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.

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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

We are excited to announce our latest offering for owner builders.

Online courses that are interactive, informative and a whole lot of fun.

Completing one of our courses will give you the knowledge and confidence to successfully complete an owner builder project on time and on budget.

The course covers all aspect of administering your project including onsite and offsite activities for owner builders.

Discover how to manage each of the sub trades, what you should expect of them and what they will expect from you in your role of general contractor, or principal contractor.

Learn the basics of plan reading and estimating and what information is need when writing a contract between yourself, suppliers or contractors.

Best of all do this from you own home and in your own time.

Of course as with all our products and courseware, help is only an email away or you can join the forums, ask question or access our owner builder resources.

Keep an eye on this blog for the launch date which is schedule for later this month.

For the first few months, we will be offering several free owner builder resources to anyone purchasing and completing an online course, don’t miss out, we are going to include an ecopy of our highly acclaimed Owner Builder Project Management System, our newly released Safety Management System for Owner Builders and access to an online Basic First Aid course.

Also in the upcoming month of March, we will be announcing our 2009 schedule for podcasts, webinars adn even ownerbuilderTV to give our clients even greater support during their owner builder project.

Visit our website and have a look around, please leave a comment, we love feedback.

www.ownerbuildercourses.com

Talk Soon and

Happy Owner Building

Rick Heaton

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It is extremely interesting and one of the minefields that you can run into if your builder ‘does a runner’.

Question:

We were undertaking a regular renovation job with a licensed builder.  The full value of the works was $240,000  but, with only the $12,000 Practical Completion stage left to go, the builder suddenly went AWOL.  1.5 years (of not being able to live in our house) later we have just finished up at the Tribunal and the builder (of course) ended up paying us a (paltry in comparison to legal fees) amount to cover the cost of defects and some amount towards completion of the project.

Now, in undertaking to complete the project under an owner-builder license, how do we estimate the cost of the project?  We will only be overseeing about $25,000 worth of work.  But we are, effectively, continuing the larger project.  On forms, is our estimate of the work to be undertaken the amount that WE will personally be overseeing under our OB license, or the full value of the renovation our original builder abandoned?

My Response:

Hi,

This will come down to an interpretation of what the Department of Fair Trading and your certifier consider is ‘fair’.

I would be only paying the fees on the actual amount you are going to oversee as an owner builder, that is your legal responsibility.

The sticking point will be the HOW insurance (Home Owner Warranty).

Without seeing the transcripts of the findings, it would be reasonable to assume that if the original builder was appropriately licenced and contracted, then he would have he HOW insurance on the full amount of the works.

HOW insurance is to cover exactly the situation you are in, so if it was insufficient to cover your costs, that is disappointing.

Another issue will arise if you sell the property within the 5 year period of the Owner Builder Permit or before all structural and statutory warranties expire.

I would seek the advice of the insurance provider who covered the original project.

I hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Rick Heaton

As you can see, it is a difficult uestion to answer but it reinforces the advice we give to owner builder that they ensure they understand the requirements of insurances and use correct and complete contractural processes when engaging any tradseperson.

It also highlight the fact that anyone building a new dwelling or renovating their existing home should undertake a course like ours to  increase their awareness of the potential pitfalls and areas they should carefully consider.

Doing a course such as our owner builder courses will not stop these things happening, but they will make you all that better prepared to handle and resolve these issues.

Best Regards and Happy Building

Rick Heaton

Abacus Training

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Over the last couple of weeks, wwe have had a name change and would like to introduce Abacus Training.

The name change has occured due to a change in business direction.

The nationall recognised Queensland Owner Builder Course 39219QLD will remain and continue to be provided through our parent company Owner Building Solutions Australia Pty Ltd.

Abacus will provide the approved NSW Owner Builder Course and the ACT approved Owner Builder Course.

Abacus will now povide all non accredited courses and support for the remaining states and territories.

Over time, all courseware and delivery will be handled solely through Abacus Training.

There is no change to the management structure or the company in terms of commttment and quality of services provided to our owner builders, just a need for a change and a refocus on our most important clients.

The owner builders of Australia.

Stay tuned for more exciting roll outs and news over the comming weeks.

Best Regards and Happy Building

Rick

Technorati Tags: building your own home, owner builder, owner builder courses, owner builders, owner building

There is not a simple answer and of course it depends on how disciplined, organised and prepared the owner builder is.

Just last week, I got a call from one of my students who is doing an owner builder project on the Gold Coast. The block is quite steep and there are substantial earthworks and concrete foundations required to accomodate the design.

She told me she had three quotes from concrete suppliers ranging from $260.00 per cubic meter (delivered) to $176.00 per cubic meter delivered. Thats an eighty four dollar difference, by simply making three phone calls.

Lets use these figures and consider an average home of standard design at around 280 square meters floor area including the garage. We could assume a minimum of 6 cubic meters required for the strip footings and 28 cubic meters for the slab.

A total of 34 cubic meters.

An owner builder saving $84.00 a cubic meter can potentially put $2856.00 in their pocket or borrow that much less.

Now I know, a well organised builder will probably pay the lower of the prices, but if his mark up to cover profit, overheads and administration is a modest 15% you will still effectively pay $202.00 a cubic meter.

At that figure the saving is $26.00 a cubic meter or $884.00.

Now this is only one item of the hundreds of opportunites that owner builders have to save money, and this is a commodity item where the prices between suppliers is reasonably constant.

The big money is saved on one off or designer type fittings and fitments that with a bit of shopping around can realise huge savings.

I recently purchased a front door on behalf of an owner builder client and foud prices ranging from $4200.00 to $1800.00 for the same quality and design. We ultimately purchased the door for $2720.00 from the supplier who originally quoted $4200.00, saving the owner builder $1480.00.

So yes, owner builders can and shohuld save money when building their own home.

Owner builders should save between 15% and 30% when building a custom home, however it is very difficult to compete with project builders who have their prices and margins trimmed to the bone.

A final note for anyine thinking of becoming an owner builder and building their own home;

On a standard home loan of $300,000 over 25 years at 7% interest, every dollar you save in the building of your own home will save you roughly the same amount in interest payments over the term of the loan, effectively doubling the savings.

Not bad hey?

Don’t forget to visit our website at www.ownerbuildercourses.com

Happy Building

Rick

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I am often asked how to put a value on owner builder works for the purpose of making an application to the relevant authority for the issue of an owner builder permit or licence.

Each of the states and territories have varying requirements on the value of works which require the applicant to hold an owner builder permit and in some cases determines whether or not an approved course is required.

Following is a recent question and my subsequent answer to a visitor to our website.

“Hello RIck, 

Please explain how a value of $11,000 or more is substantiated – see BSA statement below: 

 ”It is a requirement under the Queensland Building Services Authority Act 1991 (QBSA Act) that if you wish to

perform or coordinate domestic building work on your property for a single project of a value of $11,000 or more you must hold an owner builder permit.”

In other words, who will know if I submit a building application to the council, without a Owner Builder Permit, and the value turns out to be $12,000?

 I need to determine whether I need untertake an Owner Builder course.”

Hi Scott,

The value of the works are based on an estimation of what would be fair and reasonable costs for labour and materials if it were completed by a licensed contractor.

 One of the ways they would determine this is through applying an appropriate square meter rate that would be typical for the type of project your are constructing.

 For example in the greater Brisbane region, it might be reasonable to estimate that a four bedroom home, brick veneer, tile and of traditional construction methods and average standard of finishes and fittings would cost $1250.00 per square meter for a builder to complete.

 So I guess they could, if they got serious about it, put the project out to tender to determine the value of the works.

 Keep in mind that extensions and renovations are generally more costly than new construction and that pergolas, decks, sheds etc may come down to $1000.00 per square meter or less depending on the type of construction.

 Hope this helps.

So, you see the authorities will check on your estimate of the value of works when you submit your plans for approval.

Remember, always err on the side of caution, you do not want to get off on the wrong foot with your council or local authority.

Best Regards and Happy Building

Rick

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We have been working on several areas and now offer each of our owner builder courses both on lin and in the more traditional hard copy version.

The price for our online courses will remain the same throughout 2010, with $117.00 in our opinioin being the best value owner builder course offered anywhere in Australia.

That is not to say we are the cheapest, we have never claimed to be, we know of one course out there that is available for about $85.00, but when you look at the additional content, resources and support we offer, we still believe our course to be the best value.

There is a lot of confusion out there at the moment about who needs to do a course and who does not.

The need to complete a recognised owner builder course depends basically on two things:

1) Which State or Territory you are building in, and

2) The value of the proposed work that will be covered by the owner builder permit.

At this time, there are only three states or territories where you need to complete a mandatory approved course, they are New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.

Our owner builder courses are approved in Queensland and New South Wales by the relevant authority and we are at present working with the Land and Planning Authority in the ACT to get approval to provide an approved course that will be recognised by them.

This new owner builder course for the ACT will be submitted for approval mid January so wach this space if you are considering owner building in our capital.

Hard copy correspondence courses are now available for all states at $177.00, the additional $60.00 over the online course proce covers our production and administrative fees such as, printing, postage and hand marking of the assessment once it is submitted.

Correspondence students have access to all the online materials, resources and support, but we have been asked to make the hard copy version available for those of you who are not that comfortable learnining on a computer.

Why do an owner builder course if you are building in a state or territory where it is not mandatory?

Simply because our courses are more thatn just tick box exercises to get you through the owner builder application.

Each of our courses is designed and delivered in two parts:

1) Covering the legal aspects and responsibilities of owner building in you particular state or territory.

2) Giving you skills, knowledge and resources to manage you owner builder project effectively, covering the important areas of:

• Contract Administration
• Working with Consultants/Professionals
• Workplace Health and Safety
• Plan Reading and Baasic Estimating
• Design
• On Site and Off Site Administration
• Tendering and
• Scheduling

Each of these area is covered and you are introduced to the basics to provide an awareness of your roles and responsibilities as an owner builder.

We give you access to tools such as forms, letters, registers and schedules to assist you to keep track of your project and to help you have the best owner builder experience.

I hope this has answered some of the questions that many of you are asking and I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and everyone of you a Happy New Year.

Best Regards and Happy Building

Rick

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Owner Building permits issued nationwide were at the lowest level for many years with an average 20% drop experienced in most states.

Good news is, the outlook is for an improving economy, higher levels of activity in the residential building sector and an anticipated return to higher numbers of people taking on projects as owner builders.

What have we got in store for you in 2010?

Glad you asked, we have been qorking behind the scenes to develop even more owner building resources to assist our students and our clients to get the most from their projects.

In the first couple of weeks of February we will roll out a new website which will give online access to our Owner Builder Project and Safety Management Systems. This will stop you having to download an .exe file and will gie you the opportunity to print the resource right off the screen.

More video tutorials are under development with the first due for release in a couple of weeks, it will focus on the general application process for obtaining an owner builder permit and will consider the differing requirements of each of the states and territories.

Look out for some great offers and deals that we are putting together with suppliers that will provide access to a range of building materials, goods and services at discounted prices.

Another focue will be on the continued growth of our Owner Builder Forum and the associated community. This has been disappointing slow, but we will try to get more involved over the coming months, so please if you are an existing student check it out.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to stop by and check out the latest post, we wish you a very succesful year and all the best in your owner builder endeavours.

As always, our primary goal is to provide the very best in owner builder courses and resources.

Happy Building,

Rick Heaton

Technorati Tags: owner builder, owner builder courses, owner building, owner building courses

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

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