Whether it involves, extending, building or even renovating your own home, you can’t deny that there are obvious advantages to doing the job on your own. If you happen to be a sure shot expert or qualified tradie for that matter, that is even better. Not only do you get to save money on labour and other related aspects, but you can also oversee every aspect of the job yourself. Not to mention the fact that you can also be rather flexible with the timeline aspect as well.
Whether you happen to be a tradie renovating his home, a landowner or a registered builder, in all three cases, you fit the definition of owner builder. Additionally, one also needs to remember that amongst all of the factors to be kept in mind, owner builder insurance is one of the most important. Insurance is one particular aspect that you will have to keep in mind at all times.
Regardless of which specific category of home builder you might fall under, there is a great deal of responsibility on your shoulders as a whole. From organising permits and inspections, to checking the licenses of specialist contractors, as well as managing the aspects of safety and general work health on the site.
Getting hold of a permit and its rules:
The basic owner builder permit rules do tend to differ from place to place. This is because of certain aspects, like the market value of the work, the specific type of structures being renovated or built, as well as the level of training required.
However, if you don’t happen to be a registered builder, you will firstly need to figure out whether your work itself requires you to apply for an owner builder permit. That is the first essential step. In certain areas, when the value of the building work happens to be above a certain amount of money, you’ll be needing a certificate of consent. In this particular regard, you will have to do a bit of homework in order to find out the exact parameters, especially since they tend to differ from place to place.
A proper checklist of specific considerations:
Some of these considerations are :-
– Getting the proper planning permits from the local council
– Making sure that you hire licensed contractors
– Double checking on whether you’ve completed the required training
– Arranging building inspections at all the relevant stages
– Making sure that you keep up with any changes to state-based regulations
– Keeping the aspect of insurance in mind, both during and after the project.
The aspect of training:
Training does help indeed. Why? Mainly because you will require a general construction induction card given by a registered training organisation. This is mainly due to the fact that you will be responsible for workplace safety and health in an operational construction zone.
With regard to the above list, you simply cannot afford to forget the fact that most owner builder projects across the board are heavily regulated in some way or the other. Hence, the onus is on you to keep in mind at all times, the aspect of each and every territory and state having their own permission systems. This particular aspect is crucial, as it could be the very deciding factor of whether or not your particular contract comes through.
Just remember – there are many benefits to taking on a project as an owner builder, but you need to be well aware of your legal responsibilities as well as well-informed at the very planning stages itself. Those two aspects are key.
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