Today, 20 November 2025, is the day we have been waiting for since day 1 which was 1 February 2025. It is Final Inspection day today.
… and on the 28th of November 2025 we got it all done, Form 21 signed off!
Today marks 5 months since we started with the actual build (on Monday 21 April 2025) after the house was raised by Shane Steele and his crew. That was 22 weeks, or 110 working days (less than 1,000 working hours) and we are 99% done.
It has been a huge effort with a spectacular result. I am writing this post from Adelaide while being on a mountain bike holiday with my mate Jim from the Adelaide Hills. Finally some time to sit down and do very little other than riding the MTB trails in SA.
Forms, forms, and more forms
It’s all about compliance and there are so may forms that need to be completed and signed off by appropriate people. Now, one of the most frustrating and annoying things about being an OB is that we cannot sign any of these as we are not considered competent. I sort of get this but on the other hand I do know that in my case I am far more competent than some of the ‘proper’ tradies are.
As part of our project, we set up a document repository that safely stores all signed forms in one place, ready for the certifier to download when the time comes.
Framing and Roofing
It took the best part of two months to complete the entire framing stage for which we obtained engineering certification first go. Brad and Sons did a fantastic job putting the roof on in a matter of days in June. One week later we had solar installed by Green Solar who did a great job. Ir was that same week that Energex connected our power mains after Brisbane Property Poles installed our property proles. Peter from Drew Electricals hooked it all up and we had power again after many months of running the little generator.
Walls and Ceilings
OzBuild always promptly delivered 1500 lengths of 5400mm VJ boards for the walls while VJPlus got us the VJ ceiling panels which Jim and I painted for days.
All the walls (R2.5) and ceilings (R7.0) were insulated reading to be sheeted in July.
The tiling and epoxy grouting was completed in July as well,
Who do we notify of the Final Approvals
- Insurance company
- Council (certifier will do this)
- Family and Friends
