This course will outline the essentials of home building to help you move forward. We share prfessional knowledge, experience and understanding, to help you gain confidence to navigate your home build journey and make the best informed decisions you can.
Each chapter is a building block for the next
How to create a comprehensive design brief
There are 29 worksheets, calculators, checklists and infographics in total to save you remembering things
A comprehensive Glossary of terms to help you navigate building jargon
Guidance of how to select your consultants and builder
Things to consider when tendering and finalising contracts
Approvals and what you need to know
Construction stages and key things to consider during the build
What you need to do to ensure you don't void your warranties
What to consider and do during your defects liability period
Your journey to being knowledgeable and confident to make decisions with comfort and certainty to avoid common mistakes, budget overruns and time blowouts.
Lesson 1 - Message from your instructor
Lesson 2 - How to use this course
Lesson 3 - Before we begin could you help us understand...
Lesson 4 - How to get the most from this course
Lesson 5 - Where to do your research
Lesson 1 - Goals & actions
Lesson 2 - The journey ahead
Lesson 3 - Getting organised and prepared
Lesson 4 - Copyright
Lesson 5 - Construction language
Lesson 6 - Module refresher
Lesson 7 - Module goals
Lesson 1 - Goals & actions
Lesson 2 - Goals and objectives
Lesson 3 - Needs and wants
Lesson 4 - Creating your design brief
Lesson 5 - How big is your home?
Lesson 6 - How to set your budget
Lesson 7 - What is your budget
Lesson 8 - Module refresher
Lesson 9 - Module goals
Lesson 1 - Goals & actions
Lesson 2 - Selecting your dream location
Lesson 3 - Identifying site characteristics
Lesson 4 - Site impacts on build costs
Lesson 5 - Town planning constraints
Lesson 6 - Revisit your budget
Lesson 7 - Module refresher
Lesson 8 - Module goals
Lesson 1 - Goals & actions
Lesson 2 - Selecting your designer
Lesson 3 - Design agreement checklist
Lesson 4 - Your project team
Lesson 5- Selecting your builder
Lesson 6 - Design & documentation
Lesson 7 - Design & documentation stages
Lesson 8 - The importance of being a participating client
Lesson 9 - The importance of being open and direct
Lesson 10 - Module refresher
Lesson 11 - Module goals
Lesson 1 - Goals & actions
Lesson 2 - Importance of approvals
Lesson 3 - Town Planning approvals
Lesson 4 - Building approvals
Lesson 5 - Module refresher
Lesson 6 - Module goals
Lesson 1 - Goals & actions
Lesson 2 - Checking drawings
Lesson 3 -Tendering
Lesson 4 - Tender comparison
Lesson 5 - Building contracts
Lesson 6 - Revisit your budget
Lesson 7 - Module refresher
Lesson 8 - Module goals
Lesson 1 - Goals & actions
Lesson 2 - Stages of construction
Lesson 3 - Keeping track of things
Lesson 4 - Building Certifier v Building Inspector
Lesson 5 - Mandatory inspections
Lesson 6 - Quality inspections
Lesson 7 - Variations and Extension of Time claims
Lesson 8 - Defects inspections
Lesson -9 Practical completion
Lesson 10 - Warranty items
Lesson 11 - Module refresher
Lesson 12 - Module goals
Lesson 1 - Goals & actions
Lesson 2 - Defects liability period
Lesson 3 - Moving in
Lesson 4 - Module refresher
Lesson 5 - Module goals
Lesson 6 - Congratulations! Here's what's next...
BONUS #1 - Home Design Considerations - Checklist
BONUS #2 - Defects Inspection/PCI - Checklist
BONUS #3 - Project Home Comparison - Worksheet
Tech solutions
Where do I start? Are you floundering with information overload and struggling to decide the best advice and information to move forward on.
What is the process? Unsure of the design and building process steps and struggling to understand how they relate or are even relevant to your circumstance.
What should I consider and include? Your mind is so full of information that you are worried about missing things in your design and tripping up along the way, and you wish there were a way to gather your thoughts to minimise your disappointment.
What’s a good piece of land? Looking at land trying to determine if the location and the block are suitable, not to mention what should you be looking out for.
How do I select my team? Unsure of the consultants you need and understanding what they do and how to decide who is the best suited for your home build.
What approvals do I need? There are many types of approvals. Are they all applicable to your home build and who is responsible for obtaining them. Some are easy to miss and problematic if overlooked.
How to decide on a builder and obtain the best price? Obtaining a price on budget and includes everything you want is a common goal; however, deciding on a builder/s to price your home is the first step in achieving this goal.
What can I expect during construction? Unsure what to expect through the course of your home build and how the work is sequenced.
How do I deal with defects and PCI? Concerned about being left with a new home full of defects and how to ensure you capture as many as possible for the builder to rectify them, not to be stuck with endless problems.
Simon Greenhalgh
I'm Simon Greenhalgh, an Architect and Content Director for Dddreamhouse, responsible for the educational and technical content created to help move your home design and build journey forward.
I have practised as an Architect who specialises in residential Architecture and have been responsible for over 20,000 residential dwellings. My experience ranges from extensions at the beginning of my career through to multi-million dollar executive residences of many different budgets, types and sizes of residences in between.
Dddreamhouse is a passion project started in 2016 with the desire to help people plan and successfully navigate their home design and build journey.
All the best to you all on your journey, and hopefully, the information we share will fill the voids of knowledge and help you surmount the problems and concerns you have moving forward.
Simon Greenhalgh
Dddreamhouse - Content Director.
