Week 3: Houston...?
3 weeks in and we've hit our first snag. The builder called us on Friday afternoon to drop a minor bombshell before heading off on holiday for 2 weeks...
It seems that the sewerage pipes were a little shallower than they had accounted for, thus necessitating a lift in the slab by about 150mm. Sure, 15cm doesn't sound like much, however this put the house outside of the building envelope. I didn't even know buildings came with envelopes, let alone exceed one.
So the builder calls, ostensibly speaking English at the time, but while I recognised his words, they made no sense to me.
Here's what I heard:
"Hi, it's your builder. Site cut, something something, shallow drains. Slab gotta be lifted by 100-150 mm, something something encroachment or something. You have two options, lower ceiling expectations or something parapet wall variation marshallow frog".
OK, so I made the marshmallow frog bit up, but you get the gist.
It wasn't until Monday morning when one of the other team members was able to explain to us (with a diagram) what the issue was and how it was to be fixed. Essentially reducing the length of the parapet would compensate for the additional height of the slab and bring the house back within acceptable limits of the envelope. This would however require a variation be submitted and some rejigging of the box guttering. The upshot being we get to keep the higher ceilings that we opted for initially - pending final confirmation of any additional costs, noting we're already paying to have the higher ceiling.
Now we're not naive enough to think that everything on our build would go 100% smoothly, however we hope a snag so early on isn't an omen for the rest of the build.
I would hope however that in future that our builder can explain things in a more accessible manner and not assume that everyone has the same level of understanding of building concepts and jargon. It's an easy trap for anyone to fall into, regardless of what profession they're in. Just because you are very familiar with the subject, you can't assume that others will understand. Whether you're a lawyer, doctor, computer expert, accountant or a builder, you really need to carefully consider how to convey your message in a manner that is easily understood by your clients. This means avoiding using jargon and being able to explain things to your clients in order for them to make informed decisions.
And if you're the client who doesn't understand what the person you're paying to do a job is talking about - don't be embarrassed to keep asking until you get the answers you need! Make them draw a diagram Or perform an interpretive dance. Whatever it takes.
Anyway, here's the latest aerial from our site.
It seems that the sewerage pipes were a little shallower than they had accounted for, thus necessitating a lift in the slab by about 150mm. Sure, 15cm doesn't sound like much, however this put the house outside of the building envelope. I didn't even know buildings came with envelopes, let alone exceed one.
So the builder calls, ostensibly speaking English at the time, but while I recognised his words, they made no sense to me.
Here's what I heard:
"Hi, it's your builder. Site cut, something something, shallow drains. Slab gotta be lifted by 100-150 mm, something something encroachment or something. You have two options, lower ceiling expectations or something parapet wall variation marshallow frog".
OK, so I made the marshmallow frog bit up, but you get the gist.
It wasn't until Monday morning when one of the other team members was able to explain to us (with a diagram) what the issue was and how it was to be fixed. Essentially reducing the length of the parapet would compensate for the additional height of the slab and bring the house back within acceptable limits of the envelope. This would however require a variation be submitted and some rejigging of the box guttering. The upshot being we get to keep the higher ceilings that we opted for initially - pending final confirmation of any additional costs, noting we're already paying to have the higher ceiling.
Now we're not naive enough to think that everything on our build would go 100% smoothly, however we hope a snag so early on isn't an omen for the rest of the build.
I would hope however that in future that our builder can explain things in a more accessible manner and not assume that everyone has the same level of understanding of building concepts and jargon. It's an easy trap for anyone to fall into, regardless of what profession they're in. Just because you are very familiar with the subject, you can't assume that others will understand. Whether you're a lawyer, doctor, computer expert, accountant or a builder, you really need to carefully consider how to convey your message in a manner that is easily understood by your clients. This means avoiding using jargon and being able to explain things to your clients in order for them to make informed decisions.
And if you're the client who doesn't understand what the person you're paying to do a job is talking about - don't be embarrassed to keep asking until you get the answers you need! Make them draw a diagram Or perform an interpretive dance. Whatever it takes.
Anyway, here's the latest aerial from our site.
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