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.

Technorati Tags: australian owner builders, build you own home, owner builder course, owner building, owner projects

You know, sometimes it just makes good sense to go against your gut.

Other times you simply need to listen to what everybody else is saying.

Well, I guess that is one of those times.

As much as I have resisted it, the demand and requests for a traditional hard copy correspondence version has overcome me.

We now offer the same great content and courseware in a hard copy format. I was against this because of the increase in our costs which I have to pass on to the end usre (student).

With the online course, almost everything you get is off the net and downloadable. We have no real costs in either time or materials to get the information to you.

The hard copy course is different, we have to compile and collate the manual content, print and bind the manuals, pay for postage and then mark the assessment when it comes back. All work we would rather not do, but hey, you asked for it.

So we now offer a correspondence course (printed versions) for $220.00.

You will still have access to the forums and the ability to join our owner builder community sharing resources (downloadable) and experiences.

The course content is the same and the assessment is simply undertaken in the traditional manner with you sending us back your completed works.

Anyway, more on this soon, don’t forget to visit us at www.ownerbuildercourses.com

Best Regards,

Rick

Technorati Tags: australian owner builders, build you own home, owner builder course, owner building, owner projects

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

Technorati Tags: australian owner builders, build you own home, owner builder course, owner building, owner projects

It has been a while since my last post but I have been working on some great new resources for owner builders.

These resources include a project managment kit for owner builders (CD Version) our full range of online courses for each of the states and a generic Safety Management Sytem for use by owner builders running their domestic construction project.

Each of these resources are available for purchase from our website at great prices, but best of all they are free to every student completing an owner builder course with us. Considering our course are only $117.00, that is unbelievable value and a lot of people are saying I am crazy, but hey we just want our owner builder students to have the very best in resources, skills and knowledge.

What else we have planned for you in the next couple of months will blow you away. We are going to be producing about 20 videos which step you through the owner builder process, from applying for your permit to practical completion of your project. Each of the videos is aimed at supporting the online content of our course and again, it will be free to our owner builder students.

Finally, we are going to launch an online project management assistance program which will give you access to our expert staff (for a fee of course, I cannot give everything away for nothing), this assistance will be priced according to the level of support you want and will include all areas of offsite project management, from running your tender process to bookeeping and financial monitoring,stay tuned for these exciting developments.

Tip of the day:

You will only get out of any project (including owner building) what you are willing to put into it, so get on the learning trail and make your project a huge succss.

Best Regards,

Rick Heaton

Technorati Tags: australian owner builders, owner builder, owner builder courses, owner builder courses new south wales, Owner Builder Courses Online, owner builder courses queensland, owner builder courses south australia, owner builder courses victoria, owner construction, project managment

One of the areas that must be considered is the responsibility you have to yourself and others in respect to workplace health and safety or occupational health and safety.

In most cases you will be required to undertake a course of instruction in General Site Safety Induction (construction) to satisfy your local requirements.

A card system is in place in most states (Blue Card) for example in Queensland Red Card in New South Wales and Green Card in Victoria.

These courses provide an introduction into compliance with relevant laws, the Regulaations and the Act, detail common construction workplace hazards and introduce the concept of risk management as it applies to a building site.

Do not underestimate the importance of this training, the course will generally cost around $80.00 and take about 4 hours of your time to complete. This really is one of the most important areas of your training to assume the many responsibilities of an owner builder.

In recent times, across the states and territories there have been a number of serious accidents and even a few fatalities on owner builder sites.

You need to be aware that as an owner builder you are responsible for all activities on your site and for ensuring they are conducted in a safe manner, you assume the reponsibilities of the principal contractor under the workplace health and safety laws.

Just one of the areas you are responsible for is the upkeep of a register of training in site safety for all person working on your site. You must site their Site Safety Induction Cards and you must keep records of their induction both general and site specific..

The courses provided by Australian Owner Builder Courses Online give you access to forms and registers to keep this important information and instruct you on how to correctly use them.

Safety does not happen by accident, take your training seriously and make certain you understand your workplace health and safety obligations as an owner builder.

Happy Building – Rick

Technorati Tags: australian owner builders, build you own home, owner builder course, owner building, owner projects

But you know what, there is always a little good that comes out of the bad.

One of the hardest things for an owner builder to do is get good trades people at a realistic rate.

Unless that is, they have done one of our courses and understand how to manage the tender process and how to deal confidently and professionally with trades and suppliers.

That said, when things are booming and there exists a real skills shortage in the building and construction industry, it is next to near on impossible to get a contractor to take the time to quote on a project for an owner builder that he or she knows very little about.

Fact of life …

Good news is, that during this economic slow down the time may be right, depending on your individual circumstances to build your new home as an owner builder.

Let’s think about it, traddies are a little less confident about where the next project is coming from, suppliers are more likely to cut a deal on materials in order to boost sales and professionals such as engineers, architects, designers etc possibly have more time to spend and give real good old fashion service.

Sounds like utopia doesn’t it?

Well maybe it is, if you have your finances in place, a project ready to go and the time to spare to truly manage the construction of your new home, then perhaps the time is right.

The potential savings we have just considered, do not even take into account low interest rates, government grants, rebates for smart eco or green friendly design.

You might just save thousands, and if you consider those savings over the term of a loan, imagine the hundreds of thousands of dollars you could keep away from the banks and in your pocket.

Now, before I go any further, all of this is only possible andshould onbly be considered if you believe your financial situation is strong enough and you are confident in you employment.

If you are not, you should wait for ‘better’ times which will return.

But right now, while things are a little slower you should go for it and get that new home underway.

Take a look at our website and learn how you could get the skills needed to successfully manage your owner builder project.

If nothing else you may discover whether owner building is right for you or not.

Do you know what it takes to be a good owner builder?

1)   Confidence in your skills and knowledge

2)   An understanding of contract requirements as they relate to owner builders

3)   An understanding of what insurance you will need to consider for your owner builder project

4)   Skills in plan reading, scheduling, administration and communication

All of these things are important to be in the ’skills set’ of an owner builder.

If you do not think you can manage these things then do not do it, some people (very few) honestly cannot be successful owner builders, it is rare but we have seen it.

Being an organised and informed owner builder is not just good for you but it is also good for the industry, as the trades start to take more notice of professional owner builders representing a sound income stream where there progress and final payments are assured.

That all takes a little bit of knowledge and a lot of discipline.

If we can get this to happen, then maybe, just maybe we can get the financial institutions to look more favourably at lending to owner builders. Guess we will cover that side of things in another blogpost.

Best Regards and Happy Owner Building

Rick Heaton

Technorati Tags: australian owner builders, build you own home, owner builder course, owner building, owner projects

But just what insurance will you need as you take on your owner builder project?

I can tell you, having been in the building industry for over 30 years you can never have too much insurance.

It is not just that on building sites things seem to grow legs, it is also necessary to have coverage against someone getting injured or property being damaged as a result of the works being done on your site.

As an owner builder, you are responsible for making certain that everyine on site is doing the right thing in respect to health and safety.

All states and territories in Australia have laws which detail the minimum standards of risk management and control measures that need to be in place to satisfy the requirements of safe work practises.

In most cases they will also specify the minimum insurances whci need to be hel by an owner builder in respect their project works.

For example, in most cases you will either be responsible for providing workcover for anyone employed directly on the ite or paid a wage and ensuring all contractors hold adequate workcover insurance for themselves and their employees.

In New South Wales, owner builders are responsible for taking out home warranty insurance to cover those works which are completed under the owner builder permit.

Home warranty insurance (also known as home owner’s warranty or builder’s warranty insurance) generally protects consumers of residential building services from financial loss caused by the builder’s failure to rectify or compensate for defective or incomplete work.

In New South Wales and Victoria, the cover applies when the builder has died, disappeared or is insolvent.While the insurer enters into a contract of insurance with the builder as the insured, it is the homeowner who is protected against loss.

In New South Wales and Victoria, home warranty insurance is compulsory for all residential building work carried out by builders valued at over $12,000.

For professional builders, generally Home Warranty Insurance is either paid as a levy against each project they undertake or is a provision of the licensing act for the particular state.

In the case of the owner buider, it must be held for the works undertaken, for the specified period and with an approved insurance provider.

In respect to other insurances:

Builders All Risk Insurance

Sometimes known as Construction Insurance.

This policy covers the works on the site and the material securely stored on site from theft, fire, storm, wilful damage etc.

It can also be extended to cover items in transit and other defined events as specified in the policy.

As with all insurance, be certain you understand the specific inclusion and more importantly exclusions.

Also what if any excess is included and how it affects the premium paid.

Public Liability Insurance

While it remains your responsibility to make the site as safe as is possible and to put in place certain risk management strategies, accident still do happen.

It may be a visitor to the site, a friend, a relative or even a member of the general public who falls, trips or in some way injures themselves on the construction site.

Should they seek to claim damages, you will need to be insured to cover any associated costs.

Quite often, a lower premium can be achieved through insuring for Construction (All Risk) and Public Liability with the one insurer.

Workers Compensation Insurance

WorkCover, or workers compensation insurance is to provide for loss of income due to accident or injuries received during the conduct of works on or associated with the a workplace.

It remains a legal obligation for anyone who employ staff on a full or part time basis to provide adequate workcover insurance.

As the Owner-Builder and therefore the Principal Contractor, it is your responsibility to:

Provide Workers Compensation for people employed on your site, or
Ensure all trades people and contractor carry their own policies and that these policies are current and appropriate.

You should contact workcover prior to engaging contractors to ensure you have an understanding of your liability in respect workers compensation should anyone you have engaged fail to meet their workcover obligations.

For more information on insurances for owner builders, visit the Owner Builder Courses website.

Technorati Tags: australian owner builders, build you own home, owner builder course, owner building, owner projects

Not unless you want to.

Most people who take on an owner builder project simply manage or administer the project.

Did I say simply?

It’s not that easy, but it is a skill that can be learnt and there are plenty of resources and tools out there to help you along the way.

The most important thing is to be organised, and in many cases, we see the girls are much better at this than the boys.

But almost anyone can do it. One question I get asked all the time when helping owner builders is “how much will I save?” and my answer is always the same.

“That all depends on how much time and effort you can devote to the project and how well you listen to the advice that our people are going to give you”

Realistically, you will need to be able to give the project at least three hours per day (on average) for the duration of the project which could be anywhre from 3 to 18 months depending on the size and complexity of the job.

I know, I didn’t answer your question, so consider this.

A builder, rarely picks up a hammer, hangs plaster etc these days, there is simply to much paperwork and administration to look after, most of which you can do yourself.

If you took the cost of the construction, including materials, labour and consultancy fees such as building design etc then a builder would add 30% on top of this figure to cover overheads, administration and profit.

Sounds like a lot? Well in real terms it isn’t, not if they are doing their job properly, in fact it is very reasonable.

So why would you take it on?

Because most if not all of those adminstrative and management tasks can be completed by you is you work to a plan and stick to a proven system.

“So, potentially I could ssave 30%” you might ask.

Possible but not likely, if you said 15 to 20% that would be more realistic.

What does project management for an owner biulder project mean?

It means you will be responsible for:

- Planning the project and establishing a realistic construction schedule

- Calling for tenders for works to be completed by sub contractors

- Making certain all admistrative functions are complete such as insurances, accounts and finance

- Coordinating the trades on site during the construction phase

- Planning and ensuring all required inspections are conducted

- Managing disputes or variations to the contract

- Making payments to contractors for completed works

- Maintaining accurate project records and filing warranties, guarantees etc

- Coordinating the delivery of materials to site during the construction phase

- Managing and maintaining safety of the site and all person working on the site

As you can see, at first glance it looks quite daunting, but remember even the largest of jobs or projects can be broken down into small bite sized pieces that can be easily handled or managed.

Hope this has given you a glimpse into what you could expect if you chose to project manage your owner builder construction.

In upcoming posts to this section I will go into more detail about each of the areas listed above, until then….

Best Regards and Happy Building

Rick

Technorati Tags: australian owner builders, build my own home in Australia, owner builder courses

Email: rick.heaton@bigpond.com

Website: www.ownerbuildercourses.com

Rick Heaton
Director
APEX Training Systems

Technorati Tags: australian owner builders, owner builder project managment, owner construction