Back in the dark ages ,many kiwis built their own homes, and by that i mean physically doing it yourself, hammering in the nails, cutting the timber, digging the foundations etc, How many MB members are actually doing that at the moment,( or in the near past or future) ?
golfaholic2,
Feb 27, 4:28pm
Getting towards the end of my build .
nzshooter01,
Feb 27, 4:48pm
Complicated a bit nowdays by the need to be a LBP to build anything like a house
wind.turbine,
Feb 27, 6:28pm
no its not. one can still build as an owner build with no LBP . my parents have nearly finished their owner build, 90% done by them and me, with only needing the odd qualified trade to do the major parts of plumbing, electrical, we have done most of that stuff to with the tradies happy to check it over, do final hook ups/pressure tests, run gas lines ect then sign off. keep in mind though it really depends on how practical the plumbers and electricians think you are and if they feel you have the knowledge, any doubt they just say no and will do that side of it.
Have passed every inspection with no faults at all and the inspectors recon that most owner builds are of a much better quality than most builders that they are inspecting their work. Have had one LBP that the old man knows well come and give advice here and there but mostly been a full proper owner build.
nzshooter01,
Feb 27, 7:40pm
Yes you are correct, with the proper forms filled out you are good to go, Re your comment on owner builders being the bees knees when it comes to building houses, i supose a chippe with yrs of experience counts for nothing, im going to get some office worker to build my next house, building inspectors will love it
bergkamp,
Feb 27, 7:42pm
you still need an LBP builder to at least sign off and supervise the work . how did you manage this ?
nzshooter01,
Feb 27, 7:54pm
You will be surprised like i was to find you dont, You apply for an exemption when you get your consent, and its noted on the LIM, Then away you go Has to meet some critera, like its to be the owner builders own or family members house, and you can only do one evety 3 yrs
bergkamp,
Feb 27, 8:07pm
yes very surprised , i guess there is a lot of sense to it as the owner/builder is far more likely to not cut corners assuming he has the skills
bergkamp,
Feb 27, 8:11pm
i'm actually quite stunned , it affects me greatly as i can now consider letting my lbp lapse as i only need it for myself as an owner/builder . no more record of work , skills updating , subscription etc
golfaholic2,
Feb 27, 8:20pm
No you wont . the office worker can only build his own house .
Having 35 yrs in the trade has been a big help for me .
golfaholic2,
Feb 27, 8:22pm
Skill is one thing , speed is where the tradesman wins
trade4us2,
Feb 27, 10:05pm
I have done much work on two houses, but before LBPs were thought of. The building inspectors were happy with my work. I did have an architect, and paid electricians and plumbers.
nzshooter01,
Feb 28, 7:16am
I was taking the piss, 50 yrs in the trade here. I supose the difference is now days your run of themill house is more an assembley job,
lythande1,
Feb 28, 8:29am
LOl some people I know did it. on parents land. A barn house. well that was the plan. It wasn't square, no interior walls, a rope holding one corner in, etc. eventually another family member took it over and had builders fix it and finish it.
oh_hunnihunni,
Feb 28, 9:44am
Having renovated an older home that many previous owners had had a go at, I would have to say some owner builders are complete idiots.
in fairness yes there would be a lot of crap owner builds out there for sure! my family have had a fair bit to do with renovations/rebuilds over the years so do have a fair bit of building experience around the subject. The new build was a hell of an experience with all the new requirements for a new build but as long as you asked lots of questions and made sure to follow the plans to the letter then it will go well.
you are unlikely to get the average office worker wanting to take on a house build. Normally if someone has the guts to take on such a project then they have likely made sure that they feel they are fully up to the task and know what to do and what is required.
yes to the comment regarding time frame, it has taken more than twice as long as a builder would have taken but also keep in mind its been mostly done only on weekends.
Regarding to the comment about owner builds being better, we have been told by several inspectors that they don't tend to have to do re checks on owner builds due to an owner normally going over board, this of course does not normally happen though in every case.
My family have come from a rural background where you used to do everything yourself, if you didn't know how then it was not long before you did know how, not like people these days that cant even change a tyre!
tygertung,
Feb 28, 11:13am
What if someone built a simple rectangular house? It shouldn't be too tricky and one could use pre-fab framing and a high pitch roof.
golfaholic2,
Feb 28, 1:35pm
Who was the building inspector who signed off on that ?
sr2,
Feb 28, 6:20pm
Jeeze! I'm hoping there wasn't a 1st floor above it.
stevo2,
Feb 28, 6:30pm
At least that did last a number of years - unlike the deck photo I posted using H1.2 (interior only) timber for the framing
gsimpson,
Feb 28, 6:47pm
Having worked on projects in Queenstown as a tradesman it was interesting that the quality of the workmanship often depended on the quality of the project management. That also applies to the home builder. There was a period when I was working on 2 large projects at the same time. One had dedicated project manager the other utilised the head chippie. The first insisted all wiring etc went on ladder racks and be neat and tidy the other the wiring, plumbing and services were a random mess. I went to go up through a hatch and found a cats cradle of wires over the hole. A lot of the trades worked on both so it is clear many will be lazy if they can get away with it.
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