There are many factors that come into play when setting a budget for your renovation or rebuild project. At MILEHAM, we typically work with clients who are looking for a major renovation to change the size or layout of their existing home, or knock down and rebuild their dream home from the ground up. In either case, they are looking to live in and love their finished home for some time.
To help you better understand what a project budget might look like and how costs tend to be allocated, we have outlined a typical project below for you to use as a guide:
PROJECT: Lower North Shore Home
? Knock down an existing cottage, and rebuild a new home
? Architect designed with a quality builder
? 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom, two storey family home
? Good quality materials, with prestige finishes and fixtures
? Total project budget: $1 million
Project costs: what fees get paid when during a project?
For a renovation upwards of $500k, you would typically approach an architect having already prepared or thought about:
- a brief outline of what you want to achieve and how you want to live
- your expectations on the quality of the materials and finishes you want to use
- a rough total project budget in mind
Following a detailed consultation, your architect will confirm their consulting fees to move forward to the design phase, through to the final construction plans.
Your architect then comes back to you with concept designs and a preliminary cost estimate. At this point, you should have a clear idea of whether you have allowed a realistic budget to achieve your brief, and if not, whether more funds need to be allocated, or compromises made.
Once concept plans are agreed, submission plans are drawn up to submit alongside other documentation to council for DA approval.
Upon receiving DA approval, your architect then proceeds with drawing detailed construction plans, utilising their extensive knowledge of the building process. These plans set out all the instructions a builder needs to efficiently quote for and construct your home. The more detail provided at this stage, the better the outcome, with fewer chances of cost blowouts.
Your builder then uses your architect
