8 Things to Know Before Becoming an Owner-Builder
As an architect-and-carpenter husband-and-wife team, it felt almost inevitable that Lucas and I would build our own home. We were first-home owners, desperate to leave the rental market, and we saw owner-building as a chance to test our skills. We are proud of what we achieved. We are also honest about how demanding it was.
These are not universal truths or professional advice. They are eight lessons from our own owner-builder experience in Melbourne, alongside a few current Victorian requirements worth understanding before you begin.
In Victoria, an owner-builder is someone who uses their own skills or manages trades to build, extend or renovate a home they live in or intend to live in. You take on many of the responsibilities and financial risks normally carried by a registered builder. For domestic building work valued over $16,000, you generally need a Certificate of Consent from the Building and Plumbing Commission before a building permit can be issued.
1. Everything changes once money is on the table
Once we bought the land, the clock started ticking and did not stop until we moved in. We paid rent and a mortgage throughout the build, while both continuing our day jobs. That was a powerful motivator to get up early and spend our weekends labouring on site. It was also stressful.
2. Budget as though it is a normal build
It is tempting to assume that removing the builder’s margin will produce an enormous saving. Sometimes owner-builders do save money. Others discover that missed items, mistakes, delays and the time required to manage the project consume much of that saving.
Our experience taught us to budget conservatively. A buffer gives you options when something takes longer, costs more or simply needs to be done properly.
3. Secure finance and discuss insurance early
Do not assume that an ordinary home loan will suit an owner-builder project. Speak to your lender before work begins, ideally before buying land or committing to a design.
Discuss the project with your insurer too. Owner-building can affect the cover available during construction and the documents you may need later.
4. You cannot do everything
We repeatedly had to compare the cost of employing a skilled trade with the cost of doing the work ourselves. If a tiler can complete a job in a fraction of the time, while you would lose several weekends, take leave from paid work and perhaps achieve a poorer result, the cheaper-looking option may not actually be cheaper.
Some work must be carried out by appropriately licensed or registered people. In Victoria, that includes electrical and plumbing work. Owner-builders are also responsible for permits, required inspections, site safety, contracts and checking that trades hold the necessary credentials.
5. The cheapest quote may cost more
A low quote is not automatically good value. Ask what is included, what is excluded and how variations will be handled. Look at previous work and check licences, registration and insurance where required.
As an owner-builder, you may not receive the same pricing, responsiveness or priority as a builder who offers trades a continuing stream of work. That is not necessarily unfair. It is part of the commercial reality.
6. Make design decisions early
Nothing disrupts a programme or budget quite like changing your mind during construction. Sometimes a late idea becomes a wonderful addition, as our sunken bathtub did. Sometimes it becomes weeks spent agonising over two almost identical grey tiles.
The lesson is not that every decision must be immutable. It is that uncertainty has a cost. Resolve as much as you reasonably can before it reaches the site.
7. Schedule breaks before you need them
If you manage the project every night and labour on site every weekend, exhaustion can become your normal state. We found it important to plan occasional weekends away somewhere we could not see the build or “just pop in”.
That advice is personal rather than scientific, but it comes from experience. Rest helped us make better decisions and remember that the project was part of our life, not all of it.
8. Document the journey
Photographs and videos did more than record construction. During difficult stretches, they reminded us how far we had come. They now hold details of the work that disappeared behind walls and finishes, as well as memories of the strange, exhausting and satisfying process of building our first home.
Why a builder’s margin exists
Our owner-builder experience gave us enormous respect for good builders. A builder’s margin does not simply pay for somebody to stand on site. It contributes to:
• business and project insurance
• temporary fencing, scaffolding, site facilities and other preliminaries
• programming trades and materials
• checking licences, registrations and required insurance
• quoting, invoicing, variations and contract administration
• resolving problems and carrying commercial risk
• maintaining a viable business and earning a profit
Site supervisors, project managers and contract administrators all perform real work. If you become an owner-builder, you take responsibility for many of those functions. Go into it with open eyes, undertake proper research and weigh the apparent saving against the time, risk and responsibility involved.
Victorian owner-builder requirements can change. Consumer Affairs Victoria currently advises that owner-builders may need permits, a building surveyor, contracts, inspections, insurance and appropriately licensed or registered trades. It also identifies specific obligations if an owner-built home is sold within six years and six months of completion. Check the current official guidance before relying on any threshold or process:
https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/building-and-renovating/checklists/owner-builders
This article describes our personal experience and provides general information only. It is not architectural, building, financial, insurance or legal advice.
If you are deciding whether an owner-builder approach is realistic, start by testing the scope, budget, risks and responsibilities before work begins. Our Home Masterplan Report helps homeowners compare options and make early decisions with clearer information.
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