THE BUILDING PROCESS
1. Talk to your lender
Before embarking on the process of finding your dream home, understanding your finance options is critical. Your lender will assist you in this first critical step.
2. Decide on Land and Design
Firstly do you own, or are you in the process of buying a block of land yet?
If you do, that’s great. Bring in a copy of the land details (SP or DP – Disclosure Plan) so we can help you decide on a design that will fit your block, taking into account your budget, design needs and developer and local council setback requirements.
If you haven’t decided on your land as yet, we are more than happy to help provide you with some general advice to assist you in your block selection. Some things we will discuss include:
• What is your total budget for house and land
• How much is the land you might be looking at
• What sort of home are you after – to ensure your “house budget” that you have allowed will be a realistic budget
• What site conditions “may” impact on your budget – soil conditions, slope, possible retaining walls etc.
• What are the developers covenant issues – how will they affect you and your budget?
• What setback, design guidelines, building envelope issues from the developer and local council may affect your home design or
house siting.
• Helping you understand all these issues will save you time and money and make the process of building a new home much simpler for you to undertake.
Better still ask us about some of our House and Land Packages that are ready to be built – this could save you lots of time and we have such a large selection of packages and areas to choose from.
How long will this take? – this really depends on you.
3. Finalise Inclusions and Facade choice
Once you have decided on your home design, now is the time to start thinking about “what level of inclusions” do I want to fit my home out with ? You will also start to think about the type of façade you want (ie what will my home look like from the street frontage?)
These modifications and associated extra costs will be discussed with you by one of our sales consultants. It is at this point that we get you to pay an ‘Initial Deposit¹ as a new client to our business. This initial deposit will vary depending on the house range you have selected.
This initial deposit will cover our costs associated with obtaining external reports that provide information on your block of land (see below). This deposit also enables us to price the home design on your block of land (taking into account “site conditions”) and then factoring in any additional costs associated with inclusions that you may have requested above and beyond our standard specification.
External reports that we need to order and pay for on your behalf include –
• Soil Test and Wind Rating
• Contour Survey
• Site Inspection by our site supervisor
• Sewer Assessment
How long will this take?
Again this largely depends on you, in regards to the level of inclusions you want in your new home. But while we are discussing all this we can order the external reports, which will take about 2 weeks from the day you pay your initial deposit with us.
4. Contract Document (Gets Ordered)
Once we have supplied you with a written quote on the works to complete your new home on your block of land and you are happy to proceed, we then prepare a Build Contract for you.
Misa Constructions utilises the HIA Building Contract (QC1) as this contract is widely accepted in the industry as the premiere housing contract that protects the interests of both builder and the new home owner.
This contract will be accompanied by –
• Floor Plan
• Elevation
• Site Plan
• Specification
• Termite Protection Advice
• Sustainability Declaration
How long will this take?
The Contract Documents generally take 3 working days to prepare and post out.
5. Contract Document (Gets Signed)
Once you have received the Build Contract, you will need to peruse this with your sales consultant and once you are happy to go ahead then all you need do is sign in all the applicable areas.
Please do not date the contract (we do this when the contract is returned to us for co-signing). It is at this point that we get you to pay the full deposit² with your signed contract.
This deposit is the full 5% of the contract value less the “initial deposit” paid. At times we may waiver the right to collect the full deposit UNTIL such stage that you have your
official finance approval in place – it just helps you lower your outgoings until all your finance is in order. Please be aware that if we do allow you to delay the full deposit until finance is in place, that the next actions with your file (ie ordering working drawings,
lodging plans for BA approval etc) will not occur until such deposit has been received by us as the builder.
You will be only required to sign ONE contract – upon the return of this document to our office we will Co-Sign and Date the contract. We will scan a copy and email it to you for your records / finance purposes.
How long will this take?
It will take you about 20 minutes to sign the contract. Paying the deposit is best done by EFT into our bank account (ask us for our bank details). Getting your finance pre-approved can take some time – talk to your bank about this one.
6. Get your Finance approved and
pay the Balance of 5% of the Contract Value
Once we have co-signed your build contract we will scan a copy back to you for your records. If you are obtaining bank funds for the build contract please email them a copy of this executed build contract so that your lending institution can finalise a FORMAL loan offer for you.
Once you are in receipt of this financial lending offer please send a copy of this into Misa Constructions – if you haven’t already paid us the balance of the full deposit of 5%, you will need to do so now. If your bank facility is paying these monies, make sure your lending authority has a copy of our builders 5% invoice so they can pay it on your behalf.
How long will this take?
This will depend on you and your bank.
7. Working Drawings are finalised
Once we have your signed contract and builders 5% deposit we will have our drafting department finalise the working drawings of your new home.
How long will this take?
This generally takes two (2) weeks.
8. (part i) – Engineering Ordered
Once our drafting department has completed your working drawings, we will send these plans off to the external engineer for them to complete the Engineering reports on your home (slab design, footing details etc)
How long will this take?
This generally takes 1 week to receive.
8. (part ii) – Colour Selection
At the same time that we order your Engineering, we will issue a full set of your working drawings, specification, and copy of your Contract Documentation to our Colour Coordinator.
Once our Colour Coordinator receives this information, they will call you to make a time to meet with you and help you complete this documentation.
How long will this take?
This generally takes 3 to 4 hours to complete with our Colour Coordinator.
8. (part iii) – Submit BUILDING APPLICATION (BA)
Another step that happens at the same time that we receive your working drawings, is we send a copy of these to our private certifier and your local council authority, so that they may
commence works on your BA and Plumbing & Drainage Approvals.
How long will this take?
This generally takes 3 to 4 weeks to receive BA and Plumbing approvals (dependant upon the local authority time frames).
9. (part i) – Final Working Drawings – known as Construction Drawings
Once the Engineering is returned to our office and we are in RECEIPT of your approved BA our drafting department will consolidate any changes that may be required for compliance and produce what we call the Final Working Drawings.
A copy of these will be sent to you for your perusal and signature.
HOW LONG WILL THIS TAKE?
This generally takes up to a week.
9. (part ii) – Finance and ACC (Authority to Commence Construction)
At the same time that we get the BA approval back from the private certifier / local council authority, we send a copy of your BA to your financial institution (if you are borrowing money). We then require the financial body to issue us with an ACC.
How long will this take?
This can take your lending institution up to 2 weeks to furnish us with an ACC.
10. Site Start (Letter)
Once our office is in receipt of your BA, ACC and we have any / all variations signed and returned to our office we will issue you a Site Start Letter. This letter will nominate the date construction of your home will begin on your block of land.
How long will this take?
This is issued within 24 hours of receiving all the information required as outlined above. The HIA contract stipulates that we as the builder must ‘commence 12 step process works – Site Start’ within 4 weeks of all of this information being received, however we will endeavour to site start within 2 weeks from this date. We need this time to prepare your construction file, print out the first initial orders, brief your site supervisor etc.
11. Site Start (Construction begins )
Your new home construction now BEGINS!
We have a guaranteed construction period of 14 weeks⁴.
Your nominated Site Supervisor will meet you on your block of land, prior to the site being cut. This meeting is to brief you on the process and discuss any site issues that may need addressing.
Your site supervisor will be in constant contact with you. In fact they will ensure you receive bi-weekly calls or emails (whichever is your preferred method) in order to update you on the progress of your new home. Our office will issue regular emails that contain current photos, showcasing progress on your new home, as a matter of courtesy.
To ensure your new home is built to the highest standard we do quality audits throughout the construction of your new home. When we have finished the construction of your home, we invite you to attend a “final walkthrough” inspection of the home with your Site Supervisor. This walk through enables you to inspect your new home and discuss any items that may need addressing by our construction team prior to you moving in.
Once this walk through is done and we have rectified any outstanding issues, we proceed to ‘Handover’ the home to you. This is done by your Site Supervisor, who books a time with you to perform the actual ‘handover’. Please make sure that either on or before this date, that you have paid the FINAL progress payment to Misa Constructions – otherwise the keys won’t be able to be handed over to you on the day!!
We are now handing over your brand new home – enjoy and all the very best to you and your family!
12. Maintenance Period
You can rest assured that Misa Constructions’ service to you will continue even after the construction process has finished. We are committed to helping you settle into your new home and to make this process a smooth and enjoyable one.
We will provide you with a maintenance service for the first six months after handover. During this time, all you need to do is record any items you feel need attention and we’ll inspect and address these items at the end of the first six months in your new home.