Skyfall

Have you ever tried to have a house built to live it? Don’t! Well maybe.

Anyway, not without some serious reflection on it. I signed up to buy my little bit of paradise in the countryside in mid-2017 and took possession in 2018. I didn’t intend to build straightaway – in fact I wanted to sell my existing home first – which I did at the end of 2019. Concept drawings were done quite early, and looking at them now, they were quite close to what I ended up with. But not before I went all Grand Designs and had an enormous house – far too big for me – designed and priced. The pricing helped to bring a dose of reality and it was back to the original drawings. Modernist, capturing the schoolhouse that once stood on the sight, and looking out to the coast in the distance. Construction started three years ago today.

Concept to drawings that are able to be priced and then get through a Consenting process was a new world for me. Aside from ensuring a guest toilet and laundry were included not much changed in the concept to the ultimate design. Have you heard that Council is quite particular in granting consent? I had, but actually, my experience was that they are rules-based and when the drawings didn’t meet the rules, they pointed it out. That took ages. Pricing was challenging but eventually I was introduced to a project manager who had found a good builder – well sort of – he was actually a project manager himself, but on inspecting his other efforts and speaking to a client he got the tick. Most important thing I did at this stage? Had the contract reviewed by a deals person. Saved me a lot of grief (and money), but more on that later.

In amongst this I grew a tumour in my leg so things got put on hold for a bit. Everyone expressed sympathy (unlucky bugger they thought!) and committed to see the thing through, especially in my limping, crutches state. But the tumour provided clarity: if not now,  when?

A building consent was issued. I was still hobbling a bit,  but it was up to the land and sit around it for an afternoon, with some pegs and rope to actually look at the position. It didn’t feel right. And it wasn’t. Looking back at the original drawing and a penned outline  I’d done on a scrap of paper using my phone compass the building had been swivelled away from the view. Not sure even now how that happened. But it did and it meant a new building consent and waiting until two weeks before the Auckland lockdown of August 2021 to start. Of course no one knew that the six week lockdown was coming, but it was a justifiable excuse for not meeting the December 2021 deadline for practical completion.

Small detail – you should have a ground survey done before building, especially on a hill. Stepping out from the veranda onto ground level pavers turned out to be a two metre drop. More plans and an expensive deck.

If you don’t want to lose money if it all goes wrong, don’t let the builder claim for construction items not on site. If you do, you’re their banker and holding a lot of risk. The value of that contract review can’t be understated. On the only two occasions I relented and permitted payment for items off-site, it went wrong, but fortunately it was at a stage where it didn’t have significant financial implications. First time were the windows – I agreed to pay the 50% deposit for their manufacture on the basis that I could take them over if there was an insolvency event. However, after payment was made the builder didn’t order them at all, rather they held the deposit and in the end the delay caused many other delays – timing is everything and something project managers know – or should know. The second time was a payment for electronics I had selected from a supplier. Fully paid to the builder, so they could be picked up. Eight weeks later the ominous email “Hi Stephen, are you actually wanting this gear, we’ve not received payment”.  An administrative error I was told.

More detailed design was required on the way for various enhancements and clarifications.

Quite a few things got forgotten – a handrail for the stairs – even the Council Inspector missed it, but Mum didn’t on her first visit! Drainage according to plans, and plans with drainage that grappled with the actual land levels. Getting a building consent for the large deck! And weird stuff happened – some guttering came off during Cyclone Gabrielle and it was quickly established that it was due to the wrong clips. Builder’s response: “The shop said they’d be ok!” and “Claim insurance”.

Some things were a more sinister – subcontractors asking me to be paid. Ouch. A review of claims and payments over the first 6 or 7 months (by which time it was supposed to be long finished), uncovered errors in the claims meaning I had paid $40k more than I should have. More administrative errors.

Practical completion in November 2022, which was really “non-completion but here’s a form”, was pushed through to enable me to use the new house for a special birthday celebration. A couple of weeks later I had to bail to allow scaffolding to be installed in the entrance way so painting could be completed.

At the three year mark today since the commencement of construction it’s almost done. I’ve been living there off and on and two projects remain – a small capping on top of an external wall, and my gate entrance way, both underway this month (I hope).

There’s been some nastiness too. After the Cyclone Gabrielle damage, completion stalled, and the implications that subcontractors hadn’t been paid started to play out. I was said to be the cause of that. One went bust and I’ve had to redo some substantial works as a result, and the builder went into liquidation too. There’s been letters demanding additional payments and replies that have carefully explained the reality, but I still exist in “will they have a crack again” zone.

I just finished Sam Neil’s autobiography Did I ever tell you this?, written during his cancer treatment and he expresses the satisfaction of building something special, that’s there for good. I get that, and despite it all, I’m really happy I did it, and dare I say it, I’d do it again. Seems a waste of experience to not use it!

Stephen

*Skyfall reflects the view out over the Tasman, especially at sunset. And I’m a big James Bond fan!