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Michael Como
Director
COMO BUILDING
Registered Certifier
Building Surveyor
Building Regulations Consultant
Bach. Building Surveying & Inspection CQU
Assoc. Degree Construction(Civil Major) USQ
Builder Licence 40505 since 1988-2024
"Forging construction experience since 1977-2024 in Sydney NSW Australia"
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PLEASE NOTE- The intention of this blog is to provide useful information related to building custom homes in whatever form and related skills. We review all comments & delete those we deem inappropriate or non-relevant.
Should you have any queries please feel free to get in touch...
MC 2010 -2024
Latest Blog Posts
Zero Energy Buildings
A net-zero-energy building (ZEB) is a building that over a year does not use more energy than it generates. The first 1979 Zero Energy Design building used passive solar heating and cooling techniques with air-tight construction and super insulation. ZEB’s all use onsite active renewable energy technologies like photovoltaic to offset the building’s primary energy…
Read MoreConsumer Building Guide NSW- Access To The Site
Some contracts give temporary ownership of the construction site to the builder. You should check with the builder before entering the site. The builder should give you access to the site for the purpose of inspecting and viewing the works. It may also be necessary for others to access the site and if this is…
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Building with Principals of Energy Efficient Design 5
Introduced by the NSW Government, BASIX ensures homes are built to be more energy and water-efficient.BASIX is an online program that assesses a house or unit design and compares it against energy and water reduction targets. The design must meet these targets before a BASIX Certificate can be printed. Every development application for a single-unit…
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Consumer Building Guide NSW – Progress Inspections
For large projects such as building a new home, you may consider getting a progress inspection carried out by an independent building consultant, building inspector or architect * before each payment is made. If you do, it will be the consultant’s job to make sure all the work set out in the contract has been…
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Building with Principals of Energy Efficient Design 4
Government authorities The NSW Government has a number of departments and authorities that are charged with protecting all our resources-from NSW State Forests through to the Fisheries Department. Key ones in relation to the construction sector are: the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) within the Department of Environment and Conservation, the Department of Natural Resources, the…
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Consumer Building Guide NSW – Disputes over progress payments
On occasions, a homeowner may dispute the amount requested by a builder as a progress payment. If you are having building work done on a property you currently live in or propose to live in, you have two avenues open to you for dispute resolution: 1. If the dispute is about incomplete or defective building…
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Building with Principals of Energy Efficient Design 3
NSW Government Initiatives For many years, the State Government has increasingly framed legislation on environmental matters, from requiring greater energy efficiency for buildings, ‘environmental flows’ for rivers, erosion and sedimentation control plans, through to new legislation to avoid and minimise waste. Consequently, some of these issues are required by a specific law (eg. waste management,…
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Consumer Building Guide NSW – Progress Payments
Your builder or tradesperson may ask you to make payments so that they can pay for materials and labour as they go. Progress payments are usually made at specific stages of a project (eg. when the slab is laid or the frame goes up or at lock-up). These payments should equate to the value of…
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Consumer Building Guide NSW – Paying a Deposit
Under NSW home building law, there is a maximum deposit that you can be asked to pay: • If the contract price is $20,000 or less, you cannot be asked to pay over 10% of the contract price as a deposit. • If the contract price is more than $20,000, you cannot be asked to…
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Consumer Building Guide NSW – Signing the Contract and Cooling-off period
You are ready to sign the contract, once you have made sure the contract contains everything required by law, and you feel confident in your understanding of what you are agreeing to, who will be doing the work and how much it will cost. If the contract price or the market cost of the labour…
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Building with Principles of Energy Efficient Design 2
Commonwealth Government Initiatives In 1992, the Federal Government committed Australia to a National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development. In the first decade of the 21st century, the environment has become an important issue and as such, the Federal Government has put a lot more money and effort into schemes to help the environment. Now each…
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Consumer Building Guide NSW- Things To Look Out For
Be wary of: 1. A salesperson, builder or tradesperson who encourages you to sign a contract quickly to avoid a price increase. This is usually just a sales pitch. 2. A builder who suggests you get an owner-builder permit while they organise all the building work. This can be a ploy by a builder who…
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