A guide to a house on its way up
Ellenbrook Real Estate is a guide, written and published by Dotto, to buying and building a new home in Western Australia. It is general information, drawn from the bodies that set the rules, and each page lists the sources it used at its foot.
RevenueWA treats a contract to build as two values added together: the building contract, variations included, and the land. Building and Energy is a division of the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety. Landgate’s guides explain how covenants are registered on a title and removed from the register, and local governments apply the Residential Design Codes.
The City of Swan’s community profile lists Ellenbrook among the City’s suburbs and names it as one of its new urban areas. The City itself lies on Perth’s north-eastern fringe.
The build, stage by stage
Building and Energy says there is no standard set of progress claim stages or percentages across the building industry. Its fact sheet describes common stages for a new home as a general guide only, and the summary below follows its order, in our own words.
| Stage | What is usually done by then | Where the rules meet it |
|---|---|---|
| Slab | Footings and the concrete slab are finished, and underground drainage is probably in. | For a contract to build, the first construction progress payment is generally the slab, and it is the payment the grant waits on. The first home owner grant |
| Plate height | The walls stand to the timber or steel plate the roof will rest on, with door and window frames built in and internal walls up. | A progress payment may only be for work already done or materials already supplied. Home building contracts |
| Roof cover | The roof is on with its gutters, fascia and downpipes, and the house is basically watertight. | The owner, someone the owner authorises, or the lender may inspect the work during the builder’s ordinary working hours. Inspecting as it goes up |
| Lock up | External doors and windows are in, so the house can be secured; inside, the first pipes and wires are run and the walls and ceilings plastered. | Where the work is worth more than $20,000, home indemnity insurance has covered it since before the first payment. Home indemnity insurance |
| Practical completion | The house is finished apart from small omissions or defects that do not stop it being used: for example, it can be lived in comfortably with the utilities connected. | Defects notified within four months must be made good by the builder. Practical completion and defects |
Some contracts add a stage after the finishing trades, and a house of two or more storeys may have more payments.
The counts that start from the build
Four time limits recur in these guides. Each is counted from a different starting point, set out here before any of them begins.
- 45 working days
- From the date of the contract, the time allowed for the building permit and the Water Corporation’s approval to come through.
- 4 months
- After practical completion, the period in which a defect notified to the builder must be made good, unless the contract allows longer.
- 12 months
- After completion, the deadline to apply for the first home owner grant; RevenueWA says late applications cannot be accepted.
- 6 years
- After practical completion, the period in which a claim may be made on the home indemnity policy.
Who sets the rules
- RevenueWA takes first home owner grant applications, and an applicant who disagrees with the Commissioner’s decision can lodge a formal objection.
- Building and Energy gives homeowners information about their rights under WA building laws, and takes building complaints. Its number is 1300 489 099.
- Landgate publishes the guides on how covenants are created on a title and how they are removed.
- Your local government issues building permits, and answers questions about how the Residential Design Codes apply to a particular proposal.
Where this guide stops
These pages follow one house from a bare lot to the years after handover. They describe the rules and who applies them; they say nothing about the price of land or houses, and they compare no estates, builders or suburbs. For a decision about a particular contract or block, a lawyer can advise, and Building and Energy can explain your rights under the building laws.