How do I plan for my new home or extension?
Where do I start?
There’s no exact spot to start planning your new home or extension; once you start dreaming of the type of home you want, the planning process has effectively started. The real question is how do you convey what you’re dreaming to your designer?
To help convey your dream into something you can explain to your designer, two techniques can be used. The first is a visual diary and the second is a brief. They need not be mutually exclusive and often work best when used together.
Start your visual diary by collecting images, articles and examples of what you are thinking of. Even if the image you collect contains only one element in it that you like, for example you like the look of a certain material or the style of door, “a picture is worth a thousand words”.
Use a brief to start putting your dream into words. This can include an introduction to your family and the reasons for the new house or extension. Start making a wants and needs list or think of how your home can benefit your lifestyle. A good example of this would be “I like to have my morning coffee in the sun”. This will start to shape your house before you know it. At Elementree we believe in the philosophy of “form follows function”. This means once we have all your “wants and needs” we can shape these into your design to create the form of your building.
What documents will my designer need?
Along with creating a visual diary and brief, there are some important documents you will need to source before seeing your building designer or draftsperson for the first time.
Always remember, the more information that you can provide at the initial stages, the better the design outcome will be.
The first step is to contact your local council and ask for all the information they have on your property. If your property has an existing house and it is less than 20 years old, there is a good chance you will be able to obtain a copy of the original approved plans from council for a nominal fee.
An invaluable document to obtain from your local council is a ‘Section 149 Certificate’. This will highlight everything the council knows about your property. For example, if your site is in a flood zone or bush fire zone or if the property is heritage listed or in a conservation area. Knowing this information upfront will prevent your project going too far in the wrong direction.
While the following documents are not absolutely necessary when designing your home, they are very beneficial to help your designer learn as much as possible about the constraints of your site that may limit certain design options. It greatly helps in providing a design that suits both you and your land.
Helpful documents include - Sewer Services Diagram available from Sydney Water and a CAD drawing of the Contour Survey of the existing site from a registered surveyor, many councils are insisting that the survey be created to the Australian Height Datum (AHD). Other documents generally contained within the contract of sale documents when you purchased your property are also very useful such as the Land Title documents and the Section 88B Instrument.
The team at Elementree think about council approval and ease of construction at the initial stages while designing your home, to help limit any changes later on which could prove costly.
How do I get my design approved?
Once you have locked in a design, the formal council approval stage of your project can commence. This entails documenting your home in detail, to highlight how your proposal satisfies all the Local Government Authority (LGA) planning requirements.
Elementree can now begin to construct your house on paper. With a licensed builder directing the company, the development application drawings will be created and detailed to the level of full construction drawings, which will help to highlight any structural issues and will also help to minimize any future amendments that may arise due to the approval process.
As well as standard plan drawings, Elementree can create vivid 3D representations of your home. These can range from a simple 3D Model image, to a full Photorealistic Render and right through to a self drive 3D walkthrough. The 3D Model images are very useful during the design process as they can help to highlight design and potential construction problems. Photorealistic Renders can be helpful during the approval stage, especially if the proposal is a little different from the surrounding dwellings or if Council just can’t seem to envision your project the way you see it.
Depending on the size and type of development, in NSW there are a couple of options open to you in order to have your project approved. These options are the submission of a formal Development Application to Council for assessment or the lodgement of your proposal for assessment under the NSW Housing Code as a Complying Development.
The relative advantages/disadvantages of both of these options as well as the Construction Certificate requirements will be covered by Elementree in DirectBuild’s September 2011 Newsletter.
Chris Watson Managing Director
Elementree Drafting Services
Phone: (02) 8850 2112
