Seven steps. One point of contact, the whole way.
Seven steps. One point of contact, the whole way.
Here's exactly what happens from your first call to well after you've moved in.
Here's exactly what happens from your first call to well after you've moved in.
OUR PROCESS
A considered path from first conversation to keys in hand
Seven stages, each one building the certainty of the next so every decision along the way is made with real information, not guesswork.
Initial Discovery Call
A relaxed first conversation with Alex or Joby about your project, your site and what you're hoping to build — no forms, no pressure.
ConversationConsultation
We go deeper — your site, your brief, and a realistic sense of budget — so we're both confident it's the right fit before going further.
AlignmentPre-Construction Agreement
We formalise the relationship with a Pre-Construction Agreement, setting out how design and cost planning will run.
AgreementDesign & Cost Planning
Your home takes shape on paper, priced as it's designed — so decisions are made with real costs in view, not guesswork.
DesignFixed Price Proposal
A clear, fixed-price proposal before construction begins, so you know exactly what you're committing to.
CommitmentConstruction
Your home gets built by our crew, with Alex or Joby personally across progress, quality and communication throughout.
BuildHandover — and Beyond
A guided handover where we walk you through your finished home in person. From there, your 12-month defect period begins, backed by our 6-year structural warranty. We don't disappear once you've got the keys — we're still the same team you can call.
DeliveredEvery project moves through this seven stages in order, Nothing is rushed, and nothing moves forward until you are ready for it to.
The Path To Site Start
Understanding Your Approvals Timeline & Cost
This is a full guide to the process you take on, from your first email to your designer right through to the day your builder drives the first peg into the ground. It pulls in your draftsman, your engineers and your council long before construction starts. It pulls your builder in early too.
The approximate costs noted through this section are based on a new three to four bedroom home. Your own figures will depend on your design and your site.
Think of pre-construction like planning a wedding. There is a lot to organise, plenty of moving parts, and it can get stressful in more ways than one. That is completely normal, there are a lot of ducks to get in a row before anything can start. Once that is done, building your home is the honeymoon, the easy part, the part you actually get to enjoy.
Discovery Call
This is where it starts, often with nothing more than an email or a phone call. We have a quick chat about your project and your site, so we can tell you honestly whether we are the right fit.
Consultation
We sit down and talk through your site, your scope, your budget in more detail. This is where we start to understand what we are actually working towards, before any money changes hands.
Pre-Construction Agreement
This proposal is that agreement. Once it is signed, we begin the estimation process set out in our process, starting with your feasibility estimate.
Design & Documentation
Initial Brief to Your Designer
Once your Pre-Construction Agreement is signed, we brief your draftsman or architect on your site, your budget and your wish list. This usually happens within days, so your design work can start straight away. Design fees vary widely depending on who you engage. A draftsman commonly runs $5,000 to $10,000 for a new home. An architect is a different service again, commonly $15,000 to $50,000, or charged as a percentage of your build cost.
Concept Plans
Your designer prepares initial sketch plans for your review. This commonly takes one to three weeks.
Design Revisions
Your designer turns the approved concept into full construction drawings, ready for engineering and permits. This commonly takes two to four weeks.
Working Drawings
Your designer prepares initial sketch plans for your review. This commonly takes one to three weeks.
Site Investigation & Engineering
Soil Test
A geotechnical soil test is booked and carried out on your site. For a new home this commonly runs around $900, plus GST, covering the boreholes, the lab testing, then your site classification report. Allow two to three weeks for the fieldwork, then roughly two more for the report to come back.
Structural Engineering
Your engineer designs footings and structure. This is based on the soil report and your working drawings. It commonly takes one to two weeks.
Energy Efficiency Report
A NatHERS energy assessment is carried out alongside your structural engineering. This commonly takes about a week, and it rarely adds to your overall timeline since it runs in parallel.
Permit-Ready Drawing Set
Your designer finalises the full drawing set, folding in the engineering and energy report ready for lodgement. This commonly takes one to two weeks.
Why We Get Involved This Early
Plans drawn without your builder's cost input can take six to twelve months to prepare, then come back over budget once priced. Bringing us in from the first concept sketch means your design and your budget move together, so you are not left redesigning after the fact.
The same goes for your selections. Finishes you have not chosen yet sit in provisional sums on your fixed price contract. If your final choice costs more than the allowance, the difference becomes a variation. Selecting early removes that risk and keeps your final price accurate.
Planning Approval
Planning Review
Most straightforward residential sites only need a permitted use assessment, not a full discretionary permit. Council has 28 days to decide a permitted application. Where your site needs a discretionary permit, there is a 14 day period for neighbours to comment, and council has 42 days overall to decide. Either way there is a council planning fee, payable directly to them. A discretionary application is the dearer of the two, commonly $1,200 to $1,500. The clock only starts once that fee is paid. Either clock pauses whenever council asks you for more information, provided they do so within 14 days for a permitted application or 21 days for a discretionary one. Once you provide what they need, the clock starts again from where it left off.
Fixed Price Proposal
With your design locked in and every selection priced, we hand you a genuine fixed price proposal. This becomes your building contract once you are ready to sign, as set out in our process.
Building & Plumbing Permit
Building Surveyor Engagement
Once your permit-ready drawings and engineering are complete, we engage a building surveyor. Their fee for a new three to four bedroom home and shed commonly runs around $4,400, plus GST. This covers the technical assessment, certificate of likely compliance, lodgement and inspections. A deposit is due on engagement, with the balance due once your application is ready to lodge.
Technical Assessment & Certificate of Likely Compliance
Your surveyor reviews your plans against the Building Code before issuing your Certificate of Likely Compliance. This commonly takes one to three weeks for a complete, compliant application, though it can run longer if a request for further information comes back.
Certificate Forwarded to Council
Once issued, your surveyor is required to forward your certificate to council within 7 business days.
Council Fees Invoiced & Paid
Council invoices the building permit fees once your certificate is lodged. For a new three to four bedroom home, expect a base assessment fee of $500 to $600. Two further charges apply on top, both calculated on your build value: a 0.1% state government admin fee, then the 0.2% Tasmanian Building and Construction Industry training levy. These are typically processed within a few business days of payment.
Plumbing Permit
A new dwelling needs its own plumbing permit, lodged alongside your building permit by your surveyor. For a new three to four bedroom home, this permit commonly runs $800 to $1,000. It is usually cleared on the same timeline as your building certificate.
Ready To Build
Start Work Notification
Once your certificates are issued and your council fees are paid, your surveyor issues stamped plans. Allow approximately one week for the stamped plans and your start work notification to come through. That is the moment your builder can drive the first peg into the ground.
Permit Validity
Your building permit stays valid for twelve months from issue, in which time work must start on site. From there you have two years to complete the build. Extensions can be applied for if something outside your control holds things up, arranged through your surveyor.
From here, the honeymoon begins. Construction is managed personally by Alex or Joby, with the same crew on site every day.
Your Approvals Roadmap at a Glance
A one page view of the ground we have just covered.
These are the typical timeframes for each stage, based on the relevant regulations and our own experience. Some stages run at the same time as others, so the total time to site start depends on your specific project. We talk you through a realistic figure for your job once your design is locked in.
Everything on this page is the wedding planning. All the lists, the council, the paperwork, the waiting on other people, it is a lot to hold at once and that is normal. Once your peg is in the ground, you are on the honeymoon. Construction is the easy part, the part you actually get to enjoy. You get a site update every week, and Alex or Joby walk the site with you every fortnight, so you always know exactly where things stand.
OUR PROCESS
A considered path from first conversation to keys in hand
Seven stages, each one building the certainty of the next so every decision along the way is made with real information, not guesswork.
Initial Discovery Call
A relaxed first conversation with Alex or Joby about your project, your site and what you're hoping to build — no forms, no pressure.
ConversationConsultation
We go deeper — your site, your brief, and a realistic sense of budget — so we're both confident it's the right fit before going further.
AlignmentPre-Construction Agreement
We formalise the relationship with a Pre-Construction Agreement, setting out how design and cost planning will run.
AgreementDesign & Cost Planning
Your home takes shape on paper, priced as it's designed — so decisions are made with real costs in view, not guesswork.
DesignFixed Price Proposal
A clear, fixed-price proposal before construction begins, so you know exactly what you're committing to.
CommitmentConstruction
Your home gets built by our crew, with Alex or Joby personally across progress, quality and communication throughout.
BuildHandover — and Beyond
A guided handover where we walk you through your finished home in person. From there, your 12-month defect period begins, backed by our 6-year structural warranty. We don't disappear once you've got the keys — we're still the same team you can call.
DeliveredEvery project moves through this seven stages in order, Nothing is rushed, and nothing moves forward until you are ready for it to.
The Path To Site Start
Understanding Your Approvals Timeline & Cost
This is a full guide to the process you take on, from your first email to your designer right through to the day your builder drives the first peg into the ground. It pulls in your draftsman, your engineers and your council long before construction starts. It pulls your builder in early too.
The approximate costs noted through this section are based on a new three to four bedroom home. Your own figures will depend on your design and your site.
Think of pre-construction like planning a wedding. There is a lot to organise, plenty of moving parts, and it can get stressful in more ways than one. That is completely normal, there are a lot of ducks to get in a row before anything can start. Once that is done, building your home is the honeymoon, the easy part, the part you actually get to enjoy.
Discovery Call
This is where it starts, often with nothing more than an email or a phone call. We have a quick chat about your project and your site, so we can tell you honestly whether we are the right fit.
Consultation
We sit down and talk through your site, your scope, your budget in more detail. This is where we start to understand what we are actually working towards, before any money changes hands.
Pre-Construction Agreement
This proposal is that agreement. Once it is signed, we begin the estimation process set out in our process, starting with your feasibility estimate.
Design & Documentation
Initial Brief to Your Designer
Once your Pre-Construction Agreement is signed, we brief your draftsman or architect on your site, your budget and your wish list. This usually happens within days, so your design work can start straight away. Design fees vary widely depending on who you engage. A draftsman commonly runs $5,000 to $10,000 for a new home. An architect is a different service again, commonly $15,000 to $50,000, or charged as a percentage of your build cost.
Concept Plans
Your designer prepares initial sketch plans for your review. This commonly takes one to three weeks.
Design Revisions
Your designer turns the approved concept into full construction drawings, ready for engineering and permits. This commonly takes two to four weeks.
Working Drawings
Your designer prepares initial sketch plans for your review. This commonly takes one to three weeks.
Site Investigation & Engineering
Soil Test
A geotechnical soil test is booked and carried out on your site. For a new home this commonly runs around $900, plus GST, covering the boreholes, the lab testing, then your site classification report. Allow two to three weeks for the fieldwork, then roughly two more for the report to come back.
Structural Engineering
Your engineer designs footings and structure. This is based on the soil report and your working drawings. It commonly takes one to two weeks.
Energy Efficiency Report
A NatHERS energy assessment is carried out alongside your structural engineering. This commonly takes about a week, and it rarely adds to your overall timeline since it runs in parallel.
Permit-Ready Drawing Set
Your designer finalises the full drawing set, folding in the engineering and energy report ready for lodgement. This commonly takes one to two weeks.
Why We Get Involved This Early
Plans drawn without your builder's cost input can take six to twelve months to prepare, then come back over budget once priced. Bringing us in from the first concept sketch means your design and your budget move together, so you are not left redesigning after the fact.
The same goes for your selections. Finishes you have not chosen yet sit in provisional sums on your fixed price contract. If your final choice costs more than the allowance, the difference becomes a variation. Selecting early removes that risk and keeps your final price accurate.
Planning Approval
Planning Review
Most straightforward residential sites only need a permitted use assessment, not a full discretionary permit. Council has 28 days to decide a permitted application. Where your site needs a discretionary permit, there is a 14 day period for neighbours to comment, and council has 42 days overall to decide. Either way there is a council planning fee, payable directly to them. A discretionary application is the dearer of the two, commonly $1,200 to $1,500. The clock only starts once that fee is paid. Either clock pauses whenever council asks you for more information, provided they do so within 14 days for a permitted application or 21 days for a discretionary one. Once you provide what they need, the clock starts again from where it left off.
Fixed Price Proposal
With your design locked in and every selection priced, we hand you a genuine fixed price proposal. This becomes your building contract once you are ready to sign, as set out in our process.
Building & Plumbing Permit
Building Surveyor Engagement
Once your permit-ready drawings and engineering are complete, we engage a building surveyor. Their fee for a new three to four bedroom home and shed commonly runs around $4,400, plus GST. This covers the technical assessment, certificate of likely compliance, lodgement and inspections. A deposit is due on engagement, with the balance due once your application is ready to lodge.
Technical Assessment & Certificate of Likely Compliance
Your surveyor reviews your plans against the Building Code before issuing your Certificate of Likely Compliance. This commonly takes one to three weeks for a complete, compliant application, though it can run longer if a request for further information comes back.
Certificate Forwarded to Council
Once issued, your surveyor is required to forward your certificate to council within 7 business days.
Council Fees Invoiced & Paid
Council invoices the building permit fees once your certificate is lodged. For a new three to four bedroom home, expect a base assessment fee of $500 to $600. Two further charges apply on top, both calculated on your build value: a 0.1% state government admin fee, then the 0.2% Tasmanian Building and Construction Industry training levy. These are typically processed within a few business days of payment.
Plumbing Permit
A new dwelling needs its own plumbing permit, lodged alongside your building permit by your surveyor. For a new three to four bedroom home, this permit commonly runs $800 to $1,000. It is usually cleared on the same timeline as your building certificate.
Ready To Build
Start Work Notification
Once your certificates are issued and your council fees are paid, your surveyor issues stamped plans. Allow approximately one week for the stamped plans and your start work notification to come through. That is the moment your builder can drive the first peg into the ground.
Permit Validity
Your building permit stays valid for twelve months from issue, in which time work must start on site. From there you have two years to complete the build. Extensions can be applied for if something outside your control holds things up, arranged through your surveyor.
From here, the honeymoon begins. Construction is managed personally by Alex or Joby, with the same crew on site every day.
Your Approvals Roadmap at a Glance
A one page view of the ground we have just covered.
These are the typical timeframes for each stage, based on the relevant regulations and our own experience. Some stages run at the same time as others, so the total time to site start depends on your specific project. We talk you through a realistic figure for your job once your design is locked in.
Everything on this page is the wedding planning. All the lists, the council, the paperwork, the waiting on other people, it is a lot to hold at once and that is normal. Once your peg is in the ground, you are on the honeymoon. Construction is the easy part, the part you actually get to enjoy. You get a site update every week, and Alex or Joby walk the site with you every fortnight, so you always know exactly where things stand.
OUR PROCESS
A considered path from first conversation to keys in hand
Seven stages, each one building the certainty of the next so every decision along the way is made with real information, not guesswork.
Initial Discovery Call
A relaxed first conversation with Alex or Joby about your project, your site and what you're hoping to build — no forms, no pressure.
ConversationConsultation
We go deeper — your site, your brief, and a realistic sense of budget — so we're both confident it's the right fit before going further.
AlignmentPre-Construction Agreement
We formalise the relationship with a Pre-Construction Agreement, setting out how design and cost planning will run.
AgreementDesign & Cost Planning
Your home takes shape on paper, priced as it's designed — so decisions are made with real costs in view, not guesswork.
DesignFixed Price Proposal
A clear, fixed-price proposal before construction begins, so you know exactly what you're committing to.
CommitmentConstruction
Your home gets built by our crew, with Alex or Joby personally across progress, quality and communication throughout.
BuildHandover — and Beyond
A guided handover where we walk you through your finished home in person. From there, your 12-month defect period begins, backed by our 6-year structural warranty. We don't disappear once you've got the keys — we're still the same team you can call.
DeliveredEvery project moves through this seven stages in order, Nothing is rushed, and nothing moves forward until you are ready for it to.
The Path To Site Start
Understanding Your Approvals Timeline & Cost
This is a full guide to the process you take on, from your first email to your designer right through to the day your builder drives the first peg into the ground. It pulls in your draftsman, your engineers and your council long before construction starts. It pulls your builder in early too.
The approximate costs noted through this section are based on a new three to four bedroom home. Your own figures will depend on your design and your site.
Think of pre-construction like planning a wedding. There is a lot to organise, plenty of moving parts, and it can get stressful in more ways than one. That is completely normal, there are a lot of ducks to get in a row before anything can start. Once that is done, building your home is the honeymoon, the easy part, the part you actually get to enjoy.
Discovery Call
This is where it starts, often with nothing more than an email or a phone call. We have a quick chat about your project and your site, so we can tell you honestly whether we are the right fit.
Consultation
We sit down and talk through your site, your scope, your budget in more detail. This is where we start to understand what we are actually working towards, before any money changes hands.
Pre-Construction Agreement
This proposal is that agreement. Once it is signed, we begin the estimation process set out in our process, starting with your feasibility estimate.
Design & Documentation
Initial Brief to Your Designer
Once your Pre-Construction Agreement is signed, we brief your draftsman or architect on your site, your budget and your wish list. This usually happens within days, so your design work can start straight away. Design fees vary widely depending on who you engage. A draftsman commonly runs $5,000 to $10,000 for a new home. An architect is a different service again, commonly $15,000 to $50,000, or charged as a percentage of your build cost.
Concept Plans
Your designer prepares initial sketch plans for your review. This commonly takes one to three weeks.
Design Revisions
Your designer turns the approved concept into full construction drawings, ready for engineering and permits. This commonly takes two to four weeks.
Working Drawings
Your designer prepares initial sketch plans for your review. This commonly takes one to three weeks.
Site Investigation & Engineering
Soil Test
A geotechnical soil test is booked and carried out on your site. For a new home this commonly runs around $900, plus GST, covering the boreholes, the lab testing, then your site classification report. Allow two to three weeks for the fieldwork, then roughly two more for the report to come back.
Structural Engineering
Your engineer designs footings and structure. This is based on the soil report and your working drawings. It commonly takes one to two weeks.
Energy Efficiency Report
A NatHERS energy assessment is carried out alongside your structural engineering. This commonly takes about a week, and it rarely adds to your overall timeline since it runs in parallel.
Permit-Ready Drawing Set
Your designer finalises the full drawing set, folding in the engineering and energy report ready for lodgement. This commonly takes one to two weeks.
Why We Get Involved This Early
Plans drawn without your builder's cost input can take six to twelve months to prepare, then come back over budget once priced. Bringing us in from the first concept sketch means your design and your budget move together, so you are not left redesigning after the fact.
The same goes for your selections. Finishes you have not chosen yet sit in provisional sums on your fixed price contract. If your final choice costs more than the allowance, the difference becomes a variation. Selecting early removes that risk and keeps your final price accurate.
Planning Approval
Planning Review
Most straightforward residential sites only need a permitted use assessment, not a full discretionary permit. Council has 28 days to decide a permitted application. Where your site needs a discretionary permit, there is a 14 day period for neighbours to comment, and council has 42 days overall to decide. Either way there is a council planning fee, payable directly to them. A discretionary application is the dearer of the two, commonly $1,200 to $1,500. The clock only starts once that fee is paid. Either clock pauses whenever council asks you for more information, provided they do so within 14 days for a permitted application or 21 days for a discretionary one. Once you provide what they need, the clock starts again from where it left off.
Fixed Price Proposal
With your design locked in and every selection priced, we hand you a genuine fixed price proposal. This becomes your building contract once you are ready to sign, as set out in our process.
Building & Plumbing Permit
Building Surveyor Engagement
Once your permit-ready drawings and engineering are complete, we engage a building surveyor. Their fee for a new three to four bedroom home and shed commonly runs around $4,400, plus GST. This covers the technical assessment, certificate of likely compliance, lodgement and inspections. A deposit is due on engagement, with the balance due once your application is ready to lodge.
Technical Assessment & Certificate of Likely Compliance
Your surveyor reviews your plans against the Building Code before issuing your Certificate of Likely Compliance. This commonly takes one to three weeks for a complete, compliant application, though it can run longer if a request for further information comes back.
Certificate Forwarded to Council
Once issued, your surveyor is required to forward your certificate to council within 7 business days.
Council Fees Invoiced & Paid
Council invoices the building permit fees once your certificate is lodged. For a new three to four bedroom home, expect a base assessment fee of $500 to $600. Two further charges apply on top, both calculated on your build value: a 0.1% state government admin fee, then the 0.2% Tasmanian Building and Construction Industry training levy. These are typically processed within a few business days of payment.
Plumbing Permit
A new dwelling needs its own plumbing permit, lodged alongside your building permit by your surveyor. For a new three to four bedroom home, this permit commonly runs $800 to $1,000. It is usually cleared on the same timeline as your building certificate.
Ready To Build
Start Work Notification
Once your certificates are issued and your council fees are paid, your surveyor issues stamped plans. Allow approximately one week for the stamped plans and your start work notification to come through. That is the moment your builder can drive the first peg into the ground.
Permit Validity
Your building permit stays valid for twelve months from issue, in which time work must start on site. From there you have two years to complete the build. Extensions can be applied for if something outside your control holds things up, arranged through your surveyor.
From here, the honeymoon begins. Construction is managed personally by Alex or Joby, with the same crew on site every day.
Your Approvals Roadmap at a Glance
A one page view of the ground we have just covered.
These are the typical timeframes for each stage, based on the relevant regulations and our own experience. Some stages run at the same time as others, so the total time to site start depends on your specific project. We talk you through a realistic figure for your job once your design is locked in.
Everything on this page is the wedding planning. All the lists, the council, the paperwork, the waiting on other people, it is a lot to hold at once and that is normal. Once your peg is in the ground, you are on the honeymoon. Construction is the easy part, the part you actually get to enjoy. You get a site update every week, and Alex or Joby walk the site with you every fortnight, so you always know exactly where things stand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens in the Discovery Call and Consultation?
The Discovery Call is a first conversation about your project and what you're after. The Consultation goes deeper — site, scope and budget — before anything is formalised.
When do I get a fixed price, and can it change once construction starts?
You get a clear, fixed figure through our Fixed Price Proposal stage, after Design & Cost Planning — priced as your home is designed, not guessed upfront and adjusted later.
What happens after handover?
You get a guided handover, a 12-month defect period, and a 6-year structural warranty — Alex or Joby stay in touch well beyond the last day on site.
Step One
Step One
Ready to make the first call?
Ready to make the first call?
Custom homes and major renovations across Northern Tasmania — built personally by Alex and Joby, and a small, hand-picked crew.