Owner Builder eductaion and resources just got a whole lot better, again! Now each of our owner builder students will have access to a website dedicated to Project Management. Keep an eye on this blog and the website for details as this is developed and launched over the next couple of weeks.
Owner Builders often ask me where do I start when it comes to planning or designing my new home?
I can’t draw a straight line they will often say, feeling that the task of putting down on paper what they can imagine as their dream home is far far beyond their capabilities.
Well, the good news is, you do not have to be Picasso to come up with a masterpiece.
I am going to discuss a few simple things you can do to get your ideas down on paper in a way that someone else, (possibly your designer or architect) can understand and interpret.
We have a section in our owner builder course on reading and interpreting plans at a fairly basic level, and we really believe this is a skill that is a must for owner builders, but getting your thoughts down on paper is a little different.
By the time you get to the design or planning stage hopefully you will have decided on what you like in home design. You should have looked at display homes, read through home magazines, found what you like and don’t like in friends or family homes. You should have a rough idea of how big a house you intend to build, how many bedrooms, how many bathrooms etc and we are going to assume you have your block of land.
Firstly, the overall design, layout and size of your home will largely be controlled or constrained by the block of land you intend to build on, it may even affect the type of construction you choose. So lets think about what you need.
Have you got views, which way is the block facing, do you want your living areas at the front, back or a particular side (elevation) of the house?
How many bedrooms do you want, is your family young and growing or are they approaching the age where they may move out? Do you want a media room, a butlers pantry or a florida room?
Once you have decided on the required features, try this.
Roughly sketch out the shape of the block, trying to keep some sense of scale and proportion. (using a scaled graph paper can make this exercise a lot easier) Using circles, rough out a layout for the new home, positioning rooms where you wnat them in relation to each other and on the block. Again try to keep a sense of scale if you can. (1:100 is good if you can get that to work on your paper size, where 10mm equals a meter) This is a fairly standard scale for a plan view of a house used in construction drawings.
Once you have fiddled around a bit and got a rough idea of the layout, we can start to firm up the design.
Have you considered the prevailing breeze, the location of the sun (morning and afternoon) and the slope of the block?
Does the design flow, and allow you to make the most of windows and opening to get a good ‘cross flow’ for ventilation and cooling?
Are the room sizes roughly appropriate, does the size of the home and type of construction match the budget you will have to work with?
These are all question you will have to consider in the design of your new home.
Until reasonably recently, the design of the roof could be problematic where an other that ‘normal’ layout was considered. Do not be too put off by this, these day, given the range of roofing materials and forming processes, a good designer can usually work within your requirements to come up with a roofing solution that will fit your design and budget.
If possible, involve the whole family in the design process, it makes for involvement and interest in the overall project, who knows, you may even get the kids to lend a hand on site!
Anyway, back to the design process. using your initial concept sketch as the basis of your design, on another piece of paper block out the design in straigth line format and see if the room sizes make sense. A good size for a bedroom these days is 4 meters by 4 meters, and I would not consider building a house with bedrooms smaller than 3.5 by 3.0 meters. (considering a typical house block of not less than 500 square meters.)
By the end of this exercise, you should have a rough sketch of your house floor plan, with rooms sizes and general layout considered. You may still change this several times in the design phase, but now you have something you can continue to work on and develop.
Next you need to start again, redraw the design, this time placing built in robes, linen cupboards, hallways, and open areas, you can even now start to consider where door openings and windows should be located to make the most of views and prevailing conditions.
Owner Builders generally know what they want and are pretty good at expressing their ideas to their chosen designers, but this exercise is aimed at helping ou to better create your layout that suits the land and your requirements in the new home.
Finally, using the aid of a sketch pad, scaled and graphed, put it all tgether in a final concept or sketch plan, take your time, include windows, opening walls, doorways, cupboards, position of fixtures like baths, shower recesses toilet suites etc. When that is done start to draw in paths, carports, free standing garages, landscapes areas and consider the roof line.
Now, that was not that hard was it?
Owner Builders in my experience are pretty resourceful and very capable given just a little help to point them in the right direction.
In the next couple of weeks, I am going to put up a screenflow tutorial on this design topic for my owner builder students, I will go through each of the stages on screen so they can follow through and get the basics.
Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words, keep an eye on our website for more great owner builder information.
Best Regards and Happy Building
Rick Heaton
Owner Builders can now get access to our informative videos through youtube.
Some of our content will be for public viewing, while some of the course specific video tutorials will be restricted access to our owner builder students.
Anyone thinking of building their own home, queensland owner builders, new south wales owner builders, WA owner builders and victorian owner builders in particular will benefit from the knowledge and information we are going to share.
There is a downside, to get that info you will have to look at my ugly mug on your computer screen (small price to pay I say!)
Anyway, what we have going on here and what is scheduled for release over the coming weeks is:
Owner Builder Information Videos, Public View
* Introduction now available: go to www.ownerbuildercourses.com or
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* Application Process
* Getting the Best From Your Membership
* Planning your Owner Building Project – Where do I start?
Interviews – Public View
* Financing Owner Builders
* Insurance for Owner Builders
* Designing Your Home and Sustainability
* Owner Builders and the Private Certifier
Tutorials Private Viewing (restricted to our owner builder students and members)
* Project Management
* Professionals and Consultants
* Tendering
* Scheduling
* Health and Safety for the Owner Builder
We cannot wait to get going on this and bring you the very best in Owner Builder information.
Best Regards and Happy Building
Rick
rick.heaton@ownerbuildercourses.com
Hi Everyone,
Just a very short blog letting you know the first of a series of videos produced for our owner builders is now online and available to view at www.ownerbuildercourses.com This is just an intro video into what will be an amazing collection of information and tutorial videos for our owner buider students and clients.
Have a look, let us know what you think.
Best Regards and happy building
Rick
I get asked all the time, how to best go about appplying for an owner builder permit.
The best and easiest answer depends on which state you intend to build in.
Having said that, there does exist, a common theme right across all the states and territories in Australia, that is you need to prove that you are competent and can handle all the task required to take on an owner builder project and or build your own house.
What does that mean?
Again, it depends on the state and terrritory, for example, in Queensland you would need to complete the Nationally accredited short course 39219QLD which is the course approved and accepted by the Queenalnd Building Services Authority as evidence of your competence to undertake an owner builder project.
In New South Wales, at this point no nationally accredited course is required howver there are several courses which are approved by the New South Wales Department of Fair Trading and satisfy the requirements for the issue of an owner builder permit in that state.
Anyone considering building their own home in Victoria, needs to satisfy the Building Commision that they understand the rules and responsibilities that are associated with taking on an owner built construction project. This can be acheived by reading the application kit for the issue of a Certificate of Consent and completing a declaration that states you have the knowledge and ability to undertake such a project. No formal course is required, but the courses that are around now, available on the web or via correspondence make it easy to gain the required knowledge to successfully complete an owner builder project.
The ACT has an approved course and the other states each have a requirement to make a declaration that you understand the obligations and responsibilities of being an owner builder.
Other than either the course or the declaration, in most states you will need to satisfy the governing authority that, you intend to live in the completed dwelling, are the owner or have a legal interest through a company, trust or lease in the property , that you are over 18 years of age and that you have not had an previous owner builder permit in the period specified in the applicable legislation for that state. (Queensland 6 years, Victoria 3.5 years and New South Wales 5 years)
More information on this and many more owner builder topics can be found on the website:
Australian Owner Builder Courses Online
Best Regards,
Rick Heaton
