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Frequently Asked Questions

 

1 - At What Stage Do I Involve a Builder?
2 - Will I Have to Lodge the Building Consent?
3 - Will You Charge Me to Prepare the Building Consent?
4 - Why is it Important to Select a Qualified Builder for My Re-modelling project?
5 - Will My Project Require a Permit?
6 - Do I Get a Warranty?
7 - Are The Warranties Transferrable If I sell The Property?
8 - What Insurances Do You Recommend?
9 - How Can I Keep The Building Project Within Our Budget?
10 -Isn’t One Building Company the Same As Another?
11 - What Are The Different Contract Options Available?
12 Pay for the Building Project – How Does It Work?
13 - Why Extend onto your Existing Over Building New?
14 How Do We Extend And Keep Your Home Watertight and Secure?

 

Still have a question? Just fill the form below or you can speak to Alvin and his friendly team at

A&A Extensions 

on (09)2392232 

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At What Stage Do I Involve a Builder?

Some builders will only talk to you once you have drawn out the plans. At A & A Extensions we prefer to become involved in discussions as soon as possible. Why? By understanding all the costing, we could have saved one family $7,479 by assisting on design and materials if they had seen us before they went to the Draughtsman.

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Will I Have to Lodge the Building Consent?

No. Our team is proficient and experienced with the consent process; we will help you lodge the consent or lodge the consent on your behalf this will save you time and frustration.  Sometimes the council may require a small detail or have a technical question, which we will be able to answer right there and then to help speed up the process.

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Will You Charge Me to Prepare the Building Consent?

Generally no, as part of the design process most of the required components for the building consent will be collected, the building consent application follows naturally. On some larger industrial and commercial projects over 1 million where consents become very big, we will negotiate a small fee of approximately .5% of project value to prepare the consent.

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Why is it Important to Select a Qualified Builder for My Re-modelling project?

A Main contractor is a Qualified professional who serves as a single point of contact and manages all aspects of your remodeling project. This includes securing building permits, scheduling inspections, ordering building materials, and scheduling and supervising all trades required to complete your project. The main contactor assumes full responsibility for the integrity of workmanship at all stages to ensure your project satisfies all state and local building codes in all phases.

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Will My Project Require a Permit?

As a general rule, a building permit is required whenever:

1.    There is structural work involved (eg. removing load-bearing wall).

2.    The basic living area (square meterage) of the home is to be changed.

3.    The home’s mechanical systems (eg. gas, electrical or plumbing) are to be reconfigured or otherwise modified.

As a rule, you should always request that your qualified builder obtain the building permits. This is because the person who “pulls the permit” is considered liable for ensuring that all completed work complies with the state and local building codes.

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6  Do I Get a Warranty?

All buildings that A&A Extensions do come with a comprehensive 10 year building and workmanship warrantee. Roofing, cladding and steel structure comes with a minimum of 15 years warranty (location and usage conditions apply).

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7  Are The Warranties Transferrable If I sell The Property?

Yes. The balance of the warranty is transferrable for workmanship and product warranties. The usage conditions still apply for product.

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8  What Insurances Do You Recommend?

Any reputable builder will take out a “Public Liability” insurance and a “Contactors All Risk” insurance for a new build. If work is being done to an existing property, we will discuss the best insurance options with you to protect your existing property.

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How Can I Keep The Building Project Within Our Budget?

The only way to guarantee your project within your budget is to enter into a full contract, fixed price agreement with your builder. Discuss all the Prime Cost Sums and work out if you are likely to spend more on these items than what the builder has allowed. For example kitchens and carpets can vary hugely depending on what you want.

Some of the extra costs to the home owner that can be over looked that are generally not included in a quote are: landscaping and lawns, washing lines, letter boxes, curtains and blinds. These items can add up very quickly.

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10  Isn’t One Building Company the Same As Another? 

No. The old adage applies here; you get what you pay for. Many building companies and franchise companies are owned off shore, these buildings are not designed for NZ conditions. We are 100% NZ owned, designed and operated, we build throughout NZ with our own team no matter where the building is.

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11  What Are The Different Contract Options Available?

 

Full Build Contract

We will provide you with a written “fixed price” Action plan to complete the project from start to finish. With a full contract we will organize everything from sub contractors to building inspections through to obtaining your final code of compliance. This allows you to be involved without the pressure or stress of hiring and supervising sub contractors or organizing the right people to be on site at the right time. You know exactly what the project will cost and any overruns are our problem, not yours.

Cost Plus

The cost of materials plus a builder’s margin. It’s like a “pay as you go”; there are no guarantees on costs.

Labour Only

This contract is to supply the builder’s/carpenter’s labour only for your project. For Cost Plus and Labour only contract options, you will need to hire all the subcontractors yourself and also hire a separate Project Manager unless you have the time and experience to manage the entire project yourself. This type of contract can be extremely time consuming, expensive and very stressful.

 Project Management

A project manager is paid a set fee to manage, organize and oversee the entire building project for you. Your project manager will arrange for all the materials to be delivered on site at the appropriate times and also organize all the subcontractors when they are needed.

With a full build contract the complete project management is included in the price.

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 12  Pay for the Building Project – How Does It Work?

Payment options depend on the type of contract you have chosen. With a full contract you only make payments to one company, usually payments made at specific stages of the project. When you receive a written contract quote from A & A Extensions we will provide you with a payment schedule and also a construction schedule so you know what to expect and when to expect it.

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13  Why Extend onto your Existing Over Building New?

Most of the time you are where you are because you like the area and by now you probably are best mates with your neighbours.

With most Extensions we are able to build it in such a way as to cause minimal disturbance, so therefore you will be able to live in it while building is in progress. If you do need temporary accommodation we may be able to help with that too.

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14 How Do We Extend And Keep Your Home Watertight and Secure? 

You may be worried about the risk of rain and unwelcome people coming into your home while work is in progress. The way we do this is:

1. Remove the bottom weatherboards or row of bricks to get the floor heights to line up.

2. Remove a small portion of cladding so that we can fix the top plates together.

3. Fit all of the trusses in place except for the last truss is left loose.

4. Fix all purlens and roof framing in place ready for new roof.

5. When the roof installers are on site we remove existing roof flashings fit the last roof truss and continue roofing over new portion.

6. Fit exterior cladding to align with existing

7. Remove old external walls and framing.

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