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With over 75% of South Australia’s population living in Adelaide, a city that is regularly voted as one of the most liveable cities in the world, it should come as no surprise that reports say Adelaide’s building and construction industry is absolutely booming. According to building approval data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, building of private homes in South Australia was worth over $2billion in 2016.
South Australia is currently undergoing huge changes, with National, Regional and Local bodies investing in urban development, particularly in Adelaide. So, electing to build your home in the area has long term advantages, but there are a few things to look out for.
Registered Builders
In South Australia builders are required to be registered builders and have a current building license. In addition, most good builders will also join Master Builders SA and have the logo displayed. If you’re looking at getting any building work done that will require building consent from your local council, you will need to ensure that the person doing your building work – whether a completely new build or just alterations to your current building – is registered with a current building license in South Australia.
As well as the Master Builders association, builders can be part of the Housing Industry Association, which is a national organisation that aims to help its members be up to date with every changing legal requirements, insurances, green initiatives and safety practices.
Building Consents
Before the first nail goes in it is a good idea to check with the City of Adelaide Council to determine what they require in order for you to get consent to undertake your building project. You can get more information from this link: https://www.cityofadelaide.com.au/planning-development/building-renovating/.
If you are looking at building a new home, your builder (or project manager) should be able to take care of this for you, but it always pays to check that there is nothing that you need to do in order to make things run smoother. If you are looking at renovation who is expected to put in the application for building consent will often depend on the type of renovation. If you make this one of the first questions you ask when looking hiring a builder, then you won’t find yourself suffering delays waiting for the council later on.
New Builds
You have decided you would rather have a brand-new building than renovate. This gives you a great range of scope to determine right from the start what you do and don’t want in your home. However, this also gives your builder the chance to up the costs, so you want to be very clear right from the start about what they will or will not include in the original price. Visit here to get an idea of what some builders will consider to be upgrades or add-ons, and what some will include in their pricing package. Other things you will need to decide on, beyond colour plans, might include:
- Type of exterior
- Insulation level
- Build in pantries and wardrobes
- Tiling in bathrooms and kitchens
- Appliances (if you are intending to install your own appliances double check that they will fit in the space being built)
- Floor type
Previous Work
What work are you undertaking? Has your builder done a similar design? If you are looking at building a beautiful new brick home, you ideally want someone who has worked with bricklayers and can make recommendations on how to make the project run smoothly. Most builders have websites or social media pages that display photographs of previous projects. However, don’t just take beautiful photography as the only reference, ask questions. If you’re looking at a firm, do they have a good reputation, do they offer a complete service from plans to landscaping (do you want this level of service?!), how many buildings are they working on at the moment? If you’re looking at a solo builder, do they have a go-to list of tradespeople that they have worked with or will you need to source plumbers, bricklayers, electricians, roofers etc yourself? Will you be expected to project manage the job or does your builder have enough experience to get on with the job?
