There are several hazards associated with building your new home and as our legal obligations we must ensure any hazards are identified and controlled.  We will at stages throughout the build invite you to be onsite with our supervisor.  You will be inducted onto the site and all hazards will be explained to you, it is important to us that your safety is always put first.

Prior to handing the home over to you, we will have received a ‘notice of inspection’ from the local council.  This means your home has been completed to code of compliance stage as per the building consent requirements.  Under the Building Act 2004, all councils have 20 working days to issue a code of compliance certificate.  It is important that if you are working with a lender for your funds, you check with them if they will accept the notice of inspection form for your final payment.

This is an amount of money included in your contract for things we don’t know the final cost of, for example your kitchen.  Once this has been designed, products like benchtops styles chosen we can give you an accurate price and a provisional sum document will be signed off.  This may result in a credit or extra to pay depending on those choices made.  These are often the areas of a build that will have a provisional sum allowance;

• Council fees

• Site excavation

• Kitchen

• Concrete

A variation is where you would like to make a change to the agreed plans and or specification for your home.  An estimate of the required change will be given and if you choose to go ahead a variation order will be presented to you for signing. 

NZCB is short for New Zealand Certified Builders, you must be a trade qualified builder to become a member of NZCB.

We can offer you a Builtin 10 Year Builders Guarantee. This is an independent, third party guarantee that your home will be free of defects for up to 10 years. In the unlikely event of a problem your claim will be managed by independent assessors. The Guarantee also protects your deposit and guarantees completion of the build at the agreed price. It is underwritten by Southern Pacific Insurance Corporation. That’s real peace of mind. For more information visit: https://builtininsurance.co.nz/10-year-guarantee

The construction period is 20 weeks for a single level home once the concrete slab is poured.  Building can be variable due to weather or product availability, we also won’t compromise your home, it is important to us that your home is finished to the highest standard so if there is going to be a delay we will let you know as soon as we are aware.

The building act places strict responsibility on your council to ensure that what is submitted to council for building consent, is what is being built.  Solace Homes will complete your home in accordance with those approved plans, therefore it is important that any final changes are made prior to the plans being submitted to the council.

Our quotation and specification are very detailed and will outline everything included in your home, from door stop style to kitchen appliance make and models.  Any items not included, like landscaping are noted in your quotation and specification as ‘not included’. We discuss the requirements of your quotation in depth with you to ensure that you have everything you need in your price.

Absolutely, this is your home and it is important that you choose the colours to complete the vision of your home.  We will arrange you to meet with our colour consultant to select all your exterior, interior and kitchen colours, this is the real fun part of building your home!

Yes, we work with developers and often know about section releases in new subdivisions nice and early.  We can also put you in contact with local real estate agents who look after section sales throughout the Waikato.

We can suggest a couple of great people to chat to who can talk you through the ins and outs of construction lending finance.  They can ensure that you are getting the best possible advice and home loan to service your requirements.

We offer a ‘fixed price contract’ under our building contract.  This will be the price you pay unless you want to change the scope of the build or something arises int eh course of the build that is outside our control that impacts on the price.  We do everything we can to limit what is outside our contract, but the reality is that changes can happen in the construction of a home.  If something does happen outside our control that will have an impact on the price, we will tell you what has happened and explain why it has happened.  We know customers don’t appreciate surprises and as such we always aim to be open and transparent.

The payment structure is set out under the CBANZ build contract within percentage progress payments in accordance with the Halo guarantee.  Payments will look something like this example;

Initial deposit $3000.00 to $5000.00

10% Contract deposit – Value includes the initial deposit above

15% Stage 1 – Floor down

15% Stage 2 – Roof on

30% Stage 3 – Closed in (excluding garage door)

20% Stage 4 – Kitchen installed (excluding benchtops)

10% Stage 5 – Practical completion

All payments must be made in full before you will be allowed to move into your new home.

Once you have a section, then you can start looking at plans.  It is important to think about how this home will work for your living, do you have a family, do you need a bedroom for each member of your family, do you require accessible living spaces, does your section have views that you would like to be able to enjoy from areas of your home.  There are many things to consider and chatting with our team can help you with all these questions, we have plenty of knowledge to share and it is always important to ask a question even if you aren’t sure.

SIP is short for ‘Structural Insulated Panels’’.  SIPS are a high-performance building system for residential and light commercial construction.  The panels consist of an insulating foam core sandwiched between two structural facings, typically oriented strand board (OSB).  SIPs are manufactured under factory-controlled conditions and can be fabricated to fit nearly any building design.  The result is a building system that is extremely strong, energy efficient and cost effective.

Solace Homes preferred building method is to use Structurally Insulated Panels (SIP’s) When we build in this method, we can achieve far superior insulation values that in turn keep the heat in. We are also able to control the air changes in the house. This means expensive heat doesn’t get blown out and moisture laden cold air doesn’t come in through all the little gaps in the walls and ceilings that conventional timber framing has. If you can keep the house warmer and control the amount of moisture you can virtually eliminate condensation and mould growth. That means a “Warmer Drier Healthier“ home.