Buildlogue #3

Day 28: 10 June 2014 – The rainfall during the past 24 hours ending 8:00am was 28mm

(Above): This morning Bianca kindly collected the Building Consent from KCDC in Paraparaumu. You can imagine our surprise at the presentation. The complete set of documents are packed in a stiff wallet/folder, which is sponsored by a number of full-colour adverts.

(Above): Unlike anything I experienced with The City of Cape Town building department when we built at Strandweg and Hamerkop Road, the Kapiti Coast Council is extremely thorough, possibly to the point of becoming anal. The covering letter guides you through all the requirements, leaving no doubt as to your responsibilities.

(Above): All important points and amendments are printed on the appropriate documents in red, with some of them high-lighted in yellow print-marker. It is your responsibility to ensure that each and every inspection is done by the appropriate officials. They must make not two, not three, but guess how many….  Yes a dozen!

Plan ‘A’

The last time I submitted a plan to the municipal council for planning permission was way back  around 1992 for the house in Hamerkop Road. I filled out a one-page form and attached a copy of the plan. We then gave the go-ahead to Mr Achmat Magiet, our builder, and that was that. The only other correspondence or contact I ever had with any official was simply the completion certificate which arrived in the post about six months after the final work was done.

Now, in 2014 I am about to submit the application for building permission for our “granny flat” extension to an existing house. All going well, I will try to hand in the following wad (150 pages!) of paperwork (plus the required not-so-shy scrutiny payment) tomorrow:

1 copy of the Certificate of Design Work by the architect (3 pages)

1 copy of Residential: Application for A Building Consent (12 pages)

1 copy of Checksheet: Single Residential Dwelling and Accessory Building (5 pages)

2 copies of the detailed building specification (9 pages each) according to which the building contractors are obliged to work;

2 copies of the Risk Matrix Calculation (1 page each)

2 copies of the Bracing Plan and calculations (4 pages each)

2 copies of the Producer statement for Truss Design ( 4 pages each) from Mitek NZ Ltd;

2 copies of a product specification sheet for the Saniaccess 3 Macerator (1 page each)

2 copies of the Heat Loss summary for all the elements (7 pages each)

2 copies of External Moisture (17 pages each)

2 copies of architect-drawn plans W1 to W9 (9 A3 pages each)

2 copies of the original property purchase agreement to prove ownership of the land (13 pages each)

Similar wads of paperwork have been sent to four prospective builders, who will hopefully submit tender prices for the completion of the work. They need to hand in their prepared tenders on or before 8 May 2014. Let’s wait and see…

The Council requires 20 working days to complete their process, unless they call for additional information…

Project Strawberry Lane

Every project should have a name. The construction of the extension wing of Chartwell, consisting of our bedroom/sitting room and bathroom, with a workroom/ laundry for general use, should also have a name. The entry passageway to this ‘North Wing’ was called “Strawberry Lane” because of the potted strawberries which have been growing there.

Therefore, I would reckon that this building project could aptly be known as  Project Strawberry Lane.

Like Col. John ‘Hannibal’ Smith would like a plan to come together, Barry, our architect, called earlier in the week to deliver the ‘final’ preliminary plans for the extension, for us to check over, with the news that he will now start on writing the specifications on which the prospective builders, electricians, etc will be able to base their quotations.

Our job at this stage is to shop around for bathroom sanitaryware, light fittings and those sort of items for which the builder will simply allow pc amounts.

Earlier, we met one of Clayton’s contacts (a Saffer) who has set up a electrical contracting business in Waikanae. If possible, we will naturally appoint him to do the electrical work. He will also put forward the names of a couple of guys who might be interested in quoting for the building work.

Whilst the project progress of Strawberry Lane has been rather slow (just on two months since our initial enquiries), I think that the work completed has been done thoroughly, and hopefully the rest of the project will proceed in the same manner (that is thoroughly and not slowly!)

When Barry has completed the specifications, we will have the required application forms completed, with the final proposed plans and specifications, submitted to the KCDC (Kapiti Coast District Council) in Waikanae for planning permission to commence construction, a process which is supposed to take about 20 working days (give them a month). Whilst waiting for this, we can get the prospective contractors to work out their tender prices for us to make a final decision.

When a plan comes together

Can you remember John Hannibal Smith, B.A. Baracus, Templeton Faceman Peck and H.M. Howlin Mad Murdoch? Sure you do. The A-Team. And can you remember what was Hannibal’s favourite saying?

“I love it when a plan comes together!  Nice.”

At the end of this week, Sir Barry delivered our concept plan for the extension. In the greater scheme of things, the extension is but a tiny part, but when it comes down to checking over the broad details, there are suddenly a heap of questions on stuff that needs to be decided.

(Above): Sorry, there are a few scratchings on the plan. Look, you can even see me lying on the bed! Well, not quite me, but a stickman representation of me…

There is stuff such as outer wall cladding. In SA, there is no question: of course it will either be face-brick or painted cement plaster. In NZ the walls are much thinner and made of wood. The outer skin can be covered with brick veneer or with timber weather board. So, we spent the larger part of Saturday at various hardware merchants such as PlaceMakers (‘Know how. Can do.”) and Mitre 10 Mega, looking at all sorts of brick veneer, none of which match the bricks which are currently on the walls of the house. One of the problems.

Then there is the little problem of where to use pine weatherboard and where it is more appropriate to use Cedar (imported from Canada). Time will tell.

The main talking point is the shape of the roof, which must blend in with the existing roof of the house. It will be virtually flat, with the side bits at the same slope as the house. Confused? Well, to be perfectly honest, I guess we are just a weeny bit uncertain as well. But, to use the words of Sir Barry:

I have attached a couple of basic sketches that show the outline shape of the extension and how it all fits with the existing building.  I hope this is enough to convey how it all goes together.  As I said, the need for fall on the flat section of roof results in it not being a 'regular' rectangle.  Interesting geometry!

Just not too sure about the suspect lurking at the corner of the bedroom like that.

Planning the plan

To-morrow will be the start of our new home – the very start of the extension in the form of a concept idea inside the mind of our architect Barry, from Waikanae. We heard about him from neighbours who are starting to build a complete house from scratch.

We will meet on site with Barry and present him with a sketch of what we would like to get for lemonade money. Based on previous experience, I know firstly, that what you want and what you eventually get are two distinct things, and that, secondly, the eventual cost always exceeds the initial estimates by a zillion. Let’s give Barry a chance to disprove this theory:

The sketch which we will hand to Barry, so that he has some idea of what we would like him to fit into the picture for us. Bedroom=Beige, en-suite lounge=turquoise, en-suite bathroom=green and wardrobes/dressing room=blue; main house laundry=white.

For anyone challenged when it comes to reading plans, here is a photographic representation (note: Most certainly nowhere near to scale, because my ability to draw lines in perspective is a bit yucky…)

We will track the progress of the project.