After initial contact is made, EDR
Building Designs set up a time which suits
your lifestyle to meet you on your block to go thru
specifics like northerly aspects, prevailing winds,
solar details, a site topography, brainstorming of
ideas and your particular needs, wants and design
brief. We take digital photographs and own our own
survey equipment so we can take levels, etc. Should
this be not possible, we then meet with you in our
conveniently located office where we go thru similar
aspects and then we research the block of land to
gain significant information required prior to initiating
any sketching. It is at this point that all costs
will be outlined and depending on the project size,
a contract and deposit may also be necessary before
any work can proceed. For renovations and extensions,
a site measure up is vital so as to ensure all accuracy
is met. For specific projects a DA (development application)
may be required.
EDR Building Designs can
then proceed to design your dreams and ideas mentioned
in our initial meeting. We provide sketches of a site
plan, floor plan and elevations. We then email or
post these preliminaries to you where you are encouraged
to study our design and make any comments as this
is the time to amend the design. This part of the
process can take a couple of goes to get right but
usually is a quick procedure. It is also at this time
that we recommend you employ a quantity surveyor to
prepare building estimates or at least give the plans
to a builder for a quote on building costs. EDR
Building Designs may present an invoice at
this stage for work completed thus far.
After pricing and design has been approved by you,
we then proceed to develop a comprehensive set of
detailed working drawings which show details of all
aspects of the job that enables smooth trouble free
construction by all trades involved. If a soil test
has not yet been completed it is advisable to have
that finalized at this stage. Also, at this phase
we will sit with a structural engineer to assist in
the design of the footings, beam sizes, bracing, roof
structure, etc. This is advantageous in that we come
up with structural solutions which suit the design.
EDR Building Designs illustrate
the engineering as well which enables you and your
builder to have all information on one set of plans
rather than having separate architectural and structural
drawings. EDR Building Designs
will present an invoice for all work completed to
date. These plans can be used to get an accurate quote
and a contract can then be signed with your chosen
builder. EDR Building Designs
can also do up a full specification to be read in
conjunction with your plans, this further eliminates
onsite conjecture, it aids in you getting a more accurate
price (less PC items) and you can get the exact finish
you want.
The next step in the process is to
obtain approval for the local authority or a private
certifier. While EDR Building Designs
doesn’t usually handle this we are capable of
managing it if that is more fitting, alternatively
your builder can also handle this for you.
