As many of us find ourselves homebound indefinitely, you may be putting on pause that custom home or multi-unit development project you were hoping to start on in 2020. But if you have the financial means, you shouldn’t. You should harness this extra time to get on top of all the crucial planning and paperwork that goes into building.
There are a lot of important decisions that go into perfecting a build, and now is the time to make measured, thoughtful choices and undertake the sometimes long process of obtaining council planning permits. This way, you’ll be extremely organised when building your new home in the future, which will make the construction process far simpler and more stress-free.
Get on top of permits and paperwork
One aspect of a build that clients rarely consider is the process of completing paperwork, receiving planning permits and obtaining council approval. This can be a very timing consuming and drawn-out process, with some planning permits taking more than six months to obtain. So, it’s important to get on top of this early in the process, even if you don’t want to begin your build right away. In most councils, these permits are valid for two years, so you won’t need to worry about potential construction delays due to Coronavirus. Now is also a great time to put in your application as councils are less busy and far more responsive to development applications.
The City of Melbourne has put together a comprehensive checklist that breaks down the permit process if you’re unsure. At RODA, you can be assured that we’ll be with you every step of the way, guiding and assisting you throughout this process.
Focus on design
Once you’ve made the important decision about which builder you want to work with and started on the paperwork and permits involved in your project, you should dive straight into the design. This part of the building process can be time consuming and involve a lot of back-and-forth between yourself, your designer and your builder. Importantly, you don’t want to make any rushed decisions.
At RODA, we offer a Design + Build service which streamlines the building process for our clients. This means that you’ll be working with one, centralised team throughout both the design and construction of your home, which will mean far more open communication, increased cohesiveness between council, designers and builders, and less stress for you.
Broken down, this process involves our clients supplying a brief, a budget and a wish list and RODA selecting a design team that will work through every aspect of design – whether it be for a custom home or a multi-unit development project. Then our builders will step in and work with the design team to create a preliminary plan, which will be used to receive council approval. Once we have all the correct approvals and permits, we’re ready to begin construction!
Have any questions about starting on your building project in 2020? Get in touch with us at RODA today.
