Home extension projects should be a time of joy and excitement for your family! Unfortunately hidden costs can easily disrupt plans and generate unnecessary stress. It’s therefore crucial to understand where the hidden costs of home extensions may come from, and to know how you can plan accordingly in your budget.
This helpful guide reveals typical hidden home extension costs while offering the best tips and tricks on avoiding budget blowouts!
First, it can be difficult for homeowners to budget for an accurate planning permission fee when beginning their home extension project. In Victoria, you'll need to find out whether your project requires a planning permit, a building permit, or both and the fees associated for each.
The application fee actually changes according to the project size as well as the location. It can therefore become challenging to accurately predict the costs for budgeting because of the differing regulations. We also understand that the construction process can be stressful for busy families, which sometimes leads to planning fees and permissions being overlooked entirely.
But selecting the wrong type of planning permission or failing to obtain it will result in project delays and complications. These will inevitably increase overall project costs and could take a big chunk out of your budget or planned time scale.
Researching your local council regulations will help you to obtain the proper documents that you need and select the correct planning permission type. Having the correct information the first time round can help you budget accordingly and avoid fines or additional setbacks.
It’s important to remember that making changes to your planning permission application after submission can be costly too - financially and in terms of timing.
Here are our main tips to avoid hidden planning permission costs:
Our main tip is to always check the regulations that apply in your local area before seeking planning permission. The application process depends heavily on the type of property you plan to extend. For example, the rules for rural and commercial developments differ from those that apply to residential properties.
Secondly, free pre-application consultations are available to residents from some Australian councils. This is something worth checking out if you’re unsure about handling the process alone!
The consultations can provide clear explanations about the regulations which apply to your specific extension. It also acts as a chance to ask any questions you may have - helping to prevent misunderstandings and improve the quality of your application.
Our last tip to avoid hidden extension costs when gaining planning permission is to make sure your application documents are correct. Your local council is likely to require site plans together with extension designs as part of your submission.
The submission of an environmental impact assessment might be mandatory based on your local council requirements too. These additional assessments may come with extra costs, so be sure to factor them into your budget if needed.
Failure to follow Australian building regulations during home extension projects can also result in unexpected expenses. Things like not meeting electrical standards in the new extension space may require you to replace wiring and install additional sockets.
Australian building regulations require that extended areas must have electrical systems which are both safe and compliant. You may need to add power outlets to meet power requirements in the extension space.
Anything that’s non-compliant will cause project delays and cost more to redo the work to the correct standard. It’s therefore important that you meet these standards to avoid hidden fees. You can find this information online or by consulting with professionals like XL Built.
Here’s our top tips to avoid hidden building regulation costs:
You should find out the electrical needs of your new area before construction begins to guarantee safety compliance. The installation should include wiring that meets code requirements and the appropriate number of power points and circuits.
Seek guidance from professional experts (like XL Built) along with electricians or inspectors to validate complete regulatory compliance for your extension. Consider reaching out to a licensed electrician who knows Australian building codes. Taking care of these issues during the initial phase helps you prevent costly rework and delays.
Another often overlooked part that can cause home extension hidden costs is the possible need to replace appliances for the new space. For example, the installation of a new hot water service will become necessary if your extension demands additional heating capacity.
New appliances may also be needed to fill the extra space proportionally or serve your needs. If you're extending this area, you may need to upgrade kitchen appliances, like replacing your fridge, to maintain a consistent aesthetic. The expenses of these upgrades should be considered in your budget before starting the project.
Here’s two great tips to avoid hidden appliance upgrade costs:
It’s best to check ahead of time if your current appliances will be effective in the extension. Research the costs of appliance upgrades to add these expenses to your budget before starting so that you have an idea of these additional expenses.
Consider consulting with electricians or heating specialists to identify required upgrades like new boilers or larger appliances.
Researching appliance prices in advance will help you save money by selecting the most competitively priced options. You could also save extra costs by future-proofing your investment! Selecting energy-efficient appliances are beneficial because they will provide long-term cost savings, helping your money go further.
XL Built provides complete transparency for your home extension costs through a fixed-price contract that includes all necessary expenses. Our contracts cover both consultation services and design work; plans development and building permit acquisition; council fees and engineer’s fees.
We provide warranty insurance to customers along with quality materials for complete peace of mind. You’ll also get a 3 month maintenance backup service as well as a 10 year structural guarantee alongside a fixed completion date. Avoid a budget blowout and enjoy complete financial transparency with XL Built extensions!
