DIY house

HQ2011

Hey everyone

I am looking for some guidance about building a house, can you please tell me if my plan is possible and would be allowed to happen.

If I buy a plot of land and get planning permission for a house, for example a bungalow of 1,800 sq feet.

Would I be allowed, myself, to do all of the work, e.g dig and lay the foundation, pipework. Build the walls, plaster etc I would only need to hire professional builders to put on the roof and make the necessary electrical and plumbing connects but even then I would be able to run all the services myself to where I need them to be.

Basically, if I am building a house for myself to live in, is it allowed in this country for me to build it myself, with my own hands? Not that it's a problem but should I expect any inspectors be checking up on me as I work? Or would it just be between myself and my architect?

Thanks for reading

_Brian

Not as you describe.

Firstly there is the whole planning issue around professional management and certification of the build. I do expect this to be relaxed though.

Where is the money coming from? If borrowed ten the lender will insist on professional certification at specific points to ensure their money is well spent and so a decent asset to lend against.

Electrical is more complicated than just making a connection. The ESB will only give a connection if the wiring is certified, an Electrician will mostly only cert wiring they have done themselves or charge the price that they would have done the wiring for just to test and cert.

It's possible to to a lot of work, but not everything.

HQ2011

Thanks for the response.

The money is in the bank, we are not waiting for loan or mortgage approval, the idea is that I work on the house and my other half work as normal, financially we are all set.

I can accept that the wiring needs to be certified, but would It be possible to get in an electrition and come up with a plan and layout from him and in order to cut labour costs have me run all the wiring? I was planning on doing the same with the plumber.

I'd like to hear your opinion

Tefral

HQ2011 wrote: »

Thanks for the response.

The money is in the bank, we are not waiting for loan or mortgage approval, the idea is that I work on the house and my other half work as normal, financially we are all set.

I can accept that the wiring needs to be certified, but would It be possible to get in an electrition and come up with a plan and layout from him and in order to cut labour costs have me run all the wiring? I was planning on doing the same with the plumber.

I'd like to hear your opinion

What's your background? Since your asking about these type of questions I'm assuming that your not a tradesman in the construction trade??

As a result of this I'd fear you'd end up with a house that was t quite right. Ever heard the saying buy cheap buy twice? You might end up in a situation whereby you'll pay more to fix a mistake rather than doing it right first time.

Houses are complicated to build. In fact often more complicated to build than commercial buildings.

HQ2011

Thanks for your reply

I have friends and family who have a wealth of experience in construction to help and guide me through the building process. I have experience with regards to block laying and woodworking however I have no clue about the rules and regulations pertaining to any obstacles of being allowed to build a home. That's the info I'm trying to attain.

Does the county council or any other government departments have to inpspect if so at what stages?

Or is it more more up to the person themselves to get the land, planning permission and building, bringing in the relevant experts to certify such as electricians along the way?

Tefral

HQ2011 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply

I have friends and family who have a wealth of experience in construction to help and guide me through the building process. I have experience with regards to block laying and woodworking however I have no clue about the rules and regulations pertaining to any obstacles of being allowed to build a home. That's the info I'm trying to attain.

Does the county council or any other government departments have to inpspect if so at what stages?

Or is it more more up to the person themselves to get the land, planning permission and building, bringing in the relevant experts to certify such as electricians along the way?

Since priory hall the government shifted the building control on to the individuals building a house. Basically you'll need what's known as an assigned certifier to sign off on your build. The problem with this is that no business in their right mind would allow you to build something without coming to inspect it along the way.

They recon there's about 20-30 visits required to site and this is because if something happened within the statute of limitations period, they can be sued. Its typically costing 10k for architects to do it and given your not actually a builder with experience I'd say if your lucky to find someone to take this on, they would charge you more as they would want to be practically living on site.

Gumbo

Sounds like you have not applied for planning yet.
So I assume you are at least 5 months away from building on site.
That means by the time you want to start, the new building control regulations *may* be altered by then to allow one off self builds.

The Council may still inspect depending on your location, I know in Dublin they *will* inspect the property during its construction.

You also have strict health and safety legislation that you must adhere to which may include the appointment of a health and safety person for the construction stage, most this is done by whoever is certifying the job.

Plumbing and electrics are strictly controlled and rightly so, especially around the Gas systems.

HQ2011

You are correct, we are a long ways away, we have a couple of options open to us, we have some land in my family that we could build a new dwelling on and there is planning permission already. We are also considering buying a property and extending onto it. I'm just trying to explore every option before we proceed.

Thanks for your reply, I appreciate your input!

kceire wrote: »

Sounds like you have not applied for planning yet.
So I assume you are at least 5 months away from building on site.
That means by the time you want to start, the new building control regulations *may* be altered by then to allow one off self builds.

The Council may still inspect depending on your location, I know in Dublin they *will* inspect the property during its construction.

You also have strict health and safety legislation that you must adhere to which may include the appointment of a health and safety person for the construction stage, most this is done by whoever is certifying the job.

Plumbing and electrics are strictly controlled and rightly so, especially around the Gas systems.

HQ2011

Thanks for your input, I appreciate the information! Really puts things into perspective.

cronin_j wrote: »

Since priory hall the government shifted the building control on to the individuals building a house. Basically you'll need what's known as an assigned certifier to sign off on your build. The problem with this is that no business in their right mind would allow you to build something without coming to inspect it along the way.

They recon there's about 20-30 visits required to site and this is because if something happened within the statute of limitations period, they can be sued. Its typically costing 10k for architects to do it and given your not actually a builder with experience I'd say if your lucky to find someone to take this on, they would charge you more as they would want to be practically living on site.

Gumbo

HQ2011 wrote: »

You are correct, we are a long ways away, we have a couple of options open to us, we have some land in my family that we could build a new dwelling on and there is planning permission already. We are also considering buying a property and extending onto it. I'm just trying to explore every option before we proceed.

Thanks for your reply, I appreciate your input!

If planning is already granted then that's half the battle!
Just be mindful of its expired date.

Much cheaper to buy and renovate I would imagine.

M.Lynch

When are you starting to build? Once you have the planning permission then you are well on the road.