Even A Good Tradie Does His Homework!

Before starting up your new build, you must line up your team members. The most important part of your team is the trades responsible for works like carpentry, tiling, electrical, plumbing etc...

Few points one should consider before hiring any trades are mentioned below:

1. Recommendation - Before contacting any of the trades ask relatives and friends and seek information about those trades recommended by them. Most of the people prefer the recommended one.

In fact, many owner-builders have experience that recommended choices are always best.

2. Pricing can't be an only deciding factor - Yes, it is required that we should work according to our budget. But, it is not wise that due to a $100 difference you pick the wrong trade. So, it is always advisable that you choose your trades wisely and not only on the basis of money and your budget.

3. Be organised - The most important part of your job is to organise your site according to the order of trades. It helps with the timing of the trades and saves you from doing extra efforts and hard work.

4. Safety is paramount - If you have two or more tradies working together on your site, then it's your duty to keep the site safe and secure so as to avoid an accident.

If you do have tradies working next to other tradies, make sure their way is clean and enough space available for them to pass from.

5. Make Sure Your Trades Are On Time - There is no trick to keep your tradies other than being organized and communicating with each trade.

Here are some more tips for you:

1. Be patient with trades by giving them enough time to do their work.

2. Establish good relationships with your trades by keeping them happy!

3. Be fair and understanding. Regularly communicate with all trades.

4. Ask your trades about their charges whether they charge for an hour, a day, or takes a total charge.

There for it is advisable to do owner builder course to understand these aspects. So, if you are living in New South Wales (NSW) and is planning to be an owner builder then you should try owner builder courses in NSW.

Tips for Owner Builders in Victoria

Being an owner builder in Victoria has its own set of perks. You can supervise the work on your land for yourself. Expenses over labours are cut off and you can be flexible with your timings. But, like there is always a bad side to something good, being owner builder has its own risk factors that need to be taken care of. Since changes in the state based regulations have been initiated, the job of an owner builder demands a lot of attention. You cannot go easy on important stuff and definitely cannot neglect them.

Given below are tips for owner builders in Victoria. They are as follows:

• Get a permit:

The norms set for getting an owner builder permit vary from state to state. These differences are mainly because of the variations in the market value of your property. It also depends upon factors like the training that you are required to do, whether it is you who shall live here after the work is done or you currently live there and also the number of permits that can be granted to individuals over a period of time. Now, if you are not a registered owner builder, then you need to check over that whether the work you’re about to carry out on that land requires an owner builder permit or not. In Victoria, a permit is mandatory if the expenses of your building work are more than $12,000.

• What to expect?

When you get an owner builder permit, you have a huge responsibility of your project on your shoulders. You function as a fully licensed builder. This also serves as an opportunity for unlicensed builders wherein they ask homeowners to apply for permit as an owner builder. They use their permits to cover their works. You should beware of such builders and regulators warn you about them too. You can also talk to your state based authority if any builder asks you to get a permit.

• Is training helpful?

It certainly is. When you work as an owner builder, you’ll have to take care of a number of things at your workplace. You will have to maintain the health and safety of your labours and the location. You should also generate a white card that indicates that your activity is legal. Training is the best option if you wish to understand and manage all of these efficiently.