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You have a construction contract for your new home or alteration with a fixed price so you know how much you will be paying when your final payment is required, right,  well not necessarily!

Previously we talked about PC Sums or Prime Cost Sum which are for parts of the contract that have a price attached to them for items not yet decided upon such as taps for example and how that can fluctuate the contract price depending on how realistic the builder was in attaching an amount for such items or whether you went over your budget by ordering the more expensive items than first planed for.  Although exceeding your PC Sum is a type of extra, this is not what we are discussing here.

The extras we are referring to are generated very differently and can come from different sources which some may surprise you.

Extras are simply invoices for additional work to the contract that has been performed by your builder and this invoice or invoices can be presented to you at any stage but more often than not will be at the completion of the work.  This is where you get that sinking feeling and then head to the bank to ask for more money while hoping you  can still afford the repayments.

An extra is generated when you request the builder to do additional work that was not included in the original building plans that were used for pricing, such as changing a window to a set of bi-folding doors or where work was performed that may have been excluded from the contract such as interior painting and now you want the builder to perform this.

Extras can also be generated by unforeseen circumstances and a good example for a new home is the depth that load bearing ground is found.  if the soils that support your building are deeper than expected or lack the correct bearing capacity then the additional excavation work or structural work to footings becomes an extra and this will be invoiced in addition to the total contract figure.  Alteration work is often fraught with unforeseen circumstances due to the inability to see inside walls for instance.  Hopefully you will have understood the need for a contingency sum which I will talk about another time.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that extras can be generated right off the bat when your plans are drawn.  Not many people outside the building industry understand how plans drawn by different people and at different skill levels and cost can in fact generate extras even before they have been handed over to the client.  This comes about in two or three ways as follows.

• Lack of detail and or information.
• Poor Architectural design.
• Poor structural design or understanding of construction methods, especially for older building types.

Lack of detail or information

Plans are not all created equal and the quality of the construction plans very much depends on the attitude and knowledge of the person preparing them.  Sometimes it can even be traced right back to the client.

Plans are time consuming to prepare and alterations require a lot more investigation work than a new build for instance.  In theory designers could just keep on laying down information on there plans until the cost was prohibitive so there is always a balance of what is detailed and what is left up to the imagination and this is where the extra is generated.  A very poorly drawn plan would only give minimal information and worse leave out critical detailing that could even generate an impossible solution further down the process.

Why would someone provide plans of this nature; cost, it cost less to prepare plans that have little information or detail, while these plans appear to the client to be adequate.  The builder having more experience will do one or three things in this instance.

• Inflate the contract price to cover the additional on site design work they will need to do plus any materials.
• Alert you to the lack of quality in the drawings you have provided while giving you an opportunity to rectify the situation.
• Provide a competitive price knowing they can legitimately make up the difference by invoicing you for extras.  These types will explain to you that they provided a price based on the plans you provided and then point out that the additional work they have done was not on the plans (which it most certainly wont be).  Having said that, a Building Contractor has an obligation to foresee certain issues with plans and is required to forewarn you as he is supposed to be the expert.  Having said that some things are beyond even the best contractors and have to be accepted by the owner.

Poor Architectural design

Poor Architectural design is where you have been rushed by the designer or the design has not been explained to you.  This type of approach generally leaves you desperately trying to make up for the poor design by requesting additional work on the run  therefore generating an extra.

Poor understanding of structural design

While structural design is not the realm of the Architect or Architectural designer it is important that these disciplines understand the structural nature of their design and know when to employ a structural Engineer.  This is another area where your building plans can lack this critical information such as beams, bracing and footings to take these loads.  This again will lead to the builder having to charge you an extra for the additional work.

So where does the unsuspecting client play a roll in generating their own extras?  In the first instance it is usually looking for the  cheapest plans they can find, as the saying goes “you get what you pay for”.  This early saving soon evaporates and then some, by the end of the project.   On top of all the extras that the owner may have generated by investing in cheap plans there is all the angst remedying the situation during the project that leaves them exhausted.  Another way the owner can create an extra is by putting unreasonable pressure on the Designer to complete the drawings early which leads to omissions and errors.  Finally, clients that don’t stick to their own plan and start changing their ideas on what they want.

So how do you avoid these situations

Firstly, never engage in cheap plans or plans prepared by designers that demonstrate a lack of skill.  This is hard for the public to fathom as often plans that look great can be fill of areas that will create extras.  But what you can look for are Designers that draw to a standard.  A good Architectural Designer will have very neat presentation.  In the days before computers you could tell a professional designer by the quality of their lettering (assuming they weren’t using stencils which gave a lettering style as neat as any computer), you could even tell if they were left or right handed.  In addition to the above, ask lots of stupid questions such as “how is that held up” or “how do you tell if a wall is load bearing” or even “can you guarantee your roof design will work in reality”.  Don’t be afraid to ask for references where you can actually contact the person who wrote it.

Secondly, check your contract thoroughly, it’s not enough to just let your lawyer approve it, you need to understand these key points I have set out in my blogs.  Understand the process of how extras are handled in your contract if at all.  You need to know the following.

• Does the contractor have to have any purported extras approved by you the client, in writing before the contractor undertakes any extra works and if not why not.  Don’t accept this situation if this is not a requirement of your contract.
• Does the contractor have to provide a quote prior to commencing any additional work,  I would expect this to be the case before I signed any building contract.
• Has an invoice for an extra been presented with your written approval for the work to be done in the first place.   If the invoice for the extra has not been presented in this way, don’t pay it.
• Don’t be afraid to tell your building contractor that you have passed the invoice on to your Designer for approval and once they approve it you will pay it.  I once had a CEO of a University do exactly this and after I checked the invoice and approved it only then would he pay.  Prior to him paying I insisted the building contractor answer a request on an item which they did and only then was the invoice paid.

Finally, insist that the building contract has all the above written into the contract before signing and and insist (if you wish) that your designer  approves all your invoices for extras.  In fact you can use your designer for approving progress payment also as they will know if the work has been completed to the correct point.  You have a right to request amendments to any contract you are contemplating signing.

If you have organised a Quantity Surveyor to prepare cost for your project this is the ideal professional to handle approval of invoices and extras.  A Registered Quantity Surveyor is able to go to court on your behalf if you find yourself in this position and usually the Courts take their word without question.

Hopefully this provides home owners engaging in building projects with yet another skill to add to their repertoire.  Don’t be shy about requesting these items into your contract.  A contract without your input is probably not going to serve you in the long run. And please do not use cheap building plans, you will be amazed at how much a professional set of building plans can save you in money and angst plus a good designer will keep making you money when the time comes that you wish to sell your property.  in most cases it will sell quicker and for more.

Ross Newby Architectural Designer – Design 3 Licensed Building Practitioner

Architecture intouch

Architecture intouch is an Auckland based Architectural design studio and has been in the business of Architectural Design, Building consent Plans and resource consents for new homes, alterations and extension to homes for a long time and we certainly no our way around the building industry.

We are licensed by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBiE) who look after the Licensed Building Practitioners scheme.  We hold a Design 3 License and this licence is the only license that is on par with a registered Architect.

One of our strong points is we are as skilled in structural aspects of building as much as we are in design.  As well as structure and design we are also well versed with the building act – New Zealand standards and the N.Z. building code which are crucial to a smooth building process.

When it comes to practical designing you won’t find anyone better due to many years spent in the pre-cut housing industry where our skills were sought after for very complex builds.  Even builders would come to us to solve there roofing problems.

The quality we are most proud of is our dedication to our clients during the design process where we also handle the consent process through to the issue of the consent and in the form of post consent service.  We are ready and willing to act exclusively for our clients in the event there is a misunderstanding with builders or any other organisations involved with the build process.  We will if requested check and enforce where necessary that the construction is being performed in accordance with the design and the regulations and quality.  As one of our early clients wrote in there reference to us, we are very client focused.  Also important to us is to advise and help our clients with their obligations under the building act.

We are a very small organisation and we only do a small number of projects each year which allows us to give our full attention to our clients and their projects.   Ross Newby is the driving force behind Architecture intouch and he is always available to have a chat at no cost regarding your building project and is always willing to answer questions.

If you have any questions be it on a project you have already started or you wish to enquire about your up and coming project you can contact Ross by using the formats below.

Mob           021 308869

Landline  09 836 1709

Email         ross.newby@ait.kiwi.nz

Web           www.ait.kiwi.nz

Architecture intouch Architectural Designers Auckland.

Ross Newby Architectural Designer – Design 3 LBP

 

A question that comes up over and over is, can I remove a wall in my house?

The New Zealand Building Act 2004 Schedule 1 allows existing walls to be removed without a building consent but there are around 5 exclusions.  These include but are not limited to load bearing walls and wall bracing.  Before attempting any work of this nature, building owners should hire a professional.

This is an overview on how residential roof structures disperse loads and the answer to this question varies depending on what type of construction has been employed when your house was built.  We are only going to cover two types of house construction and these are the most common in New Zealand for roofing structures.   The walls and foundations are demonstrated here as timber but other types are similar as the forces still track more or less the same.  It is important to note that a weather board house and a brick veneer house are both timber frame construction and are not to be confused with solid brick or block.

The two common types are; trusses and pitched.  Trusses are generally for residential, timber and produced in a factory using presses, while pitched roofs are built on site from individual pieces of timber cut and nailed in place.

If your house is pre 1950 it will most likely be a pitched roof system, while if it is post 1950 it could be a trussed system with trusses being widely used from the late 1960 on.

We will start with the trussed roof system as these are much more simplistic in there concept although the trussed system can be very complex and more flexible than a lot of people (even some builders) realise.  The main thing to understand with trusses is they will span the entire width of a house without requiring any internal support.  The distance trusses can span is easily 12 meters and for specific designs more than this although spans greater than 12 meters would be outside the scope of the New Zealand Timber Code requiring a structural Engineer to provide structural evidence to Council for the house design .

The trussed system

This drawing shows a trussed roof applied to a simple house.  The trusses are shown in yellow as they are taking load from the roofing material as well as the load from people required for maintenance.  The walls taking the load from the trusses are also shown in yellow as are the foundations and footings.  The walls that show up in this drawing are basically the exterior walls of the building.  It is important to note that while trusses normally transfer all the loads to the exterior walls there can be times when an internal wall may be used to support a truss such as a half truss which only covers part of the building width.  You can identify trusses in your roof construction as they all have some form of strut system as shown in the above drawing (in this case the struts looks like the letter double u) there are other configurations.  Trusses also have labels attached to them.

This diagram shows the the walls without the trussed roof and you can see that all the interior walls shown in green are non load bearing as discussed above.  The trussed roof system is not only more efficient than a pitched roof, it also allows for interior walls to be arranged in any layout without having to worry about supporting the ceiling as the trusses also carry the ceiling loads.  It would be possible to design a trussed roof residential building without any interior walls if it it wasn’t for the necessity of wall bracing.

Foundation to buildings with trussed roofs are also simplified.  From this foundation drawing it can be seen that the sub-floor layout is very simple and again the loads carrying the roof loads (shown in yellow) are only on the outer rows of piles.  The internal rows are carrying floor loads only.

Pitched roof system

The pitched system shown here is as we said, built on site from cut timbers and nailed together piece by piece.  Instantly you can see that this system is much more complex and requires a lot of timber struts to transfer the roof loads down on to beams in the ceiling known as ceiling runners.  Ceiling runners used to be called strong backs in the early days.  These ceiling runners then span between internal load bearing walls which run across the building.  Walls running length wise can also and often are load bearing as they take the loads from struts that can come from the ridge board at the very top of the roof as well as sometimes struts coming from the rafters at the mid point which then slope towards the middle of the ceiling where they are fixed to a plate directly over a longitudinal wall near the center of the building.  Ceiling joists (which hold up the ceiling lining usually require ceiling runners as well.  In this drawing the ceiling joists are supported by the ceiling runner that also supports the struts from the rafters.  The usual give away of a pitched roof is when you look into the roof space you see pieces of timber going in all directions and often no one roof space will look the same, as each builder will have his own way of constructing this type of roof.

This drawing shows the walls of the same house as the trussed roof system but clearly indicates the limitations of the pitched roof system.  All the walls except one (shown in green) are to some degree or another load bearing.  I say one degree or another because the longitunal internal walls (as per the long exterior walls) carry a constant load from the roof along it’s length while the short interior walls running across the building may only have a post or double stud inside them to take the load from the ceiling runner above.  What this means is part of these interior walls could be removed but not all of the wall while the longitudinal walls almost always require a beam to replace that part of the wall that has been removed.

The sub floor and foundations for the pitched roof also gives away that your interior wall is load bearing as it will either have additional or double joists directly below the wall or an entire row of piles dedicated to the wall (usually a longitudinal interior wall)  also you may sometimes find an isolated pile that looks out of place to the rows of other piles and this most certainly will be carrying some form of load from above.  You can see in this drawing that there is a dedicated row of piles (in yellow) running roughly on center and this row is taking the load from the longitudinal interior wall directly above it and down the center.  In addition to the dedicated row of piles you can see some special joists (coloured yellow) and these are positioned directly under the interior walls that run across the building and are picking up the loads coming down through these walls via posts in the wall and ultimately from the ceiling runners which in turn carry loads from the roof rafters.

In summary

Deciding which walls are load bearing and which aren’t can be a little daunting and I’ve even heard of professional wondering around banging walls and announcing if a wall is load bearing or not, but if you don’t look up in the ceiling space and identify what type of construction is up there (truss or pitched) then it is nothing more than a guess and it could be a very expensive guess.  Before you do any demolition, identify the load bearing walls properly.

When it comes to removing walls, any interior wall can be removed and you don’t always have to have a beam below the ceiling. New beams can be installed above the ceiling and in some cases reasonably easily.  This method always looks great and gives you home that professional look where it looks like it had been built that way.  You will require a building consent to remove or alter load bearing walls.

The other method which can be used in some instances is using a truss to hold up the original roof especially when adding onto the side of an existing house.  A girder truss can be used to support an existing roof whether  the original roof is trussed or pitched.  This is the method I used for the alterations to the Lockwood house at Bombay and you can see how this is done if you check out my web page www.ait.kiwi.nz  “current work”.

I hope this helps those people who are not in the industry but would like to understand the mysteries that lurks above their heads and give these people a little more confidence with this issue that even some professionals (builders included) argue over.

Ross Newby Architectural Designer – Design 3 LBP.

Architects

Generally speaking an Architect obtains a Bachelor of Architecture from a University and usually will end up working for one of the large commercial Architects or a government roll and sometimes a smaller practice who deals in residential and commercial Architecture.  A person holding a degree in Architecture cannot refer to themselves as an Architect until they have been registered with the Institute of Architects.  This process can take 5 to 6 years after starting in year 1 at University and ending with 2 to 3 years experience in an Architectural practice.  Architects that are not registered Architects, are in the same licensing category as Architectural designers when it comes to Licensing.  Both have to be LBP’s to practice.  Registered Architects are considered to be as of right Design 3 LBP’s

Architectural Designers

Architectural designers come via a different process which traditionally involved Studying at a school of technology.  In the early days this would have been the Auckland Institute of Technology (Ait) which no longer exists.  This was a 5 year part time course and culminated in a certificate known as NZCD(Arch).  In more recent times Unitec provide two courses; New Zealand Diplomer in Architectural Technology and Bachelor of Architectural Studies. www.unitec.ac.nz .   The former known as NDAT is a 2 year course and the later (Bachelor of Architecture) is a 3 year course.  The above would allow a person to practice as an Architectural designer although in reality it takes many years of experience and a flair for design to truly become an Architectural designer.

Architectural Designers have a design institute of there own, ADNZ which stand for Architectural Designers New Zealand.  This organisation was first started by a couple of draftsman and has grown in size and influence over the years but has no real disciplinary standing and as we understand is mostly for the promotion of it’s members.

Draftsman

The term Draftsman is not used much any more and below a draftsman was what was known as a tracer.  Tracers were exactly what it says, they used to trace over drawings that were previously prepared possibly by a draftsman in pencil and this would then produce a finished Architectural working drawing otherwise known these days as a consent drawing.

The main things that separate any of these design professionals are, the ability to design, understand the legal framework and produce practical workable designs.  Practicality can sometimes come at the demise of design flair and design flair can be wildly impractical.  Draftsman are not known for their design flair but are usually very practical while Architects and Architectural designers have battled out design flair for many years.  Finding a professional who can produce all three qualities in abundance is rare and it usually comes at a price.  Proving a particular design is workable is time consuming.  However this can be repaid in the cost of construction and the final outcome due to the workability of the design.

Licensed Building Practitioners (LBP)

Regardless of what degree you hold or diploma, to practice Architecture (provide building consent plans) now days you must be licensed.  The only professional in Architecture who does not have to be licensed is a Registered Architect. Registered Architects are mainly engaged in commercial work but can also do residential work.

Licensing is administered by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Education www.mbie.govt.nz and there are 3 licenses;

• Design 1.  This license allows the LBP to prepare plans for simple structures such as a very straight forward house.
• Design 2.  Most Architectural designers operate  under this license and this would cover most house types including what is known as architecturally designed (having multiple angles and complicated roofs).  Design 2 LBP cannot on their own design buildings in excess of 10 meters high which is measured from the ground to the top of the roof.
• Design 3. This is the highest category available and covers the design of all buildings including Design 1 and 2.

Discipline of LBP

LBP’s can be disciplined and this is carried out by the Ministry of Business  Innovation and Education.  Fines of up to $10,000 can be imposed on an LBP’s as well as being stood down from practicing for a maximum of 12 months.

Registered Architects are disciplined in house via their own Institute of Architects who have similar disciplinary actions under the Registered Architects Act 2005 to that of the MBIE.

In summary, Architects are disciplined by Architects under the Architects Act 2005 and Architectural Designers are disciplined  by the Government.

Choose the right designer that suits you and look for the practicality element but with enough design flair to suit your requirements. Always remember that a good designer will know how to design to minimise building costs without compromising the design outcome.

What is not well known is that Architectural designers holding a Design 3 LBP license have the same status from a license perspective as registered Architects and this is also stated by some Councils on their web sites.

Ross Newby Architectural Designers Auckland.

 

 

 

As the title suggests, this is about building owner’s responsibilities under the New Zealand Building Act which sets out building owner’s responsibilities and various fines building owners can face.  No one likes paying fines especially when we were not aware of any requirements placed on us.  Here I try to help home owners understand what their liabilities are so they can avoid penalties which can sometimes come out of the blue.

As an Architectural Designer I am aware of these requirements but I’m not a trained lawyer.  Building owners should take this information I have provided as a prompt only and do there own research, starting with their local Council.

The Building Act 

The purpose of the Building Act is to regulate building work and set out performance standards.  It aims to ensure building can be:

• Used safely.
• Contribute to occupants well being.
• Promote safety in the event of fire.
• Create sustainable development.

The Building Code

The New Zealand Building Code (NZBC)  is a performance based code and made up of around 30 sections plus some New Zealand Standards are also  considered to be included as these sections.

In addition to the NZBC, there are many New Zealand building standards NZS 3604 Timber Framed Buildings, being the most recognized.

All building work has to comply with these codes and standards even building work contained in schedule 1 of the New Zealand Building Act (NZBA) which is exempt from requiring a building consent.  A lot of building owners are jumping at the chance to use schedule 1, but they need to do there homework.  I was recently involved in an addition which had a deck that clearly came under schedule 1.  On further investigation the placement of the deck was on top of a 300mm diameter storm water pipe as well as being in an overland flow path.  There was no way that this deck could be built under schedule 1 and not violate other requirements.  The footings that fell within a metre of the pipe had to be engineered and ended up 3.0 metres deep (a metre deeper than the drain as per Council requirements).  Where it was not possible to avoid the drain, no less than 7 beams had to be engineered to cantilever over the pipe.  On top of this Council insisted the drain be located and videoed internally and a consent obtained from Watercare.  Plus Council drainage Engineers wanted a report on the effects of a potential flood.  If it wasn’t for Ait’s diligence this deck would have been illegal and at worst could have punctured the drain during the build.  There are many traps with schedule 1 and the fact that town planning rules still have to be adhered to is a major trap that could make your schedule 1 building work illegal.

Owner’s Responsibilities

The NZBA clearly sets out the building owners responsibilities and you may be surprised.  Following is a list of requirements I am aware of:

• Obtain a building consent.  This is not the roll of the Builder or the Designer although they may take on this roll for the owner.  Unfortunately if the builder or the Designer or anyone else for that matter fails to obtain the building consent for the work that is done it is the owner’s responsibility and he or she is liable for any ramifications (at least initially from Council).
• Obtain Code Compliance Certificate (CCC).  Again this can be done by anyone but is the building owner who is responsible to see that it has actually been obtained.
• Notify Council of the names and license numbers of LBP’s working on their project.  Make sure who ever is doing this work for you has actually done this.
• Comply with conditions of a Compliance Certificate.  This is normally for commercial property.
• Ensure systems such as fire alarms under the certificate are working properly and that the certificate is available for inspection by Council, again this is for commercial buildings normally.
• The building owner must supply a building warrant of fitness to Council, again commercial use normally.
• The building owner must give Council compliance reports on compliance schedules, commercial normally.
• Owners must give Council notice of change of use.  Using a garage as accommodation would warrant notifying Council of a change of use.  Failure to do this can and has ended up with building owners taking hefty fines.
• Not alter the change of use of their building.  For instance from residential occupation to another type of occupation such as a boarding house for example.
• Not extend a building past it’s specified intended life.
• Finally owners’s must comply with the Resource Management Act.

It is highly recommended that any work you intend to undertake as a building owner or you allow someone else to undertake, you contact council and discuss openly and honestly with Council your intentions and don’t feel bad about requesting Council giving you there advise to you in writing.  I have had clients that have been given incorrect information from a Council help desk probably because the client didn’t explain to Council exactly the circumstances surrounding their situation.

Hopefully I have helped you as a home owner understand that building work is not all straight forward and that personally contacting the right people at their local Council could just save you from ending up in court or having to pay out for a Certificate of Acceptance or worse a fine.  I suggest building owners do their own due diligence by contacting their local Council or at least have a professional advise them before doing any schedule 1 building work.  Alternatively just get a building consent regardless.

Ross Newby Architectural Designer Design 3 LBP.