Frequently asked questions about home renovations and new builds
We know that building a new house or undertaking home renovations can be a daunting thought if you are new to building. So, below, we've put together some of the most frequently asked questions about the building process.
All building work done in NZ must comply with the Building Code, and building consent is often needed. Whether you are making structural additions to your existing home, changing internal layouts or building a brand new home, they will need to be assessed by your local council. New Image Homes can help with this part of the process alongside your architect.
There are several factors that can influence whether your subdivision would be allowed, and they include but are not limited to the size and zone of your section. Our sales team are happy to do a FREE site visit to establish if this is something that can be done on your property.
Yes we do offer standard plans. We find that most of our clients want a starting idea for a design, but then we are more than happy to change this to suit your requirements.
As members of Certified Builders, we can offer a Halo 10-Year Residential Guarantee as part of our Building Contract package to you. This guarantee is exclusive to members of Certified Builders. Some key components of the guarantee are:
- If something goes wrong after the completion of your build, then provided the terms and conditions are met your Guarantee will cover it, and they will step in to help you fix any agreed problems or pay you a cash settlement in order to do so
- It adds value to your property
- It's fully transferrable if you decide to sell your property
The best time to engage a builder is right at the start when you are thinking about doing something. Often builders are bought into a project too late, and large costs could have been avoided because we know the pitfalls.
Either you can engage an architect or we can give you some referrals to architects we have worked with who do a great job for our clients.
This is a very common question and one that’s very hard to answer. It depends on the size of your build and how many levels, the location, the type of materials you use. The best option is for you to provide a budget, which gives us something to work with.
Once you have signed your Building Agreement, paid your deposit, and we have the Building Consent, the building process should take between 17-26 weeks, depending on the size and complexity of your build. Please note these timeframes are a guideline only. Our project management tool – BuilderTrend will provide you with up-to-date construction timelines once works commence.
This depends on what stage the building is at. If the building is at its preliminary planning stage with the architect, you can make as many changes as you like. Once your plans have been accepted by the local council and Building Consent has been granted, it can be a bit more difficult to make changes. Depending on what it is, you may need to do an amendment with the Council, or it may be a simple Change Order that is required within our building system. For example, if you want to make some changes to the exterior cladding, this will need an amendment with the local council. But, if you want to put some more downlights in a room, this is a simple Change Order that we can organise on site with you.
A PC Sum is short for Prime Cost. This term is used in a standard Building Contract where a cost is estimated rather than quoted due to specific products not having been selected or finalised at the stage of pricing. These PC Sum amounts are then taken into account when the stage has been reached, and either a Credit or a Change Order invoice is generated for the difference in cost.
Yes! You must be a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) to carry out any restricted building work. New Image Homes are registered LBPs so you can rest assured your project is in safe hands.
At each stage of the building process, we hit what we call a Progress Claim stage or a milestone. This might be for example a "Floor Down", or a "Roof On" stage and this will be detailed in your Building Contract as a stage which requires you to make a payment. An invoice will be sent to you and you will be required to make a payment to us for that appropriate Progress Claim.
During construction of your new project, a site fence is erected to protect the site from unauthorised persons, and any hazards contained on site. We have a Site Safe Protocol that we must adhere to for each site, so any site entry must be advised and supervised by a New Image Homes site member. While we understand that you own the property, legally we need to control the site while your project is under construction.
We have a project management software tool called BuilderTrend. On signing your contract you will be given a login and you can monitor all timelines, Change Orders, pricing of your project and make any comments directly to us at any time.
Great. We are more than happy to answer any questions you have. Get in touch.