If you love where you live but have outgrown your home or you’ve purchased a house that needs to be knocked down, Urban Bay can take care of the design and construction process.
Knocking down and rebuilding can be complex and extremely costly if you don’t get it right. You need an expert who understands all facets of construction from building and council permits, planning and approvals to heritage and vegetation protection overlays, plus easement, flood zones and bushfire protection–this is before you even consider demolition.
If you’re weighing up building a new home where you currently live, or selling and buying in another area, you need to factor in the expense of relocating, such as moving costs, stamp duty and selling commissions. There are also costs to consider which you can’t put a price on, such as dislocation impacts to a family and the upheaval associated with selling, buying a new house and relocating. Instead of renovating or relocating, the knock down and rebuild of a brand new luxury designed dream home, can provide exactly what you have always wanted and stay in the area you love.
Our new homes build process
Urban Bay’s design and building services are structured and planned to ensure your project runs efficiently, on time and on budget. You are kept informed at each stage so there are no unexpected issues or surprises. Our Managing Director, Tony D'Orazio, manages every project end-to-end, involving you at each stage and ensuring the highest quality end result for your new home.
1 Initial consultation
Upon contacting Urban Bay, we will arrange a free, no obligation consultation conducted at your home. Our Managing Director will visit you in your home to discuss your needs and what you'd like to achieve. He will then come up with some ideas for your new home as to how we can help to achieve your vision. You’ll be given an approximate budget that will be required for your project and a run through of our construction process, outlining what is included at each stage. We can also arrange a personal tour of our current projects.
2 Concept design and quotation
Using the information gathered from our initial consultation, we then produce a concept plan with 3D drawings. We estimate a price for your project, taking into account all known site conditions and local council approval requirements and provide a brief specification of what's involved.
3 Approval
Once you are happy with the design, budget and scope of works, a preliminary contract agreement is signed by both parties and an initial fee is requested. Town planning application is started (where applicable) and we manage the entire process through to approval.
We then arrange a site visit with our engineers and estimator. Following that, we fine tune your plan, produce working drawings, a detailed specification and confirm the final fixed price for the project.
As a result of carrying out such a thorough site investigation and ensuring that you are always involved in both the planning and detailing process, we do not have any cost blow outs.
4 Building contract
Upon finalising the design and costs of your project, we then formalise our agreement by preparing an HIA building contract for new homes and a fully itemised specification of your project. These documents ensure there are no extra hidden costs or surprises. The contract is then signed and a deposit is paid. We then submit drawings and specification documentation to your local council and other authorities as required, and arrange all the necessary approvals, insurance and inspections. Once all documentation is completed, a building permit is obtained and your project can begin.
5 Pre-construction meeting
Before construction commences, our Managing Director will meet with you onsite to plan and explain the building process, timelines and associated schedule of works. We then arrange the required tradesman, order materials and schedule the work to be carried out safely and efficiently, according to the plans and specifications set out in the contract.
6 Commencement and progress
Once building work commences, Tony and Urban Bay’s team will ensure construction stays on track and any potential issues that may arise are resolved accurately and promptly. Your project will involve the use of many tradespeople including concreters, scaffolders, bricklayers, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, plasterers and roof tilers, adhering to our thorough planning and high safety standards. Several inspections are also arranged for the required authorities at various stages and progress payments are made at nominated stages, as per the building contract.
7 Notice of completion issued
Once the works are completed, a final inspection is conducted by the building surveyor and a notice of completion is issued. Whilst all projects vary in completion timeframes, this notice is generally issued a number of months after building works have started. On completion and handover of your new home, a written 10 year structural warranty will be issued, along with keys and our 3 month maintenance schedule.
The experience
On site and during construction, we offer a low stress building process through our highly-experienced and skilled tradespeople. Our clients continually tell us they always felt at ease with Tony as he has a relaxed yet professional approach. They have equally found Urban Bay's tradesmen to be pleasant, competent and reliable.
