You’ve bought your house for relocation, but what happens when it arrives on your section?
The truck arrives at your site in the early hours of the morning. There are regulations that dictate when house movers can have their trucks on the roads in order to keep traffic flowing, and for the safety of other road users – for example: houses are not transported on Friday or Saturday nights.
The trailer with the house on it will be positioned to where you have your corner pegs installed and the required floor level marked. The house is then jacked up on styes and the trailer is removed from under the house.
This is when your Builder’s Contract Insurance kicks in.
With the house jacked up the house movers will dig the holes for the foundation piles if the foundation is to be a standard pile foundation. Any other foundations are treated in their respective ways according to what is required i.e. if Driven or Rammed (This will have been completed and inspected prior to the house arriving and the house will be rolled on to these).
The first Council Inspection happens after this. The Inspector will want to check that the size and position of the foundation holes complies with your Building Consent Site Plan and boundary set-backs (the cost of this inspection is covered in your Building Consent).
The piles are then concreted and the house is lowered down and tied down (the piles are fixed to the bearers).
If it is a two piece shift (i.e. the house is cut into two pieces due to its shape, or size to make it moveable), once the two pieces are on site and positioned, the house will be joined back together at the floor, framework and the roof.
Connection to services can begin once the house has been tied down. Your drainlayer connects the water and sewer pipes between your house and the council supply; and in a rural area, to a septic tank and water tank. The drainlayer will also arrange stormwater connections – whether this is a pipe to the kerb or a stormwater pit or tank on the property.
Once the water is connected your plumber can come in and put new plastic pipes under the house and ensure that the laundry, kitchen and bathroom plumbing is done. Sometimes your drainlayer does both the connection of the water and the internal plumbing – it depends on their qualifications and certifications.
Your electrician will connect the power to your house. A trench is dug where the Telecom lines and power lines are laid between the house and the council energy supply. Because it is now a requirement that all houses have a meter board on the outside, if you have an internal meter board the electrician will install one outside and connect it up. Your electrician may also have to upgrade the wiring and switchboard if it is not up to your local council requirements.
After this the base boards of the house are replaced and access steps and decks need to be built.
Depending on what your Consent says, you may also have to paint the exterior of the house or do some work on the roof before you can get your Code of Compliance Certificate. Councils will generally stipulate that this work needs to be done in a recommended timeframe and may request that a Bond be paid as part of your Building Consent. Your Bond is returned to you on completion and inspection of the required work.
Some banks will issue a Cash Bond to cover this Council Bond requirement (this can be arranged through your lawyer).
You will have to keep on site at all times the Building Consent pack which contains all the necessary paperwork to be accessed by Council Inspectors and Tradespeople. In this pack you will have your Code of Compliance Certificate form that you were given when your Building Consent was issued. This needs to be filled in prior to the final inspection by the Council Inspector. Your electrician will put his Electrical Certificate in there to say he has completed his work, along with your drainlayer’s “As Built Plan”. You will need to book a time with your Council for the final inspection.
When the final inspection has been done the Council then has 20 working days in which to issue your Code of Compliance Certificate – it can often be issued sooner than that too.
As soon as your Code of Compliance Certificate is granted and your contractors have completed all the work on your house, your Builder’s Contract insurance ends and the house is deemed habitable. You will then want to have basic house insurance arranged.
Once you have the Code of Compliance Certificate the bank will allow you to draw down more funds to pay your contractors as well.
And that is how things work when your house arrives at your section – simple!
