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| 6 Jun 2013 Security of Payments Legislation
The Construction Contracts Act, also known as security of payment legislation, commenced on 1 January 2005. Part of this legislation covers disputes between building owners and builders. The laws are designed to maintain the flow of funds between parties even when a dispute occurs and not allow an owner to retain monies owed under a […]
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| 6 Jun 2013 Shared Equity Scheme
A shared equity arrangement is where two or more parties agree to co-purchase an asset, and share in any capital appreciation of that asset over time. The parties may agree on a 70/30 ownership or any other shared arrangement. The parties need to consider whether recurring expenses such as stamp duty rates and taxes and […]
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| 6 Jun 2013 Site Works and Contracts
Site costs can be a difficult element of a building contract. In most situations, builders will not specify an exact amount for site works, but will nominate a “provisional sum” or best estimate which may be adjusted up or down depending on work actually required. Under the Home Building Contracts Act a builder cannot just […]
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| 6 Jun 2013 Put and call options
Property transactions using “put and call options” have been common in the Eastern States and are used sparingly in WA. This arrangement can be useful to both a vendor and a purchaser in certain circumstances. Put and call options give the purchaser the right to enter a contract of sale for land within a specified […]
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| 6 Jun 2013 Project Planning & Software
One of the fundamental outcomes any construction company wants to achieve is an increased ability to take on additional work. With the correct enterprise resource planning system in place (see construction software [link to Construction Software article below*]), your company will know where it has improved productivity, where it has reduced its costs and, at […]
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| 6 Jun 2013 Planning Approvals & Offsets
When a proposal’s impacts on biodiversity and/or ecological function cannot be fully mitigated, an offset package could be considered to support developments to become ecologically sustainable. Environmental offsets or environmentally beneficial activites can be determined in conjuction with proactive mechanisms such as use of best practice environmental management to ensure impact avoidance is the primary […]
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| 6 Jun 2013 Home Finishes
Home finishes When you build or renovate, the finishing touches are the ones that make the house into a home, the personal choices made of the furniture, decorative pieces, the wall colours and floor finishes can make a stark space into a welcoming cosy room or a modern energising area. The dilemma is that there […]
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| 6 Jun 2013 Pool Fencing
As Summer quickly approaches, you might be considering installing a new swimming pool or spa. Due to the statistics on child drownings in domestic pools, there are strict requirements pool owners must meet to ensure the safety of their pool. Fines of up to $5000 can result from not providing an adequate swimming pool safety […]
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| 6 Jun 2013 Insuring Your Home
The insured value of many properties is well below their current replacement costs. Many homeowners have renovated or extended their properties without increasing the sum insured, and construction costs have escalated. For insurance purposes, it is suggested that homeowners at least apply a rule of thumb of between $1000 to $1100 per square metre for […]
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| 6 Jun 2013 Pool Maintenance
Pools will require circulation, filtering and measures to control algae and fungal growths. As a pool owner, you will need to find out how this all works to make sure you don’t end up with an infected green pond in your backyard! There are a number of different systems available for pools now including […]