Building a new home is an exciting time. But it can be frustrating too, especially if you don’t have a clear time frame provided by your house builders on the Gold Coast. Weather delays, difficulty getting materials, complex land – there are many things that can affect the speed of a new house build. But you need some indication of how long it’s going to take before your house is ready.

The average build time in Australia is between 4 and 12 months, obviously depending on the size and complexity of the home. But you’re going to need a little more clarity than that. Let’s take a look at some of the things that affect build time, and why it’s important to understand the process.

What affects building time?

These are just a few of the things that can affect your build time.

Weather

Poor weather is an obvious one, however, we’re fortunate to not have too much of that on the Gold Coast. Bear in mind though, that the sudden storms and heavy rainfall we experience from time to time can have an impact on build time. Often, if the building team needs to pack up due to poor weather, they’re not likely to wait around for the rain to clear, because conditions after the rainfall may not be any better for building.

Once the exterior of the home is completed, weather stops becoming an issue. But when it comes to site preparation and laying the slab, rain is definitely going to slow the process down. So, building during summer on the Gold Coast isn’t always the best idea, because these are the months that typically experience the highest rainfall.

Build contracts

Here at Avondale Homes, we’ve removed this particularly annoying barrier to the commencement of a build. The build contract is the document signed between you and your builder, outlining basically everything to do with your new home. Many building companies drag this process out for 6-8 weeks, which is obviously a huge chunk of time when you’re waiting for a new home.

Instead, we promise a 48-hour turnaround on build contracts. It doesn’t mean the contract is any less important. It just means we’ve identified this as an area of unnecessary delay, and practically removed it from our timeline. That means we can get started on your home faster.

Design

Naturally, designing a home takes time, and this needs to occur before any ground can be broken. The complexity of your design and the number of times you need to go back and forth with an architect can certainly slow down the process.

One way to speed up this part of the process is by choosing ready-made plans from your builder. Often, they will have numerous house plans to choose from, and they’ve more than likely built them before. That means everything moves a little faster. You can certainly request small changes to a ready-made house design, but even that will generally be quicker than designing from scratch.

Finding land

Obviously, before you even get to the point of enlisting a builder and commencing house plans, you need to find land. Finding land to build on in South East Queensland can take some time. There is plenty of land available, but you need the plot that’s right for you. Even then, when you find the perfect piece of land, you need to go through the process of purchasing it, which can take longer if it goes to auction, for example.

Why is it important to have a clear timeframe

Firstly, as humans, we want everything straight away. Patience isn’t a trait that many of us have, so naturally, we want to move into our new homes as quickly as possible. But the main reason this is important is simply in planning your life.

If you’re renting, staying with family, or if you need to sell your existing home, you need some clarity. Getting into your home faster often means less rent, less inconvenience, no property storage costs and a smoother transition for everybody concerned.

So, while you can expect a new home to take up to 12 months to build, getting a clear timeframe from your builder is always the smartest way to go.

Looking for Gold Coast house builders you can trust?

While we can’t control the weather, we can certainly control almost every other aspect of the home-building process. We’ve taken steps, such as our 48-hour turnaround on build contracts, to speed up the process so that you can be in your new home faster. However, we never compromise on quality and ensure the highest building standards are followed. For a Gold Coast home builder you can trust, the answer is always Avondale Homes. Contact us today to find out more.

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