binarystar
Member
Hi,
I am in the process of trying to obtain planning and building permits for an ecologically sustainable house ... effectively a reverse brick veneer home ...
I am wondering what experiences people have had with their local councils with regard to house orientation, alt construction techniques, heritage overlays etc etc and what you did to resolve them
thanks in advance
dymonite69
Member
Binarystar,
From what I have heard is that each council can be quite variable. It helps if a similar application has occurred in that district. You should speak to any eco-designers who have built in that area. As regards to orientation, facades or cladding it will probably be important in regards to street frontage elevations. People might object to seeing a solar panel cranked up vertically for everyone to see or it looks like a tin shed. The owner of our building company did an eco-build in an area of heritage buildings but was careful to have it adjusted 'fit' in. RBV becomes an issue of ensuring that councils understands it fulfills BCA standards especially regarding moisture control.
Russell Moore
Member
When we built our energy efficent house 28 years ago, one of the local building inspectors for our council was an aquaintance of mine, and he was also a draughtsman, he drew up our plans for free, and surprise, surprise, we had no trouble getting the plans passed by the council!
Daniel Boon
Member
The BCA requires a 5 Star Rating (maybe 6 if all State governments have signed off on it); however, the BCA 5 / 6 Star is just the lemon rating doubled; in other words, a 5 Star rated BERS home would use tops about $50 a quarter whereas a BCA 5 Star will still use anywhere from $200 upwards ...
Where is your house to be built (suburb) ?
Is the block conducive to having the house longways from due east to west and therefore able to have a true north orientation ?
A house that meets / surpasses the BCA 5 Star rating is a house the Council should have problems approving ...
dymonite69
Member
Have a look at this experimental housing project in a suburban development 8km NW of the CBD of Adelaide. Two mainstream volume builders are doings things such as RBV. Maybe your enquiries with them may help with speeding the process.
Buzzman
Member
There was a photo of a display home in a new development, I think it might have been Mirvac, in a recent issue of ReNew (I think).
It was a reverse brick veneer.
Might be worth tracking down for your Council to show is now "mainstream" not "alternative"???
bunda491
Member
I've had mostly bad experiences with local government planning departments. They want to stick to the status quo, and are usually suspicious of anything "different". I also found delays caused by rapid turnover of staff can be annoying. You need to ring weekly and ask to speak to "your" planner, because, if they have left, their replacement will leave your application at the bottom of the pile, unless they know you are taking an active interest in it. The other thing they go on is precedent, so if they say you can't do something, drive around the area till you find an example of where it has been done and, presumably, approved, then confront them with the details. I got them to reverse a decision on external colours of the house because I was able to show them an example of another neighbourhood house where the same colours had been used. Good luck, and be patient.
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