Costings
As with most things, it’s better to start a project like this with as accurate an idea of the costs as possible. To help you achieve this, Quantity Surveyors will take your sketch designs and proposed components and produce reasonably accurate cost estimates. Better to find out now whether what you want is what you can afford rather than half way through realise you can’t!
Some banks will only allow funding based on a fixed-price from your builder, which means that the builder has to be accurate with their costings to you, however, work outside their brief, such as kitchen, bathroom fixtures, home automation and security, etc., can push the price beyond what you’re expecting.
The Department of Building and Housing has a guide to costs per square metre for building in different centres
here...
Consulting Engineers - role and costs
Be aware that you may need to have an engineer work on the plan. Engineers work on different elements of the building, from the ground, through drainage and on to structural work. As professionals, they command high fees, but they are brought in by the designer when required for difficult work or when required by the Building Code.
It may be that there is some question over the stability of the ground or contamination by chemicals that need investigation. It may be that you are building in a high wind zone and there is extra structural work required, or that the particular design you have chosen requires additional support. It may be that drainage in your area is a problem and you require holding tanks or some flow restrictor.
Your architect / designer should let you know if an engineer is required and what the extra costs will be.
Places to go for more information:
Architects - NZ Institute of (NZIA) www.nzia.co.nz
Architectural Designers NZ Inc (ADNZ) www.adnz.org.nz
Association of Consulting Engineers (ACENZ) www.acenz.org.nz
BRANZ Ltd www.branz.co.nz
NZ Institute of Quantity Surveyors Inc (NZIQS) www.nziqs.co.nz
NZ Institute of Surveyors (NZIS) www.surveyors.org.nz
Department of Building and Housing (DBH) www.dbh.govt.nz
Institution of Professional Engineers NZ (IPENZ) www.ipenz.org.nz
NZ Institute of Building Surveyors Inc (NZIBS) www.buildingsurveyors.co.nz
Consumers' Institute of New Zealand www.consumerbuild.org.nz