Renovation demand when new-build activity slows: what holds up and why
When new-build starts ease, owners keep renovating for reasons that have little to do with interest rates or approvals. Knowing those reasons shows a builder where the work will come from.
12 min read
The PointCPD blog
Building industry news and articles
What is changing in Australian building, and what it means on site: construction technology, materials, energy, regulation, safety, contracts and the housing market.
Renovation demand when new-build activity slows: what holds up and why
When new-build starts ease, owners keep renovating for reasons that have little to do with interest rates or approvals. Knowing those reasons shows a builder where the work will come from.
12 min read
Thermal imaging on building sites: what it shows and what it does not
A thermal camera shows where surfaces are warmer or cooler than their neighbours, which is a useful clue and a poor verdict. Here is what the picture can support, what it cannot prove and how to pair it with checks a builder can defend.
11 min read
Continuous wall insulation over framing: what builders must get right
A continuous insulation layer only works if it is continuous. The fixings, the joints and the window reveals decide whether the layer does its job or quietly becomes a set of cold bridges under a new cladding.
12 min read
Exempt development in NSW: what builders can skip, and what they cannot
Exempt development needs no approval, but it is not a licence to skip the rules. Here is where the boundary sits, which conditions still bind the work and why the builder carries the liability whatever the council did or did not see.
12 min read
Workers compensation wages for builders: declarations and premium audits
The premium is only as accurate as the wages behind it. Here is how declarations are built, what an audit checks and the records that let a builder answer quickly when the insurer asks.
11 min read
Autoclaved aerated concrete walls: what builders get wrong
Autoclaved aerated concrete is light, quick to lay and unforgiving of water. Most of the callbacks on AAC walls come from handling, adhesive and moisture decisions made before the render goes on, not from the blocks themselves.
12 min read
Storing and moving gas cylinders safely on a house site
Gas cylinders are the most ordinary item on a house site and one of the least respected. Where they stand, how they travel and what is kept beside them decides whether a bad day stays a bad day or becomes a fire.
12 min read
Knock-down rebuilds: why the economics differ from a new house on a vacant block
A knock-down rebuild carries costs that a vacant-block build does not, and most of them arrive before the new slab is poured. This article covers the demolition, clearing, services and finance timing that shape the job.
10 min read
Digital measuring tools that log their own results
Measuring tools that store and sync their own readings are useful only if the record survives a dispute. This article judges them by their evidence rather than their features.
10 min read
Slab edge insulation detailing for residential builders
The slab edge is one of the weakest points in a residential floor. This article covers the perimeter insulation and its junctions, separate from wall-frame insulation and subfloor ventilation.
10 min read
Complying development certificates: what NSW builders must check
A complying development certificate lets work start without a full development application, but it is a set of conditions the builder has to meet. Here is the builder’s side of it.
11 min read
Employee or contractor: classifying workers on a building site
A signed contract and an ABN do not settle whether a worker is a contractor. The working relationship on site does, and this article sets out the practical test and the paperwork habits that hold up.
11 min read
Site classification and choosing a slab on reactive soil
On a reactive site the slab is an engineered response to the ground the engineer classified. This article explains how that classification drives the slab choice, and why a builder cannot substitute a different type without sign-off.
11 min read
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