on this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, individual circumstances, or remedy. We strongly suggest you consult a qualified professional before taking any action based on the information provided in this podcast. The views, opinions, and information provided in this podcast are those of the hosts do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organisation, employer, or company. All content provided on this podcast is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind. We make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this podcast and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, or damages arising from its use. We reserve the right to change content or delete any information provided on this podcast at any time without prior notice.

Transcript

E125. Why nothing is happening onsite

[INTRO] (0:08 - 0:24)
Hello and welcome to the Building Design Primetime podcast, focused on providing valuable information for anyone looking to undertake a new build or extension project. We'll share our tips, tricks and stories from a building designer's perspective.

[Amelia] (0:26 - 0:41)
Hello and welcome to the Building Design, Prime Time podcast. I'm your host, Amelia. And once again, we're joined by Frank Geskus.

[Frank] (0:42 - 0:45)
Hi, Amelia. Another exciting week comes to an end.

[Amelia] (0:45 - 0:47)
It does. We're here with our glass of red.

[Frank] (0:48 - 0:52)
Yes. I've got a different one. I can't even pronounce this one.

But anyway, it's delicious.

[Amelia] (0:53 - 0:54)
It's delicious. That's all that matters.

[Frank] (0:54 - 1:00)
From our mate, Alex Russell. So big call out to him and his beautiful wines that he makes.

[Amelia] (1:00 - 1:02)
Very nice Tasmanian wine.

[Frank] (1:02 - 1:08)
Yes. Well, no, this one I think is from the Murray Darling vineyard over there.

[Amelia] (1:08 - 1:09)
Yeah, right.

[Frank] (1:09 - 1:10)
Yeah. There you go.

[Amelia] (1:10 - 1:11)
He does do Tasmanian though.

[Frank] (1:12 - 1:16)
He's Tasmanian now. He's moved from South Australia to Tassie.

[Amelia] (1:16 - 1:20)
Well, that's a win for us. Another winemaker.

[Frank] (1:20 - 1:23)
I was about to say, another winemaker, another distillery, another brewery.

[Amelia] (1:24 - 1:27)
How disappointing for all the wine drinkers.

[Frank] (1:27 - 1:34)
Hey, if you ever come to Launceston, just pick whichever side of the river, Tamer River you want to go up and you'll find wineries everywhere.

[Amelia] (1:34 - 1:35)
Exactly.

[Frank] (1:36 - 1:37)
Lucky us.

[Amelia] (1:37 - 1:38)
Lucky us.

[Frank] (1:39 - 1:41)
All right. So what are we doing?

[Amelia] (1:42 - 2:23)
Well, you and I, we're both getting our houses done soon. Built, yes. And we thought, you know, sometimes you go to a site and it feels like weeks and nothing's happened.

You know, you've signed your contract, you've engaged your builder, everything's done, and it feels like the stages are just dragging out and there's two weeks there where nothing on site has happened and you're starting to get kind of crabby with your builder and then all of this stuff is going through your head thinking, is there something wrong? Do I need to call them? Do I need to chase them up?

And it's probably not a great place to be in mentally.

[Frank] (2:24 - 2:30)
I totally understand that. You sit there, no noise, no progress, just everything's sitting there doing nothing.

[Amelia] (2:31 - 2:41)
Exactly. But I think we really need to unpack here, is that actually normal? What is normal for a build?

Are they supposed to be on site every single day?

[Frank] (2:41 - 3:14)
Simple answer is no. You've got to understand it's more than just putting a cake together. It's complex.

I'm a car guy. To build a car from scratch, modify your car, and some of the people out there know this, or motorbikes, trucks, whatever, and you're rebuilding it. There's a sequence.

Everything has to go together. Now, when it comes to a house, there's a sequence, and you're relying on so many trades, organisations, suppliers, so many suppliers.

[Amelia] (3:14 - 3:15)
Yes.

[Frank] (3:15 - 3:18)
You're relying on council, building surveyors.

[Amelia] (3:18 - 3:19)
Yes.

[Frank] (3:19 - 3:30)
People turn up to have a look at stuff, to inspect it, but what you'll find with some of these trades, they don't turn up once and the job's done. They're back multiple times, but their portion of the job is small.

[Amelia] (3:31 - 3:31)
Yes.

[Frank] (3:31 - 3:55)
The builders in and out, they do their thing, and some builders subbie certain items out as well. So it can be a perfect process. If all the ducks align, you know, happy days.

But in reality, things don't go as you think they should go. But also there are delays. Sometimes it goes beautifully, or you still might have a delay.

It appears on site, but there's heaps of stuff happening in the background.

[Amelia] (3:56 - 3:56)
Exactly.

[Frank] (3:57 - 4:00)
That's what you don't know. If you've never built a house, you wouldn't know.

[Amelia] (4:01 - 4:09)
And that's why you rely on the experts to be able to manage all of that for you, because there are so many moving parts.

[Frank] (4:09 - 4:10)
And communicate.

[Amelia] (4:11 - 4:11)
Yes.

[Frank] (4:11 - 4:33)
For argument's sake, I believe a good builder would be informing the client. Sorry, there will not be much going on this week. We're waiting on the battens and the claddings to turn up.

But we're also on another job at the moment as we're doing this, so there will be a break. Now, just remember, quite a number of builders don't just do one house extension reno at a time.

[Amelia] (4:33 - 4:35)
No, they have multiple projects going on.

[Frank] (4:35 - 5:06)
Yes, because the builder might only have X amount of work in there, but all the subbies do the rest. His job is to coordinate and also quality control. So he goes and does other jobs.

It's overlapping all these projects. Sometimes things don't go to plan either. We'll talk about that a bit more.

But emotionally, I totally understand it, because everyone expects constant visible progress. Now, one thing, you've got to compare different builders and different projects. So I'll use the example of a high-volume project builder.

[Amelia] (5:06 - 5:06)
Yes.

[Frank] (5:07 - 5:12)
Lots of them all around the country. These things are the most amazing well-oiled machines.

[Amelia] (5:12 - 5:15)
They have lots of systems in place.

[Frank] (5:15 - 5:18)
Systems, checks, quality. Well, they should have quality checks.

[Amelia] (5:18 - 5:18)
Yes.

[Frank] (5:19 - 5:35)
They have teams that come in. They'll just do the concrete. Another team will just prepare the site.

Another team, they will just do the framing. Another one will just do the eaves. Another one will install the windows.

And they're just bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, and everything is well-supplied. And the people that work for them only work for them.

[Amelia] (5:36 - 5:36)
Exactly.

[Frank] (5:36 - 6:06)
They could have a roofer. They've got one roofer, does this, because they're great quality, consistent, turn up on time. Get their job done.

Same with the plumbing. Same with the electrical. Same with the window supply.

Same with the cladding supply. Same with the special fittings. Tiler.

You know, you name it. And these guys, they work for one builder. All these sub-trades.

And they're just a well-oiled. But it comes down to how well-organized the builder is. And some of these bigger builders, it is gobsmacking how well they're organized, because they may have a foreman that might be looking after 10 houses.

[Amelia] (6:06 - 6:08)
That's a lot of responsibility.

[Frank] (6:09 - 6:14)
Yes. But it's like trying to bake 10 cakes at the same time, or a complicated meal.

[Amelia] (6:14 - 6:27)
Yeah. And you can imagine if one of those subbies across all of those 10 projects has something catastrophic happen in their life, or can't turn up, or for whatever reason.

[Frank] (6:27 - 6:33)
Yeah, we'll talk about that. Because that's the emotional reality of this. Other people have lives.

[Amelia] (6:33 - 6:34)
Yes.

[Frank] (6:34 - 7:13)
So for you, if you're standing there, you're expecting stuff. If you're looking at social media, you're on Google, you watch The Block, or a few other things. And some of this stuff is very unrealistic.

Some of The Block is very, very good to show you the pain. Other things, I think they brush far too much, and you've got to take your time. Anyway, that's just a personal opinion.

But I also understand where people are sitting there paying rent, or paying a rent plus mortgage, and paying off the repayments of each stage. But silence creates that level of anxiety. You don't know, are they going to be finished on time?

They said seven months. We're hanging on the seven months.

[Amelia] (7:13 - 7:14)
Have they done a runner?

[Frank] (7:16 - 7:18)
We'll talk about that later, because that's another whole new thing.

[Amelia] (7:18 - 7:19)
That is a whole other thing.

[Frank] (7:19 - 7:33)
And it's reality. So, yeah, people really struggle with this sometimes, and they become a pain in the neck to the builder, which is not fair. Now, to be fair, I believe all builders should sit down and explain the program to a client.

[Amelia] (7:33 - 7:38)
I agree. They need to know the stages, roughly how long each stage takes.

[Frank] (7:38 - 7:38)
Roughly.

[Amelia] (7:38 - 7:39)
Roughly.

[Frank] (7:39 - 8:13)
And, be aware, there could be speed humps, unforeseen. So, yeah. So, totally valid to feel stressed, but you need to understand the process.

So here's my recommendation. That, to reduce your anxiety, ask the builder to lay out a bit of a program for all the timing of everything, if everything goes tickety-boo, nice and smooth. So, it's all about that education of what happens each stage and what are the potential pinch points.

Yes. Some items are really fast. Like, I'm amazed how quickly frames and trusses go up.

[Amelia] (8:13 - 8:15)
Oh, they go up quickly, do they?

[Frank] (8:15 - 8:24)
Oh, yeah. 

[Amelia]
Yeah, okay. 

[Frank]
It's gosh-taking how quickly they can do that.

And then what the critical thing is to get the roof on as quickly as possible, but you need to put the scaffolding up.

[Amelia] (8:25 - 8:25)
Yes.

[Frank] (8:25 - 8:58)
A single storey, yeah, not quite as critical. Two storey, obviously you do. Long way to form.

And there's all these safety things, and you pay for that. So, once you've got that, that means they can put the windows in, wrap it up, paper, and windows. And that stuff looks quick.

Get it all wrapped up, and you may even get the cladding on really fast. Then it seems so slow after that. But there's lots to go in there.

Another part that might look slow is the groundworks, concrete, formwork, underslab, electrical feed, just getting the foundations in. If it's a timber floor, well, that takes twice or three times as long.

[Amelia] (8:58 - 8:58)
Yes.

[Frank] (8:59 - 9:01)
That's what it is, and that's what I've got in my place.

[Amelia] (9:02 - 9:02)
Timber floors?

[Frank] (9:03 - 9:13)
Timber floor, concrete on the bottom, timber floor on the second floor, and another concrete area for the garage. So, I've got two separate slabs, so they can be poured at different times.

[Amelia] (9:14 - 9:14)
Okay.

[Frank] (9:14 - 9:16)
So, it takes longer to get out of the ground.

[Amelia] (9:17 - 9:17)
That's true.

[Frank] (9:18 - 9:21)
Only thing is I did it in my original house too. Same thing, two storey.

[Amelia] (9:21 - 9:22)
Yeah, okay.

[Frank] (9:22 - 9:54)
So, all this stuff looks exciting and happens, but then it just seems like it slows down. So, it gets into the details. So, it doesn't mean it's inactive.

There are things happening you can't even probably pick. So, lead times, this is important. There are hidden manufacturing timelines behind homes.

So, depending on the amount of work in your area or in the state, like when there's a boom, and we use COVID for this, some people are waiting up for over six months to eight months for a set of windows for a house.

[Amelia] (9:55 - 9:56)
That's horrendous.

[Frank] (9:56 - 10:09)
It was, because builders couldn't get a clean run. And if they can't get a clean run, they can't get payment, the stage payments. And that means the costs go up during the meantime, and this is why a lot of these builds went bust.

[Amelia] (10:10 - 10:10)
Yeah.

[Frank] (10:11 - 11:23)
What was going to take an eight-month build ended up being a two-year build in some cases. It was horrific. Oh, can't get timber for the trusses, so they had to pivot.

You know, they had to pitch their own roofs, or they couldn't get certain materials. It was awful. Roof trusses need to get made.

Timing of the roof trusses, your joinery needs to be checked, you know, design made, checked. Can you get the materials that you wanted? That's always a winner.

The electrical, that takes time to rough in and all that. Cladding, like, what are you doing, brick, lightweight, whatever. Anything fancy-schmancy, you know, takes time.

Sometimes some of the hardware inside the house, you want a specific front door, but they can't get it. It's on back order, so they can't lock the house up, so then they've got to put a temporary door in to get the lockup going. They can't get the panel lift door.

I told you about that story before where they couldn't get, the house was locked up, but they couldn't get the panel door installed. And then, anyway, someone walked in there, they already had the wiring all roughed in, and I told you, they chopped out 500 mil of the wiring out from the switchboard, and then all the wires went through, they took about 500 mil, half a metre, out of all the wiring, had to rewire the whole house.

[Amelia] (11:23 - 11:25)
Oh, that is so wrong.

[Frank] (11:26 - 11:27)
It was pure vandalism.

[Amelia] (11:27 - 11:28)
That's awful.

[Frank] (11:28 - 11:43)
And I say that as one example, but you would not believe the level of pure, utter damage and waste. People come in and damage during construction. I know of houses down south where they've had every window smashed.

[Amelia] (11:44 - 11:45)
That's awful.

[Frank] (11:45 - 12:18)
Yeah, it is, and they're double-glazed. So, and this does happen, you've got senseless destruction, and builders have got to deal with that, hence delays. Now, with all these things, the builder has to order.

Just think your roof. You've got roof shirting, ridge cappings, flashings, fascias, gutters, all that type of stuff. That all has to turn up, and you've got to get the gang in there to actually install it.

But what if there's a delay on another project due to rain, and they can't do this one? Or it's high winds, they can't lay the sheets. What if there's tiles?

In the wrong weather conditions, they can't install this.

[Amelia] (12:18 - 12:19)
And they can't control the weather.

[Frank] (12:20 - 13:00)
Yep. Gee, you might get a lot of money if you could. The other thing is, like, you could have cladding, these, all sorts of stuff.

What you'll see in a lot of building sites, suppliers don't drop everything off. When there's a window lot, it's just one window lot, and they're installed straight away. Cladding, they'll want to get that on straight away.

You want to get the eaves, you want to get... One of the classics is appliances. Appliances don't sit there and wait to be installed.

And the reason is, people, little scumbags will come and pinch it, cut through the gate locks and pinch it. And I know one builder, he was well into finishing it up. He got his house broken into, like, four times.

[Amelia] (13:01 - 13:01)
Oh, wow.

[Frank] (13:01 - 13:04)
They were jimmying out windows. So every time, they busted the window.

[Amelia] (13:05 - 13:07)
Oh, that's awful.

[Frank] (13:07 - 14:18)
Oh, it was insane. There was a real... This was in Lonsdale.

There was a real epidemic. This was a number of years ago. So pinching a hot water cylinder, pinch all the copper out.

This is why they don't like leaving stuff on site. They leave that stuff to the last minute so stuff doesn't get pinched. You've got to understand the dynamics that you're dealing with, especially if you've got arseholes wrecking people's livelihoods, pinching all their stuff.

And the copper is a real problem as well. That's why the builders have to be so well-organised, well-coordinated in their timing and communications, everything, with all their trades. Oh, exactly.

They're insane. Another thing I want to point out is lead times, with the lead times, how many times each trade might have to come to site. And I'm not talking about the builders.

Think about the plumber. He might have to go five or six times. Sparky, three or four times.

Joiner, two to three times. Plasterer, two times. Painter, three to four times.

Tiler, he's a lucky one. He might only have to come a couple of times. Bricklayer, two or three times, depending on the type of construction.

So once a trade's in, it's not just finished. Someone's got to go back, patch up, all these. So you've got to coordinate that on top of it.

[Amelia] (14:18 - 14:26)
And it's not always that multiple trades can be there at the same time because of the order things have to be done in.

[Frank] (14:27 - 14:41)
Order is exactly that. Also, many items have to be ordered well, especially if you've organised something special. I remember my own house I did 22 years ago, which I built myself as an owner builder.

Seven months of my life, I'll never get back again. I ordered the carpet well and true.

[Amelia] (14:41 - 14:42)
Seven months.

[Frank] (14:42 - 14:44)
Took me to build it, yes. I went flat out.

[Amelia] (14:44 - 14:48)
I was going to say, if you did that pretty much by yourself.

[Frank] (14:48 - 14:49)
I subbied a lot out.

[Amelia] (14:49 - 14:50)
Yes.

[Frank] (14:50 - 14:59)
And I subcontracted a lot out. That's still fast. It was fast.

Nearly killed me. Got me crook a couple of times. Landed in hospital once.

So I went hard.

[Amelia] (15:00 - 15:02)
You certainly didn't do it by half.

[Frank] (15:02 - 15:06)
Oh, no, I didn't. I wouldn't do it again. I couldn't do it again.

[Amelia] (15:06 - 15:07)
Fair enough.

[Frank] (15:07 - 15:10)
Physically, yeah, it was awful. I was very fit by the end of it.

[Amelia] (15:11 - 15:14)
Yeah, I reckon. You would have had builder's hands.

[Frank] (15:15 - 15:17)
And all the other damage with it as well.

[Amelia] (15:17 - 15:17)
Yeah.

[Frank] (15:18 - 15:25)
And injuries. So I remember we ordered our carpet and there was a problem with the order and they didn't make it.

[Amelia] (15:25 - 15:25)
Oh, no.

[Frank] (15:26 - 15:40)
So I missed our move-in date by two weeks, which I timed up with the birth of my youngest son. And I missed it by two weeks because of the carpet. And they were great about it all.

They came and installed the second-hand carpet and all that for no cost. They were wonderful. But it's just how do you control that?

[Amelia] (15:41 - 15:42)
Yeah, there's nothing you can do.

[Frank] (15:42 - 16:00)
Nothing I could do. But when people bend over and help you when things are tough, yeah, it's great. So some of the parts of your house are being made before the slab's even poured.

Be aware of that. And you bring it all together in one spot. And if your house is really custom, well, this gets to another level of complexity.

[Amelia] (16:01 - 16:07)
Same with the suppliers too, to be fair. Like sometimes they're ordered stuff way in advance.

[Frank] (16:07 - 16:18)
Oh, massive. I remember one project and the power upgrade was ordered, but our little friends in the Tasmanian power industry, I'm not going to name names.

[Amelia] (16:19 - 16:21)
We only have like one or two suppliers.

[Frank] (16:22 - 16:28)
Well, yeah, the main one. We put an order in and we were at the end of this commercial project and they said, oh, we lost your order.

[Amelia] (16:29 - 16:29)
What?

[Frank] (16:30 - 16:31)
I'm not joking.

[Amelia] (16:32 - 16:34)
Oh, that's a bit rubbish.

[Frank] (16:35 - 16:40)
Considering it was a big power upgrade, we had to get a diesel generator in for three months.

[Amelia] (16:40 - 16:41)
Oh, my goodness.

[Frank] (16:42 - 17:01)
Yeah, no recourse, no nothing, no accountability. Don't get me started. All right.

So builders rely on a tight schedule and their subcontracts, but shit goes wrong, let's be honest. So understand they're allowed to get sick. Their family's allowed to get sick, injured, stuff happens.

[Amelia] (17:01 - 17:02)
Life happens.

[Frank] (17:02 - 17:20)
Life happens. And I think you've got to show a bit of grace. And this is why a builder says, look, reality, we should be able to build this in seven months.

Like I was just talking to the builder, I'm going to use this, I'm going to allow it 12 months. I'm going to make sure I'm going to get it done before that, but I do not want the pressure when things go wrong, but I'm going to do my best to do it well before that.

[Amelia] (17:20 - 17:21)
Yes.

[Frank] (17:21 - 17:52)
And I think that's fair and reasonable. Now, if you're renting or living with your parents, you poor buggers who are doing that. I get it.

Yeah, it's tough. It's tough. It's really tough and maybe the only way you can do it.

And to be fair, if you're a first home owner and you're going down this track and you live with your parents, yeah, you've really got to have a lot of patience, you know, and financial stress because you're paying off the mortgage as the payments are made plus you're paying rent.

[Amelia] (17:52 - 17:54)
Or you just put a yurt in the backyard.

[Frank] (17:54 - 18:11)
I'm not even going there. I don't want to fit through the doorway of those things. They hit me in my chest walking in those things.

You could create a taller one. So you're saying you can start a whole new business, which is you'll rent a yurt while you're building your home business.

[Amelia] (18:12 - 18:16)
It's not as dumb as what it sounds. 

[Frank]
Where are you putting the toilet and bathroom? 

[Amelia]
It's called a bucket.

[Frank] (18:17 - 18:24)
Oh, no. Oh, man. You haven't thought this business plan through.

[Amelia]
Five-star bucket. Five-star bucket. 

[Frank]
What, it's got glitter on it?

[Amelia] (18:24 - 18:28)
I can put glitter on it. 

[Frank] (18:29 - 18:31)
Oh, man. I've got to change the line, don't I?

[Amelia] (18:31 - 18:33)
It's going south quickly, isn't it?

[Frank] (18:33 - 18:50)
Yeah, isn't it, really? So another reality is material, supplies, stall, don't make it anymore or it's imported and they can't get it or they sold your reserved tiles and now you can't get it anymore. This stuff actually happens.

[Amelia] (18:50 - 18:52)
It's been discontinued. I've heard that before.

[Frank] (18:52 - 18:53)
Oh, the horror.

[Amelia] (18:54 - 18:54)
Yeah.

[Frank] (18:55 - 19:02)
So this is where you've got to be on your game and be able to pivot. And that's actually, that alone I think is the biggest stress thing.

[Amelia] (19:02 - 19:03)
Oh, definitely.

[Frank] (19:03 - 19:04)
And you've got to make a quick decision.

[Amelia] (19:04 - 19:28)
And I get it because you have to make so many choices when it comes to building your house, especially if it's a custom one. Yes. You know, your tiles, your skirting, your door frames, everything.

And then suddenly you've had two types of tiles that are discontinued. You're like, how am I going to find something that actually matches? It took me two months to find something last time.

[Frank] (19:28 - 19:32)
You're too damn fussy. That's a bloke's perspective.

[Amelia] (19:33 - 19:34)
Yeah, it's got to match.

[Frank] (19:35 - 19:47)
But it's real. Now, this brings to a point. Anyone thinking of renovating, extending, building your house, work on your selections during the design process.

[Amelia] (19:47 - 19:47)
Exactly.

[Frank] (19:48 - 19:49)
We keep banging on about this.

[Amelia] (19:49 - 19:50)
Started early.

[Frank] (19:50 - 20:03)
I still have clients not doing it and it drives me mad. It drives the builder mad. What am I pricing?

Because we're going to talk about this in another podcast where they allow a provisional sum for your tiles because you haven't chosen the type of tile that you like.

[Amelia] (20:03 - 20:03)
Yes.

[Frank] (20:03 - 20:07)
And then your costs go berserk. That's a whole other topic.

[Amelia] (20:07 - 20:07)
It is.

[Frank] (20:07 - 20:21)
But have everything well planned, prepared. Good to go. Build it.

Clean run. Make it as simple as possible. So the whole build might be waiting on one window because you've changed something or, which I've had, they supplied the wrong window.

[Amelia] (20:22 - 20:23)
Oh, yeah, that's happened.

[Frank] (20:23 - 20:26)
They stuffed it. They stuffed it. They've got to make a new one, but there's a delay.

[Amelia] (20:26 - 20:27)
Yes.

[Frank] (20:27 - 20:45)
Because so much of them can't do the cladding on that part. So construction is really a race. It shouldn't be a race.

It should be a well-planned, methodical process. Anyone really good at their job, at their craft, they make it look easy. Yet to the average person looking in, it looks fast.

[Amelia] (20:46 - 20:46)
Yes.

[Frank] (20:47 - 21:20)
So watching builders, a really good builder, do their work and all sorts of stuff, it's pretty impressive. All right. The other thing that you might not be aware of that can hold things up is your inspection, your compliance or your paperwork.

So there's a few inspections. Just going to run through those. You might have heard on previous podcasts.

You have a founding inspection. Well, what's your house sitting on? Do you have to drill in it?

Can it sit on top? Has to be signed off either by the engineer or by the building surveyor based on the geotech report. This is quite an important one.

[Amelia] (21:20 - 21:20)
Yeah.

[Frank] (21:20 - 21:21)
Everything's sitting there.

[Amelia] (21:22 - 21:25)
Yeah. And it's not something you can skip. It has to be done.

[Frank] (21:25 - 21:26)
Yep.

[Amelia] (21:26 - 21:31)
And sometimes if, you know, that person's not available, it can obviously hold up the build.

[Frank] (21:31 - 21:56)
I've seen it held up by some engineers. So I can't get out of there for two weeks. They're just too busy.

Too busy. But anyway, I've got my own opinion on that. Reinforcement inspections for your footings or slab or retaining walls, whatever.

That, again, has to be done and make sure it's done correctly as per the specifications and the drawings. Under slab plumbing, that's part of doing that as well.

[Amelia] (21:56 - 21:56)
Yes.

[Frank] (21:57 - 22:13)
Then once you get into your frame, that needs to be inspected. Your plumbing fit-off has to be inspected. Your waterproofing has to be inspected.

And then you've got your final occupancy and final. And did you notice I didn't mention anything about insulation and other details? They don't have to be inspected in Tasmania.

[Amelia] (22:14 - 22:20)
Yeah. I feel like that's a bit of a touchy subject for you.

[Frank] (22:20 - 22:28)
Oh, it's a dumbass. Such a dumbass. We're going to talk about thermal efficiency and no-one's actually checking it, no-one's inspecting it.

What a load of crap. Sorry.

[Amelia] (22:29 - 22:30)
Soapbox.

[Frank] (22:30 - 22:37)
Soapbox, yeah. It should be done. We're all about thermal efficiency.

How do you know it's thermal efficient if it hasn't been installed properly?

[Amelia] (22:38 - 22:38)
Exactly.

[Frank] (22:39 - 22:47)
You know, it's like you stick your feet out the end of the doona and she ain't really doing its job much more. You won't get cold feet. Cold feet.

So what do you think it's like if you've got a hole in your insulation?

[Amelia] (22:48 - 22:50)
It's not going to do a real lot, is it?

[Frank] (22:50 - 23:31)
Well, no, it compromises it. So anyway, move on. Happy thoughts.

These are all whole points by the authority to make sure things are done correctly. Like I said, not enough done. I think more should be done.

But sometimes there are problems and they have to be rectified and things slow down. I've seen this with founding and reinforcement inspections where what the geotech said and what we found on site and going, crap, that wasn't on the report. Right, we have to get the geotech, we've got to make a decision.

We're going to put extra drainage, we've got to drill down. We're going to tell the customer we're going to spend another $10,000 for extra foundations because we found something on site.

[Amelia] (23:31 - 23:32)
It happens.

[Frank] (23:32 - 23:45)
It happens. It's a delay. Nothing's perfect because you can't see what's under the ground.

So again, that is a delay, but yeah, that's a tough one. But it has to be done right. If your foundations aren't right, you're not going to be happy.

[Amelia] (23:46 - 23:46)
Oh, that's right.

[Frank] (23:46 - 23:56)
Especially in a few years, you're not going to be happy. And yeah, houses still move. But we want to minimise that as much as possible.

All right, this one.

[Amelia] (23:56 - 23:57)
We've spoken about it before.

[Frank] (23:57 - 23:59)
I think we've done a whole podcast, haven't we?

[Amelia] (23:59 - 24:01)
We certainly have. Variations.

[Frank] (24:01 - 24:26)
During the build. Yep, during the build. So you can do variations, but understand the consequences.

So variation is a change in the design. Now, some of you can't control it. We spoke about the foundations just then, but from there on up, it should be all happy days because you've got permits for everything, you've been passed, and it should be fine.

So then after that point, it might be a case of changing your mind.

[Amelia] (24:27 - 24:27)
Yes.

[Frank] (24:28 - 24:44)
Changing whatever it may be. It could be a window, sliding door, a deck, a tile, carpet, a door handle, staircase, you name it. And I've seen it all because that's people's second guess.

Adding skylights, upgrading finishes. It's always been funny.

[Amelia] (24:45 - 24:46)
Do people do that?

[Frank] (24:47 - 24:55)
Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the problem is when you upgrade, and we use the word upgrade, what does it normally do?

[Amelia] (24:58 - 24:59)
Upgrades the cost.

[Frank] (24:59 - 25:00)
Yeah.

[Amelia] (25:00 - 25:00)
Yeah.

[Frank] (25:02 - 25:22)
So, you know, and then there are other implications for that. So please be aware when you ask for an upgrade or, sorry, a variation, you know, and some of it might be fair dinkum because it's going to make the house, and I totally get it. But please, you need to understand there's a consequence for this because you've just thrown out the flow of the project.

[Amelia] (25:23 - 25:23)
Yes.

[Frank] (25:23 - 26:11)
I had one where they completely changed all the windows on the living room looking to the view to, I think it's Mount Direction, Mount Arthur here in Launceston. Totally get it. But the knock-on effect was pull the old window out, cut out the walls, put a new lintel in, get the engineering to sign off, come and do an inspection on the frame, order the new window, big sliding door.

It was massive. And it made it. I have no issue with it.

But then it ended up costing about two and a half grand with consultants and extra inspections. It was close to about a month and a half delay. So it's a knock-on effect.

But that was a specky, to be fair. But they said this could make more money. So, yep, fair enough.

But if it was a normal build, ouch.

[Amelia] (26:11 - 26:12)
Oh, yeah.

[Frank] (26:12 - 26:34)
So what happens then? You reschedule all your trades, you're reordering materials, or you're putting a hold on the materials, putting a hold on the joiner, coming in and bringing his carcass and all the joinery bits in. Yeah, his shed's already full of another, you know, ten kitchens, and you're the next one off the cap of the rank, and you've told him to put it on hold, now he's got to shuffle everything in the warehouse?

[Amelia] (26:34 - 26:41)
Or his time management is, you know, the timing of everything has changed, so maybe he can't fit your job in for another month.

[Frank] (26:42 - 27:23)
Look, if I'm not doing it this week, I can't do it for three weeks. I've got all these dates booked for these guys that have actually got organised. And this is where customers don't get it.

Yes. A joiner might have, you know, 10, 20, 50 jobs, but every one of those are booked in for an install date, and they've got specialists that just install. You miss your opportunity to go in there.

There might be someone that might be able to move forward, and you slot in behind, and you're going to be damn lucky. Yeah, horror show. Big delays.

So every variation creates a ripple effect. So I'm not saying don't do it, just understand what it does. So here's another one that can slow things down, and it's all about safety.

[Amelia] (27:24 - 27:24)
That's a good one.

[Frank] (27:25 - 28:08)
So safety is important on sites. Unfortunately, I still see unsafe practices every now and then, and I think for subbies, they need to speak up and say, I'm not happy to do that. And maybe they do, and that's why there's delays.

So you can have dangerous weather conditions. There could be structural concerns during mid-build, and that's usually not the building, but it may be surrounding. I've seen where they've over-excavated the back of the sites and the side of the sites, and they haven't put the retaining walls in.

They thought they could put a, you know, small retaining wall in, but they've over-excavated. They've got to put a bigger retaining wall. They're waiting on engineering, waiting for planning, and they've got a big exposed bank of dirt.

I've seen fences collapse. I've actually seen a garage partly collapse into someone else's property.

[Amelia] (28:08 - 28:10)
Oh, that's not very good.

[Frank] (28:11 - 28:11)
Oh, no.

[Amelia] (28:11 - 28:12)
Not ideal at all.

[Frank] (28:12 - 28:27)
It wasn't, it wasn't. Yeah, excavator driver's left by himself, and he went a bit berserk and just wrecked off. Yeah, there's a good one for you.

How do you control dumb shit? You know, over-excavating, and then you've undermined a neighbouring property.

[Amelia] (28:27 - 28:28)
Yeah, that happens.

[Frank] (28:28 - 28:31)
It might sound that's totally ludicrous, but it actually happens.

[Amelia] (28:32 - 28:32)
Yes.

[Frank] (28:32 - 28:39)
And I've seen engineers being called in trying to fix it, and they go, shacking their head, why did you do this? Well, they can't get hold of the excavator driver.

[Amelia] (28:39 - 28:45)
Or it can be tricky too if there's things, you know, if they're excavating close to a boundary or whatever.

[Frank] (28:46 - 28:46)
When they shouldn't be.

[Amelia] (28:47 - 28:49)
They probably shouldn't be, because that's why they have setbacks.

[Frank] (28:49 - 29:27)
Oh, yeah, but also the other beauty is we had one, and the excavator driver was awesome, but we had a sewer main where we were putting a pool in, putting this big hole, it was a huge hole to put the pool in, and there's a sewer main there, a really old one. We didn't want to touch it, but the excavator driver got so close, he exposed the side of the pipe, stabilised it, dug a hole, got the pool in, put the retaining walls in, patched it all up. 

[Amelia]
Bob's your uncle.

[Frank]
Bob's your uncle. The sewer authority was happy as Larry, because they could see it, got a record of it, and it wasn't damaged. It was actually well supported after that, but did all the right things.

[Amelia] (29:27 - 29:27)
That's good.

[Frank] (29:27 - 29:29)
I've seen some shockers.

[Amelia] (29:30 - 29:34)
And, I mean, sometimes you find this stuff when you start digging, you know. Sometimes you don't know.

[Frank] (29:34 - 30:07)
Oh, exactly, but also they should be aware of a risk when you get too close to something or too close to a house. I've seen it where the engineers have written, do not undermine the house footings. Yes.

And then the engineer calls me, hey, look, I have to go around. They've dug deeper than the house footings and they're hanging in the air. Oops.

Not oops. It's like you turn up and you're going, what are you, stupid? No, seriously, because it says there, and no one was keeping an eye on it.

No one read the drawing. They just dug up, dug a hole.

[Amelia] (30:07 - 30:08)
They just dug a hole.

[Frank] (30:08 - 30:20)
And the house is, you know, the footings are hanging in the air. So then, a lot of problems. And who's paying for it?

All this type of rubbish. There is a delay due to dumb shit, because people aren't reading and understanding their risk.

[Amelia] (30:20 - 30:22)
Yes, sir. Yeah.

[Frank] (30:22 - 30:52)
Sorry. Soapbox again. But this is why you have to employ professionals.

Good builders only employ really good subbies, good excavator drivers. What they do is like art, like how they excavate, do their work in really clear. It seems weird, Heather, but they are a good sense of order so that it's a safe working environment.

The other thing is work health and safety requirements. Builders have to comply with that. And sometimes it slows down the build.

[Amelia] (30:53 - 30:54)
Exactly.

[Frank] (30:54 - 30:55)
You know?

[Amelia] (30:55 - 31:01)
If there's a hazard or anything on site that needs addressing, they can't be having their trades on there sometimes.

[Frank] (31:01 - 31:26)
Oh, if someone builds their own personal scaffolding to get to something. You know, they can't do that. You've got to get it certified.

You've got to have the right people putting scaffolding out. But look, a builder stopping work for safety is usually a really good professional. So that's what you're paying for.

And you do not want to have a problem with work health and safety and other compliance on your site. So speed should never override safety.

[Amelia] (31:26 - 31:27)
Exactly.

[Frank] (31:27 - 31:32)
Everyone needs to go home at night to their family. So when is a quiet site a red flag?

[Amelia] (31:33 - 31:47)
Yeah, so this is when it can go horribly wrong, I guess, and when you probably should take some action. But, you know, if you haven't heard from your builder for long periods of time, if you can't get hold of them or something like that.

[Frank] (31:47 - 31:47)
Yep.

[Amelia] (31:48 - 31:50)
Concern they may have done a runner, and it happens.

[Frank] (31:51 - 31:56)
Unexpected delays that, like, what's going on? Missed timelines?

[Amelia] (31:57 - 32:02)
Yes, when things maybe don't sound quite right, like the excuses don't quite sound right.

[Frank] (32:02 - 32:08)
Payment requests without progress or doesn't match the contract agreement.

[Amelia] (32:08 - 32:08)
That's right.

[Frank] (32:09 - 32:36)
Big alarm bells going off there for a bunch of different reasons. Financial could be one. I'm a big believer in asking for financials, saying, hey, it counts saying that you're going happy days, you know, things are OK.

But I know of one recently where a builder was going through a really horrible break-up and, yeah, did a few things that weren't real clever and his head's not in the right space. I know one, his daughter died on him.

[Amelia] (32:37 - 32:38)
Oh, that's awful.

[Frank] (32:38 - 32:44)
It was awful. It was really awful. And the guy was halfway through, he was in another world.

Rightly so.

[Amelia] (32:44 - 32:46)
Out of character, obviously.

[Frank] (32:46 - 32:54)
Yeah, he was, you know, and he had a very good reputation but he just, I could totally get it, he just lost his direction.

[Amelia] (32:54 - 32:55)
Mm-hm.

[Frank] (32:55 - 33:00)
And that makes it hard for everyone involved. You want to be understanding but you're in the middle of this.

[Amelia] (33:00 - 33:07)
Yeah, it's a tricky situation to be in when you have, especially, you know, you have a contract in place but you also want to be fair to them as well.

[Frank] (33:08 - 33:38)
Oh, very much so. You know, you've got to, on your human, humanity, but I've seen this a few times and it is tough. Like marriage break-ups, financials, business partners, deaths, like this is just things that happen in life and it's tough.

Mental health as well. Like we've just had, in Launceston we've had three trades, it was before Christmas, commit suicide. You know, builders.

[Amelia] (33:38 - 33:39)
Mm-hm.

[Frank] (33:39 - 33:43)
Two were builders, one was a trader and that shook the whole industry.

[Amelia] (33:43 - 33:44)
Yeah, that's awful.

[Frank] (33:44 - 34:05)
You know, it was really devastating. And this is real, you know, the mental health of builders, sub-trades and the pressures they're under that you don't even see on top of life relationships and stuff that's going on. This is tough.

But as you've got a contract with them, how do you sit with that? You know, I've got no answers on that one.

[Amelia] (34:05 - 34:06)
No, that's a tricky one.

[Frank] (34:07 - 34:14)
Other than good, clear communication. You know, that's all you can do. But if you're not getting communication back, yeah, I'm not sure what you can do.

[Amelia] (34:15 - 34:15)
Yeah, yeah.

[Frank] (34:16 - 34:17)
So it's a really tough one.

[Amelia] (34:17 - 34:18)
It is a tough one.

[Frank] (34:19 - 34:34)
That's where using a bigger building company would be better because they can deal with that. Whereas a builder who works by himself has a couple of guys working with him and they are the licensed builder. You're a bit stuck.

[Amelia] (34:35 - 34:35)
True.

[Frank] (34:36 - 34:44)
Yeah. Like I've seen it also where a builder's injured himself, like in a bad way, and all these mates that they all do help each other out. They all jump in and help.

[Amelia] (34:44 - 34:45)
That's awesome.

[Frank] (34:45 - 34:57)
Yeah, it was very cool. I've seen that a few times actually and that's where mates are awesome. You know, you've got professionals that look out for each other.

It is seriously good.

[Amelia] (34:57 - 34:58)
Yeah, that's really good.

[Frank] (34:59 - 35:03)
Because building is a dangerous game at the end of the day. Accidents can happen so easily.

[Amelia] (35:04 - 35:05)
Oh, definitely.

[Frank] (35:05 - 35:12)
Falling off a roof, falling through the roof, you know, cutting yourself, power sores.

[Amelia] (35:13 - 35:13)
Oh, yeah.

[Frank] (35:13 - 35:14)
Power saws.

[Amelia] (35:14 - 35:17)
You've only got to watch some of those medical shows.

[Frank] (35:17 - 35:20)
Oh, the old 100 mil death wheels. Oh, yuck.

[Amelia] (35:21 - 35:23)
Yep, staple guns and nail guns.

[Frank] (35:23 - 35:29)
Oh, nail guns. Oh, yes. I actually know someone had one go through the sternum and just pierced his heart.

[Amelia] (35:29 - 35:30)
Oh.

[Frank] (35:30 - 35:36)
Framing nail, yeah. Anyway, and he drove to meet the Airbus. What?

Yep.

[Amelia] (35:37 - 35:39)
He was running on adrenaline obviously.

[Frank1] (35:39 - 35:40)
Yeah, I kid you not.

[Amelia] (35:40 - 35:41)
Wow.

[Frank] (35:41 - 35:46)
Yeah, and it wasn't one of those gas ones. Long time ago it was a compressor gun too.

[Amelia] (35:46 - 35:46)
Wow.

[Frank] (35:47 - 35:47)
Yeah.

[Amelia] (35:48 - 35:49)
That's impressive.

[Frank] (35:49 - 35:51)
Yeah, he made the newspaper, so.

[Amelia] (35:52 - 35:52)
Wow.

[Frank] (35:54 - 35:55)
He nailed it.

[Amelia] (35:55 - 35:57)
Oh, that was bad.

[Frank] (35:57 - 35:59)
I didn't do it. Come on.

[Amelia] (35:59 - 36:00)
Such a bad joke.

[Frank] (36:00 - 36:22)
Yeah, I know. Sorry, inappropriate. You can cut that one out.

Okay, some take home points and let's wrap this up. So building happens in stages, not in constant motion. Some of the biggest progress on your house is invisible.

You don't see it. Scheduling can be a challenge for getting all the materials. And the variation ripple.

[Amelia] (36:22 - 36:24)
Yes, the effects of that.

[Frank] (36:24 - 36:42)
Yeah, sometimes work pauses for safety. Now, bottom line is communication is by far the most important thing. Visible activity.

Some of the new software, client relation management software that they have, they send photos all the time of where they're at and all that, and they communicate every day.

[Amelia] (36:42 - 36:43)
That's awesome.

[Frank] (36:43 - 36:53)
Yeah, it's a very beautiful setup. I think it's a wonderful thing. But not all builders have that because it costs money.

Those CRMs are not cheap and they pay by the job.

[Amelia] (36:54 - 36:54)
Yes.

[Frank] (36:55 - 37:07)
But it can be very good at ordering things and like that. All right. So just to wrap it up, the smoothest builds aren't always the fastest, but they're the best planned and best communicated and best executed.

[Amelia] (37:07 - 37:09)
That sounds exactly right.

[Frank] (37:10 - 37:14)
It is. No different when you engage a designer and a builder to work together to design your house.

[Amelia] (37:15 - 37:33)
Exactly. We'll wrap it up there, folks. Thanks for listening to the Building Design Primetime Podcast.

[Frank]
Catch ya’s later. 

[OUTRO]
You're listening to the Building Design, Prime Time Podcast.