Key resources and information for homeowners

The home was affected by an inundation that was significant and, and it it's the highest it's ever been.

Even in ‘74.

It didn't go inside.

The water came inside the house by about 1.2 metres.

So it affected everything.

Our biggest fear was the safety of the people inside and then and, and the property itself and the total extent of the total damage or decimation of the place inside and out.

The contractor register was useful in that it provided some guidance to various builders that were available to help and, could undertake that kind of work that we needed.

We reached out and, and we ended up speaking to Hugh and the Ponsford team, who were terrific and they came in and, and demonstrated that they really cared about getting us back on track and back where we needed to be.

So they walked us through the process and, and helped guide us to completion of the project.

The process in raising this home … the owners actually came to us with their architectural plans and engineering drawings, which we then took to a private certifier who then issue us with the BA, the building approval.

And from there we do the usual of engaging our trades, our subcontractors, making sure they execute the work properly and then we'll pay them promptly.

And I have to say that the Resilient Homes Fund’s been really helpful because once they were satisfied that we got to that payment stage, they had us paid within a week, which makes it really helpful for us to pay our subcontractors on time.

This project here was actually our first job with the fund and we did learn a lot from.

We've picked up more work through recommendations and just people driving past.

There's been a lot of flood resilience work that's come from this first job.

So it's been a really positive experience for us.

For other builders looking at signing up for the Resilient Homes Fund work, I'd say it's definitely worth looking at if you're prepared to put the hard work in and do a quality job.

It is rewarding.

One thing that is worth keeping in mind is you've got to remember that they have been through a natural disaster.

Their homes have often been inundated with flood water and on top of that, they've had to wait a year plus, sometimes more than two years, to even talk to a builder.

So when dealing with them, just keep in mind that they've been through quite a bit, and obviously try and help them and make the process as easy as possible for them moving forward.

Through the process, we've learned that no matter how big or unexpected the project is, just to work at it, do the research.

There are people who are willing to help and if you ask and people who are willing to both point you in the right direction and provide the assistance that you might need.

So for those who are still undergoing the process, stick with it.

Coming out of the other end, you will end up with something that that will give you peace of mind in terms of your home resilience going forward.

This job here was actually our first project that we did through the Resilient Homes Fund, and there are lots of things I learned along the way, but one of the things that I think stands out would have been the quote example done by the Resilient Homes Fund.

It's online there.

Try and use those tools that the Resilient Homes Fund gives you.

Try and work with them.

It's worth learning.

You should get a lot out of it using the examples.

When trying to come up with the scope of works with the homeowner,

I'd recommend using the guidelines that give you an idea of what the homeowner is eligible for under the Fund.

For example, like raising hot water systems and air-conditioning units.

But you don't have to stick exactly to those guidelines.

You can as a builder come up with your own ideas as well, like we've done with the stairs on this job.

I think in the guidelines they might recommend that there's no pine to be used, which is totally right.

But they're recommending F-17 hardwood to be used on the stairs.

Whereas we've taken all the timber completely out of the stairs and come up with the design where we've had a steel frame fabricated and then taken it in to get hot dip galvanized.

So there'll never be a rust issue with that.

Then we've gone on to use open profile aluminium threads and for the landings as well, along with the powder-coated aluminium handrail.

Basically, if this property does get inundated again with flood water, when that flood water recedes, it'll be a matter of simply getting a pressure cleaner out here, pressure cleaning off the stairs and they're good to go again.

And I, I think that's a lot about what this program's about is making these homes resilient.

And that's a good example of working with the Resilient Homes Fund as a builder to come up with more resilient ideas.

I've lived here for 40 years, so twice in the last nine years it is since two years have elapsed.

Just about finished me, can I say, it was not pleasant. I lost most of my belongings, including beautiful furniture that I had just bought again following the previous flood, so yeah, it does this to you.

My biggest fear is that it was going to go under again, and as soon as you rebuild then you've gone again, and you've got to go back to square one and another big fear was that I would never be able to sell the place or that my child after I died would never be able to sell the place.

I guess when we look at raising a home, there's many things involved with it.

First of all, we need to start with our plans, and we move on to our engineering to give us the structural components of that build.

We're going to be dealing with a certifier to get approval for the works. We're going to have surveyors that are going to plot the house on the block block and give us the heights that we're going to work to.

And then it's a matter of getting all the trades in. So, we're going to be getting our house raisers, electricians, plumbers, concreters and carpenters. We're going to have the excavator driver and then we're going to be filling the holes with concrete and finalising the raise.

I know that this yard will flood. It's now in a flood zone, it wasn’t 40 years ago, but it now is. I'll now still have to move my car, but I won't have to worry about getting out of bed and my feet touching water in the morning.

I'm safe. My contents are safe. My house is safe.

So no, I have none of those concerns ever again. Dealing with the Resilient Homes program, we didn't have any troubles at all. We found the process to be quite simple.

We followed the guidelines and we found in Sue’s case here we didn't have any issues with the builders being able to go ahead nice and quickly and the whole process was pretty straightforward.

There is absolutely no way in the world that I would have been able to raise this house following that flood without the help of the Resilient Homes Fund. The Resilient Homes Fund for me is a God send. It’s been an amazing response of government, two levels I understand that, Federal and State.

I can only say thank you to everybody that has helped me along the way including my builder.