John K's Shed building Adventure

I contacted my chosen shed builder just before Christmas 2020 and here I am in July and the plans were submitted to Council 3 weeks ago.

At this rate I'll be dead before it's finished.

Sounds like pretty shit service. Dont see why it matters what you store in your own shed.
Id say all the shed builders would be flat out here in Vic. With massive harvest last year. Every where I drive I see new farm sheds being built.

A mate of mine in the same business as me ordered a new shed to set his workshop up and the proceedure was a deposit then progress payments. I forgot he ordered the shed until he said one time that they finally put the plans into council and he was on his 2nd progress payment not including the deposit. I said he was mad for paying any progress payments as there was no progress. They had the nerve to hold out their hands for final payment and no concrete slab poured. You can imagine what I said and from then on he finally did the right thing and demanded action before the legal proceedings start against the shed mob. Took another 3 weeks for the slab, more threats from my mate and in another 4 weeks he had a shed and another week for power. Total time was only 12 months. I dont know if other shed companies in the district are any better but I would steer anyone away from that mob.

Thanks to Covid It's sign of the Times.
Every Tradie, Earthmover ect I know is as busy as a One armed Wallpaper Hanger..
The working People can't take their Holidays to Fiji Bali Cruise or wherever So their Spending the Money on Sheds Landscaping Renovations Ect
& the Business's are Getting all the instant Write-offs on Any Expense..

hence We're all playing the Waiting game trying to get stuff Done..

When I built my American barn shed some years ago, the bride wanted one annex side for a ceramics studio, complete with kitchen, toilet, production room and two 3 phase kilns. The plans were approved as a "Machinery Shed". Now the local council were down on anyone living in sheds, even while building their house, so, knowing that a habitable building needed to have a ceiling height of 2.4 metres, I deliberately made mine 2.3 metres so I could explain the difference and get no argument.

Slab down and shed up in 3 weeks. Interior fitout in another 3 and time for inspection by certifier and "Occupation Certificate" issued. He was happy with the completed job and signed off as use "Residential", so go figure.

I have no complaints about Titan on the financial side .....after the deposit,which covered design ,council fees etc,.only thing I had to pay in advance was the steel kit ,and that was only three days in advance of delivery.......the big holdup was getting the steel off the ground .......I dont know if anyone has noticed,the Qld govt has reduced the value of work you are allowed to do yourself........few years ago it was $10,000......then it was reduced to $3,300,now it appears to be $1000......and according to the QBCC,this is to be priced at a tradies overall cost........and for sure you dont get much done by tradesman for $1000.....and typically Qld ,massive fines for any breaches.

Sounds like it’s been quite the process. Hope it’s all sorted soon for you. Any time Councils and certification are involved it’s often a headache. Finding a builder who will just get in and get it done is also harder then it sounds. I don’t understand the theory of having 5 half done jobs on the go when it’s your source of income. Good luck with the completion.

titan had the approval for mine inside 30 days,and the concreter turned up within days.........thats when the delays started......he took a look at the job,said I have to pay extra for the excavation,which I expected,and went off.....job to start next Monday.....then I got an email from the concreter saying he decided to take advantage of the half price Reef holidays.....he'd be back in 8 weeks......even so ,the slab was finished before December 2020,and I had the steel delivered a couple of days later.

You can do the course (no longer a tick and flick) and go down the Owner Builder route. The Government stimulus for building was overkill and ended up encouraging people to spend up big. Builders can see that come next year after the election we will all be taking a cold shower so aren't gearing up by taking on more apprentices and equipment.

Yes ,there is going to be a lot of drama if interest rates go back to 20%,like the early 90s.........Everyone says now ,spend up ,money is free ,build a million dollar house on 2% interest payment......house prices have gone up so quick ,that $1m buys an average house now,and lots of first home buyers are spending way more than $1m.