WTF

Nusteel has now informed us that due to the requirement of the CFS a new council application must be submitted and assessed from scratch for this portion of the development.
We asked Nusteel to submit changes requested by the CFS with our original development application. They refused saying it would be handled by variations to the existing application.
We had not even seen the changes they were proposing that now require another application to Council.

We are gobsmacked and considering our position.

'Misunderstandings'

Nusteel told us they had a meeting with Adelaide Hills Council today at 1 pm with specific people. I rang one of those people at the Council and he indicated there was no such meeting scheduled. He also checked the calendars of his colleagues and supervisor and also found so no such meeting scheduled.
When C rang Nusteel back with this information the Contract Administrator, Tracey said "that's what they told me".
We are starting to have grave doubts about the integrity of this company since we have now had several instances of these types of 'misunderstandings' with them.
What sort of home building process are we in for when we cannot rely on the information supplied to us by our builder? How do we know whether they will build a sound, structurally up to standard home if we are having so much difficulty getting to the point of even starting to build?
I am now seeking advice from Government agencies as to what our next steps should be. I honestly hope that Nusteel lifts their game and we can get our dream home happening but it's not looking good right now!

Really sick of Nusteel's lack of response

It seems like Nusteel has a policy of never responding to an email or phone call on the same day or next day or even in several days. It also requires several requests to get a response. We certainly haven't ever had a response from them within 24 hours or from a single request or email for at least the last year of our dealings with them. This is so frustrating and makes us dread what the building process will be like, if it ever starts that is!

Still Waiting For Nusteel

We are STILL waiting for Nusteel to supply changes and information requested by council. We have been trying to find out why we are still waiting for a week now. C has sent them four emails and phoned them 4 times too with no return responses letting us know what is going on. We are starting to wonder why Nusteel is not responding to our communication. We have started to speculate the worst.

:o(

Why are we wai-ting
Why-y are we wai-ting
Why are we wai-ai-ting
Why, why why?????

Yes Folks we are STILL waiting!!!

Nusteel finally managed, last Friday (so they tell us), to submit information requested by council  several weeks ago. Nusteel are blaming their engineers for the delay. Council has always promised processing within 5 days if they have the information they need so maybe... just maybe we might be getting somewhere. *big sigh*

Gosh I hope Nusteel aren't this slow when it comes to actually building the house - after all the media is full of stories about how the building industry is crying out for work at the moment!!!

Again with the waiting.....

....and waiting....and waiting. I should be better at it by now! We are expecting building rules approval any day now and that will mean we can actually start breaking ground to build! It'll be pretty exciting when it finally happens I'm telling you!
C is thinking he'll start putting up our 'safety fence' (to stop any debris descending the hill and surprising the neighbours) this Friday - which is very brave of him in my opinion! :)

Bugga!

Well it seems we will not be moving into our new house this year.

Following Planning Commission approval we've now met with NuSteel to try to get things moving on this project to build a house on a hill. The next step is Building Rules Consent. Quite some time has elapsed since we signed our contract so NuSteel wanted a meeting to consolidate where we stand in the process.

NuSteel has indicated some price rises in the time since we signed the contract (in excess of a year ago) and also changes in their suppliers whose selections they had us do very early in the process. We have negotiated with NuSteel on the variations they requested - indeed the price rises they indicated seemed very large by percentage of the original cost, even considering the period of time that has elapsed. Fortunately they have been open to negotiation with some of these variations.

The company being contracted to provide the joinery (cupboards, benches etc) has changed but fortunately have all  the same fittings we have chosen and this will therefore mean our original selections are fine (thank heavens for this - didn't relish designing a new kitchen again!)

The only other changes to be incorporated in our plans at this stage were generated by the CFS BAL rating report and involved maintaining a larger stock water volume for firefighting (we elected to get larger tanks) and providing a turn-around as part of our driveway to enable vehicles to exit the property facing forward.

NuSteel have elected to submit their request incorporating these minor changes to their contractors to prepare Civil Plans this coming Monday so this means a period of 2 weeks will elapse between obtaining Planning Commission Approval and commencing the process of creating Civil Plans for submission for Building Rules Consent. It's difficult not to be impatient after waiting so long already but it is certainly starting to seem like we are progressing towards a build.

NuSteel has said they will commence building at the beginning of July and that completion is likely to be in January 2013. We have elected to hire our own earthworks contractor (the especially helpful individual mentioned earlier in this blog) so we've asked him to schedule us in for June. NuSteel has indicated they will meet with him to ensure we're all on the same page.

Now is also the time that we have notified the company providing our waste management system (another one of those helpful individuals I mentioned earlier) that commencement is imminent in the hopes that we can coordinate the beginnings of this project without too many delays.

It's kind of exciting and kind of frustrating at the same time to have progress and an end date that is so far away - but an end date nevertheless! To allay our frustrations we've been searching for light fittings for our new house and have ordered our external light fittings, our FIRST actual purchase of fittings for Teringatu! Yay!!!

 

Wooo Hooo! Planning Commission Development Approval is in da house!

So we finally have both Council Planning Approval and Development Assessment Unit Planning Commission Approval after what has now been over a year since our initial submission to Council! It certainly feels like a milestone that has taken a lot of time and effort to reach.

It also means we are getting close to actually starting to build this house of ours. The next hurdle is to get Nusteel to submit civil drawings for Building Rules Consent. Nusteel were notified last Friday 11th May, so now we wait to see how long they will take to prepare and submit the plans. Council have indicated that after submission Building Rules Consent is processed in five days and after that we can start to build! It's starting to get kind of exciting but oh the waiting!!!!!

Council Planning Approval...

Once we had approval for our Waste Management System (in January 2012) the process to Council approval was straightforward. We were required to obtain a 'Statement of Support' and a 'Statement of Effect' prepared by a qualified Planner for submission to the Council. Once again we were lucky enough to find a professional Planner who was helpful and efficient and kept all his promises with regard to timeframes for delivery of his reports (the latter is rare and was greatly appreciated following the delays we have experienced so far - once again contact details available on request). Next Council advertises the project for community feedback as is required for non complying developements such as ours. One representation was received which was answered by our planner who had done our Statement of Effect etc. Next was the Council meeting which assessed our application in light of the recommendations of council staff to approve. We attended this meeting and were asked a few questions by the chair of the meeting and then after in-private deliberations Council Planning Approval was granted in April 2012 . Our initial application was submitted April 2011 but most of the year in between was spent finding the waste management system (see previous post).

Council has specified a requirement for a Soil Erosion and Drainage Management Plan prepared by a suitably qualified person for soil management during the build and has now forwarded our application to the State Government Planning Authority as is also required for a non complying development. We have been told this process takes 10 weeks and are waiting with baited breath.........

The Poo Problem...

Our block has electrical services and mains water available but no sewer connection so onsite waste disposal was our next challenge. Due to the steep terrain a standard septic tank is not allowed by the Council or Health Department regulations so we set about looking at the aerobic management systems that are required to meet regulation criteria. Some are assessed by Council and what are known as 'alternative' waste management systems must be assessed by the South Australian Department of Health. It appeared that the most common systems were the BioCycle or the RiTreat however we also found a system based around a worm farm that we considered more effective in that it didn't need to be sludge pumped on a reguar schedule. Aerobic systems like the BioCycle and the RiTreat also required quarterly maintenance contracts and the retailer for the worm farm system we looked at was willing to train us as registered providers to do our own quarterly maintenance checks.The firm in question (Biolytix) seemed to offer an environmentally friendly and effective system that would suit us 'down to the ground' (pun intended :) ) Unfortunately Biolytix went into liquidation not long thereafter :( ) Back to the drawing board.

We were sold on the wormfarm idea so looked for alternatives based on the same premise and found another company interstate that also manufacture and install a worm farm based waste management system.

We unfortunately made the mistake of trusting that the companies that manufacture and install these systems could adequately advise us about whether or not their systems would meet with Council and Health Department approval. This is emphatically not the case. It took the wasted expenditure of another soil test and a doomed from the start application (with the associated dollars) to learn this lesson. Our advice would be to meet in person with relevant staff at both the local Council and the Department of Health to seek their advice of the options out there for these systems and which ones may actually be suitable. They obviously cannot recommend particular manufacturers or sytems but they can make you aware of what systems are available and supply a lot of other useful information. Ultimately the onsite waste dispersal was our main issue due to the slope of the land and finding a solution to this particular problem took a lot of work, research and frustrating discrepencies in information to sort through. Do not rely on the sellers of these systems to advise you - look to your council, the Department of Health and a suitably qualified Engineer to find a solution. Your system will require (after recent legislation changes) ratification by a Geotechnical Engineer before it will obtain approval anyway. I stress speaking to the Coumcil officers and Health Department Officers in person if you can. They have invaluable information and anecdotal experience that cannot be imparted in emails and phone calls. Had we done this before relying on the manufacturers we would have saved ourselves an enormous amount of frustrating and time consuming mistakes.

Some way into this process we did happen upon another one of those professionals who likes to talk and is helpful and happy to pass on the benefit of vast experience in their field. As with our earth moving contractor - people like this waste management expert seem to revel in going above and beyond in terms of the information and help they can give. (We're happy to pass on names for those that enquire about these marvellous people). Finding a professional like this would be the second most helpful advice we can offer with regard to finding a waste management system. Finally with the help of this professional we found a suitable sytem that had a disperal field that would cope with the extreme slope of our block. We settled on an Ozzi Kleen with a drip dispersal field. There was a little time involved in refining this system to meet the standard for ratification by a Geotechnical Engineer however once we were talking to the right people the solution became much clearer and progress toward approval much easier. Finding this system has been our single largest impediment and has taken the most time in the Planning Approval process.

The soil...

As part of the process of settling and signing off plans and contracts we needed to get a soil test done on the block. This is always required by the builder to assess and accurately cost footings for the home. As the block had no vehicle access due to the contour of the land from the road we contacted two earth moving contractors that seemed to be local and work in the general area. In doing so we were fortunate to meet a gentleman from the area (Steve) who proved to be invaluable. He was happy to talk and advise us and had extensive experience of earthworks in the specific area. He didn't mind reviewing our plans and giving his opinion and examples of other developments. He seemed to want to go out of his way to help us get it right - all before we'd even engaged him to do anything! If you're lucky enough to happen upon individuals like this, grab them and don't let go! (We are happy to refer you on to him after checking it's ok with him). Steve dumped some clean fill on the block to enable vehicle access and we decided that we would engage him to do earthworks on the block for the building of our home. Nusteel is flexible in this way if you want to arrange portions of your build yourself.

After the soil test was complete it was evident that while the block is a difficult one, the build using a steel frame in the manner of a pole frame home was particularly suited to the block with is shallow bedrock. (Yay - a small win! We'll see how this pans out when it actually comes to digging!)

With the contract quoted and signed off it was now time for us to look at the waste management system for our house since council requires a ratified on site disposal system.

Next Step - Find a builder...

We were lucky enough to have inherited plans for a previously approved development on our block that had never gone ahead. This was fortunate because it gave us a bit of a head start as to what placement would be most cost effective on the block with it's 1:3 slope. We decided the proposed development was not a good sized home for us but looked for plans that would have a similar footprint.

Most of the builders we approached just shook their heads and told us not to buy the block when we showed them our contour drawings. By necessity (due to our budget) we were approaching project builders rather than those that create custom homes from scratch. We briefly looked at the latter option but it was clear early on that it was outside our budget.

We became aware that concerns for bushfire protection would also dictate what could be placed on the block or at least what materials could be used. We thought that a steel frame home might be a good option but looked at hundreds of plans.

Finally we decided on a design by Nusteel Homes that could be modified to suit us and the block. The staff at Nusteel seemed keen to help and were not put off by the sloping block so we settled on a version of their plan called the Wilderness which we modified to be a 3 bedroom home and therefore fit across the block - maximising views to the back in 2 living areas and the master bedroom.

We liked the display home and its finishes as well which helped us to make our decision. Display homes are in general rather misleading though and in spite of several verbal assurances to the contrary the display home spec was not the same as the specs that we were given. Most finishes that are seen in display homes are NOT included in the quoted prices for the home. I had made a point of asking Nusteel staff about this 3 times and was told that the display home was an exact representation of the specification we wished to buy. The builder then changed over their staff and that assurance went out of the window. Be aware that no matter what you are told - if it's not written down in the spec with the contract it is not included in the price. Never think "oh we discussed that - they said it was included". If it's not written down in the contract it's not included.

Your builder should give you a contract and drawings for your prospective home prior to your signing this binding contract to build. It is important to make sure that everything you want is included in the plans and specification that forms a part of the contract. We felt this was important and sent the plans and contract back several times to get inclusions stated within it. A verbal assurance of a change or inclusion for your home is NOT reliable so make sure you understand and document exactly what is included. Everything else will incur extra charges. Even builders that say they have a fixed price contract will have variations and finish selections that will be sent to you with a bill in addition to the contract price if they were not documented in the initial contract. We first contacted Nusteel in around July 2010 and finally signed a contract in January 2011. Admittedly Christmas and changes in staff at Nusteel did delay this a little.

 

 

In the beginning.....

Once upon a time an average Adelaide couple decided that their current house was just a bit too small and just a bit too.... suburban and started to look for an alternative.

Yes folks - that's us - me being an IT Support Officer henceforth known as 'M' and he a Volunteer Transport Coordinator henceforth known as 'C'.

We had decided that if we were going to move house we wanted a bit more space than our current courtyard home in South Western Adelaide and we wanted a less suburban outlook. We househunted existing homes for a while and came to the conclusion that we weren't going to find what we wanted and decided to look for land to build.

First of all there was a block at Highbury that we had our eye on and we even got permission from the Realtor to do a soil test. We were disappointed that he did not inform us when the property was sold (we'd actually had the test done after he'd sold the property to someone else unbeknown to us!)

That was lesson one! ($900 ish down the drain.... cha ching!)

Next we found a block of land in Teringie. It was a little over 2,000 square metres and a lovely bush block but VERY steeply sloped. Our common sense (and everyone else we mentioned it to) said 'run away, run away, it's too difficult' but romantic souls that we are we decided to take a chance and make an offer and so began the adventure of Teringatu.