How Long Does It Take To Build A House? Stages of the Home Building Process

As luxury home building designers in Mornington, we talk about timeframes all the time.

Building a home is one of the most important decisions made in one’s life, and it’s human nature to want a home ready as soon as possible after purchasing the land. After all, seeing your new home construction is an exciting time!

But the homebuilding process is quite lengthy, and it’s dependent on consultants and council timelines. By having an understanding of the timeframe, you can set realistic expectations and plan better.

So how long does a build actually take? In this blog, we’ll walk you through the timeline of building a new home in Victoria and what you can expect along the way.

Step 1: Prepare plans and permits

Estimated timeline: 8-12 months

Before you start building, you’ll have to prepare your building plans, permits and reports with a building designer. This means drawing up draft plans for your new home with your building designer and submitting the application for a planning permit to your local council.

A planning permit allows you to use your land for development, and it also covers the boundary and aesthetic approval of your home. A qualified building designer will be able to manage this step for you. Not all residential construction requires a planning permit, by engaging a registered building designer they will best advise you.

Depending on the requirements of the site, this stage of getting the plans and permits ready to build a new home can take anywhere from 8 to 12 months. While this step may look tedious, it helps you avoid any red tape and prevent further delays in your home-building process down the road.

Step 2: Select your builder

Estimated timeline: 4+ weeks

The next step is to find a builder and discuss your plans with them to get a quote for your new home. Builders rely on their trades to provide a quote for their services, so this step will take time. Depending on the time of year and the individual trade’s workload, this quote can take four weeks or more.

At Lewis Building Design, we work with local builders and can highly recommend quality builders to our clients for their new home builds. You shouldn’t jump on the first builder you see. Instead, take the time to get a few quotes, see the builder’s past projects, and check for offline and online reviews. Once you’re confident that the selected builder is the right one for your new home, it’s time to move on to the next step.

Step 3: Apply for a building permit

Estimated timeline: 3+ weeks

Once you’ve agreed to engage with a builder, the application starts! You can now begin applying for a building permit for 
your new home through a registered building surveyor. A building permit is a written document certifying that your home build complies with Building codes and regulations and is ready for construction.

There’s quite a lot involved in this step, from the preparation and acceptance of the quote by the builder to the checking of files by the building surveyor. The building surveyor will also have to return an RFI (request for information) list to the designer or builder to complete.

It’s common for this step to include the further processing of additional notes such as the builder’s insurance and contract, construction methods clarification, certificates of compliance, and code mark certificates for construction materials used. Gathering and preparing the plans for the building surveyor can take a few weeks.

Step 4: Final checks

Estimated timeline: 1+ weeks

Almost there! Once all documents and plans are returned to the building surveyor, they will complete a final check. This 
includes requesting and issuance of your building permit number by the Victorian Building Authority (VBA).

Depending on the workload of the VBA, this stage usually takes a couple of weeks.

Step 5: Work starts

Once the building permit is received, your builder will start working on your new home based on the start date discussed
with you and their workload level.

Many homeowners may find the start of the build to be slow, as there’s a lot of pre-building preparation, such as installing temporary fencing and lodging the home’s connection applications. Rest assured, this is all apart of the 
process, and every project has these steps.

Once the site excavation begins, your project is truly underway, and you can enjoy watching your dream home design
come to life.

Conclusion

To bring your dream home to life, contact us at https://lbd.net.au/contact/, or give us a call at (03) 5973 4497.