My rebuild journey, thus far...

[prodriver6 7]

aiya.... never read properly...

 

[prodriver6 7]

Quick update guys...

After many months of wait, i finally have received Written Permission from URA and ST-01 from BCA to proceed with demolition. ST-02 is in process and we shouldn't expect any hiccups.

There were some minor changes and additional considerations along the way - like relocating the position of bathtub/shower area to maximize ceiling height, trade of best position of IC manhole, but l suppose these are minor surprises that will occur during a rebuild journey. Am glad that we were not impacted by anything major, guess this was mitigated by the fact that Architect scrutinized things quite carefully.

along the way, URA also requested for roof to be changed from metal to RC in view of the position of the HomeShelter, and thus piling plan needed to be recomputed, still in the process of electing a piling contractor but i have to say prices have almost doubled with time. my observation is that the piling industry is very narrow and the providers do talk amongst one another to ensure that they don't under-cut each other. For small scale landed micropile projects, i think at max no more than 10-vendors. Prices for the bigger boys can easily be 20%-30% more but they claim to come with newer equipment.

a few of you have asked me about my architect and builder's contact:

Architect: https://arjonathanlim.wixsite.com/home

Design and Build: http://3ebuilder.com/

To clarify, I did not engage an Ar and called a tender, the Ar was engaged by my builder but i was fortunate to have a very hands on Ar and he was involved every step of the way. In fact, i would say during the submission, planning and design stage, the Ar interaction with me was significantly much more than builder. But i can see comms with my builder increasing now that we are moving to demolition and build phase. 

 

 

Finally, just a word of caution, the industry seems to be booming, everyone seems to be doing very well and having a lot of jobs, I can sense quotes are taking a while to come back, replies are slow in general and prices i out of roof. If wait time is possible, i think it may be better to sit out on this crazy period for a while. I really feel everyone has loads of business and i can sense everyone not being able to cope and buying time by doing things slowly, the sense of urgency is not there - i find myself doing a lot of chasing for people to come back.

[prodriver6 7]

forgot to share something quite useful, the sequence of submission can be very confusing and as an owner i cant seem to find a single location that summarizes the entire process in a clear enough fashion.

i thought this was extremely well summarized by my Ar Jonathan: 

A) URA
1) Provisional Permission (PP) - Obtained
2) Written Permission (WP) - Pending Approval

B) BCA
1) ST01 - Demolition Submission - Can be submitted with item A1 approved. 

2) Permit To Commence Demolition Works - This application to be submitted after item B1 approved to commence demolition works

3) ST02 - Foundation & Superstructure Submission - Can be submitted with item A1 approved. 

4) BP01 - Architectural Building Plan Submission - Can only be submitted after item A2 is approved. 

5) Permit To Commence Foundation and Superstructure works - To be applied after Item B3 and B4 is approved, only then the building and structural works can commence.

[snoozee 98]

Not necessarily will have PP. my project was straight away issue WP

funny you mentioned that URA requested you to change to RC roof because of HS. Normally HS issues should be covered by SCDF and BCA is the coordinating agency for HS technical requirements. 

[prodriver6 7]

You are right. Checked back my papers. Its BCA. Not ura.

[snoozee 98]

Your builder still has to submit all the neighbours precon survey and acknowledgements to BCA before BCA will issue you the permission to start demolition works. After that still need to apply and receive permission to start construction works

you will also need to pay fees to BCA for ST-02 as well before they will process it.

have you engaged a RTO or your builder covering this? Normally there should be an independent RTO engaged directly by the owner as the RTO will be checking on the builder’s works. So if the RTO is engaged by the builder, then there might be a conflict of interest

[prodriver6 7]

Yes, ST-02 feeds paid.

yes, neighbor notification and covid restart plan in progress as well...

hmm seems like the RTO is already covered in my building cost 

[snoozee 98]

 Neighbour notifications can cause delays if your builder cannot find the neighbour or you have a uncooperative neighbour. My project was delayed by 2 months due to one particular neighbour

[prodriver6 7]

OMG.... okok, i better start buying some nice cookies

[Kellhound 4]

7 hours ago, prodriver6 said:

Quick update guys...

After many months of wait, i finally have received Written Permission from URA and ST-01 from BCA to proceed with demolition. ST-02 is in process and we shouldn't expect any hiccups.

There were some minor changes and additional considerations along the way - like relocating the position of bathtub/shower area to maximize ceiling height, trade of best position of IC manhole, but l suppose these are minor surprises that will occur during a rebuild journey. Am glad that we were not impacted by anything major, guess this was mitigated by the fact that Architect scrutinized things quite carefully.

along the way, URA also requested for roof to be changed from metal to RC in view of the position of the HomeShelter, and thus piling plan needed to be recomputed, still in the process of electing a piling contractor but i have to say prices have almost doubled with time. my observation is that the piling industry is very narrow and the providers do talk amongst one another to ensure that they don't under-cut each other. For small scale landed micropile projects, i think at max no more than 10-vendors. Prices for the bigger boys can easily be 20%-30% more but they claim to come with newer equipment.

a few of you have asked me about my architect and builder's contact:

Architect: https://arjonathanlim.wixsite.com/home

Design and Build: http://3ebuilder.com/

To clarify, I did not engage an Ar and called a tender, the Ar was engaged by my builder but i was fortunate to have a very hands on Ar and he was involved every step of the way. In fact, i would say during the submission, planning and design stage, the Ar interaction with me was significantly much more than builder. But i can see comms with my builder increasing now that we are moving to demolition and build phase. 

 

 

Finally, just a word of caution, the industry seems to be booming, everyone seems to be doing very well and having a lot of jobs, I can sense quotes are taking a while to come back, replies are slow in general and prices i out of roof. If wait time is possible, i think it may be better to sit out on this crazy period for a while. I really feel everyone has loads of business and i can sense everyone not being able to cope and buying time by doing things slowly, the sense of urgency is not there - i find myself doing a lot of chasing for people to come back.

 

Yes, when I was sourcing for contractors back in May, I already found that many I contacted were not very interested/responsive and were passing me off to their friends. The more popular/established ones can afford to pick and choose their customers.

[oneway 0]

thanks for sharing your journey of rebuilding 

Edited November 7, 2021 by oneway
NA

[genejean 0]

Hi, just read this very enlightening post. Thanks for sharing.
I'm just starting my journey to reconstruct my house after a painful start. I had wanted to make provision for a lift. After reading your post, I'll go for lift installation during the reconstruction. Has anyone purchased a lift directly from an overseas manufacturer? Is that allowed? Thanks.

[snoozee 98]

9 hours ago, genejean said:

Hi, just read this very enlightening post. Thanks for sharing.
I'm just starting my journey to reconstruct my house after a painful start. I had wanted to make provision for a lift. After reading your post, I'll go for lift installation during the reconstruction. Has anyone purchased a lift directly from an overseas manufacturer? Is that allowed? Thanks.

You need to do routine maintenance and have the lift inspected and tested annually before you can renew your operating license with BCA. So if you buy from overseas, you need to find a company which can install, maintain and inspect the lift for you here. If the lift you bought isn’t used locally, then you will have problems finding spare parts as well.

buying a home lift is not like buying an appliance or gadget overseas where you can just DIY replace it when it’s faulty. It will be easier to just buy it locally with the relevant service and support from the company rather than try and save a few K and end up with a while elephant if it breaks down without being able to get spare parts for repair. 

[prodriver6 7]

guys, my unit has been demolished and water is now leaking into my neighbor's living room during these 2 days of crazy downpour. I think contractor might have damaged some of the bricks. Are these hiccups considered "normal"/expected or should i give a gentle nudge to my builder to take more care?

[snoozee 98]

normally when the house is demolished, contractor should use tarps to cover up the exposed areas first to prevent water seepage before tidying up the party walls, etc.

looking back at my old photos, my contractor had already tidied up the exposed roof areas on my neighbour side prior to my old house roof was removed.

no matter how careful the workers are, there will definitely be cracks and leaks happening on the neighbour side due to vibrations, etc during construction. my neighbour also had cracked walls and some leakage during my construction period.

anyway contractor will have to bear the cost of any damages and reinstate at his own cost.