Site Costs article in New Home Buyer

Twelve years ago, there wasn’t really a statutory conditions section in most tenders. Despite the Housing Industry Association making one of its 2005 priorities to cut red tape, more laws and governing bodies continue to be created, and litigation is becoming more commonplace. Builders must assess each site and decide not only how to build the best home on the land, but also how to make that home safe, environmentally friendly and as complementary to the existing streetscape as possible.

The legislation everyone’s talking about at the moment is BASIX. Introduced in July 2004, BASIX is state government legislation that aims to ensure that new dwellings in NSW use far less water and energy than the average existing home. Data about the planned home (including its size, window areas, roof colour) is entered into an online planning tool which then predicts how much energy and water the home will use. If these amounts meet or exceed the targets, then a BASIX certificate, required for council submission, will be issued. Generally, BASIX creates one major extra cost for the homeowner – a water tank which collects the rain of the roof. This water is then used to flush the house’s toilets and provide water to the laundry and garden taps. The size, position and cost of the tank will depend on the size of the home and the block of land. In addition to the water tank, some homes are also requiring extra insulation, window glazing or sarking to ensure their thermal efficiency. Because of the time, detail and expertise needed to use the BASIX tool, all builders are meeting the estimating challenges of BASIX differently. Some are putting the same provisional allowance into every tender they create, and are only attempting to create a BASIX certificate once the client has paid the plan preparation fee. Others are completing a BASIX certificate and listing the additional requirements in every tender.

WorkCover is the authority working to achieve safer work places in NSW. Some tragic accidents on construction sites have resulted in increasingly strict WorkCover requirements being enforced within the building industry. WorkCover’s December 2004 Safe Work on Roofs Code of Practice is a good example of the greater emphasis now being placed on safety during even minor residential projects. Whilst scaffolding has always been necessary on two-storey homes, WorkCover now requires all roofs to have some form of fall barrier around their edge. This means even tenders to build single-storey homes will now include extra charges for roof guardrails or scaffolding. WorkCover also requires the construction site to be inaccessible to everyone except those licensed to work on the job – including the owners. This is why most tenders will include a charge for a temporary construction fence.

In addition to these state government regulations, there will also be statutory requirements which more specifically affect your block. Many of these will be dependant on your local council. Councils like Sydney’s City of Canada Bay insist on a landscaping plan prepared by a landscape architect being submitted as part of the development application. Other councils, anxious to correct the mistakes of the past, are very concerned with how stormwater will leave the property, and may ask for reports from a hydraulic engineer and features like retention tanks and detention pits in order to control the flow of water incorporated a part of your new house.

Other costs will result from your block’s position in relation to environmental features. For instance, if your land is near bushland, it may be considered bushfire prone. If you’re close to a creek or lake, you may be classified as part of a one in one hundred year flood zone. Your council should be able to clarify these issues for you. Most people are well aware that they live in a flight path – the persistent drone of planes overhead would be your first clue. Each of these conditions will entail extra costs – whether they be mesh guards in your gutters to help prevent flammable materials from gathering there, lifting the house above water level to prevent flooding or double glazing the windows so you can hear yourself think over the planes.