The End Is In Site
Angela Penfold concludes her four-part series on the
Steps To Achieving A Successful New-Build Property Project
ONCE YOU HAVE FINALISED your design, and submitted your planning application, the next step is to prepare your building warrant application. This is where you specify how you propose to build the house and requires a considerable amount of technical input.
This is an area where you will need professional assistance of some kind as there are a lot of building regulations that need to be met and new rules and requirements are coming in all the time. Everything from insulation levels to disabled access needs to be addressed. Your local Building Control office will be able to offer advice; it is they who will grant the building warrant approval and carry out site inspections at various stages of the build. They will also issue the final Completion Certificate once everything is completed to their satisfaction. |
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If your site does not already have services, you should apply as early as possible as this can take some time to organise, as I have mentioned before. You should have established the situation with regards to drainage when you were considering the purchase of your site. If for some reason you have not checked this out, you should contact SEPA as soon as possible to be sure that there is not a problem, whether you plan to use the public system or have a private septic tank.
Once your building warrant application has been approved you are essentially ready to go on site. By now you will of course already have decided how you plan to go about your build process. You may be planning to self-build, bringing in separate trades as and when required or you may wish to appoint a main contractor through the Tender process. If you plan to use a main contractor, you should ask around and try to get someone recommended, and also ask to see one of their completed projects.
You should also hopefully have thought about how the build is to be managed. You may feel confident to project-manage yourself, or you may consider appointing a professional such as an architect to provide this service. If you have been working with architects to produce your design and prepare your planning and warrant applications, then you are likely to have discussed appointing them to see the project through to completion. Alternatively, there are professional Project Managers who will quote you a fee to manage things for you.
It is not unusual for changes to be made once you start building; you may decide once you start seeing things take shape, that you want to slightly alter a room size or layout for instance. There are usually cost implications to any changes that you choose to make and you should be sure of getting a written quote for any changes or ‘extras’ to the original plans before any work is done. It is very easy for a project to suddenly start going over budget if you do not keep a close eye on the financial side of the project. You should also be sure that any changes you are considering do not have a detrimental effect elsewhere, which may in turn have further cost implications.
Although this may all sound a bit daunting and complicated, the key is good management and a tight rein on the finances. If you can master this, the whole process can be very exciting and incredibly rewarding.
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