We had requested an electrical allowance in our tender of $5000, so we could knowingly spend that much without going over budget. Of course, by the time our electrical appointment came, we had also decided that we wouldn't go silly and get everything on our wish list (I mean, if we got EVERYTHING, we would have needed closer to $10-15K), and we thought we'd get just the basics - i.e. a couple of extra power points and some outdoor feature and security lighting.
As these items did not reach the $5K limit we set for ourselves, Coral gave us a credit for the unused portion of our allowance - yay!
So, yeah, since that appointment we have been thinking... (a dangerous pastime, I know)
Thinking about how nice it would be to have LED downlights throughout our new home. And how practical it would be to have extra power points in every bedroom. And how handy it would be to have outdoor lighting where the location of our future BBQ will be.
All this extra thinking turned into actual doing. We got in contact with the electrician who is performing all the electrical work in our new home, and explained that we would like all these extra wonderful things. He said it wouldn't be a problem and promptly sent us a quote for the extra work we wanted carried out. We went through it and decided that our budget (at this point in time) would stretch as far as wiring for all of the additional light points (without supplying the downlights - we will get the regular battens that we were originally going to get from Coral, and we will buy and install the downlights after handover, when the really important things have been paid for, such as fencing, driveway, flooring, letterbox, clothesline etc) and supplying and installing the additional power points.
I would highly recommend that if you are building, to just get the standard electrical work and then get all the extras done with the actual electrician who is doing the work on your house. The electrician will charge the same, but you wont be paying the additional mark-up (I'm calculating roughly 20%) that the building company always tacks on.
We did have to meet the electrician on site the morning that they arrived to do the rough-ins. We wanted to make sure that they put the power points at the correct height (specifically we were are having a floating entertainment unit and wall mounted TV) and to confirm some of our choices that we made during our Clipspec appointment.
We didn't take many (hardly any) photos specifically of the wiring that the electrican did. We I went crazy with the plumbing photos and lost interest by the time the electrical wiring went in. Whoops.
Original Electrical Plan
Modified Electrical Plan
I agree entirely, we bought our own LED lights and then got stiffed by coral for installation charges, we would have been far better off sticking with the basic plan then speaking with the electrician about installing the lights we had actually bought.
ReplyDeleteNext time round I would actually go one step further and completely remove the electrical installation from the contract.
We have signed a preliminary agreement with Coral and were going to get them to do everything. Now I'm thinking if we would be better off doing our own floor coverings and alfresco concrete because of the mark-up
ReplyDeleteWe got Coral to do our alfresco slab (and we took it out to the eaves - it gives an illusion that it is bigger), and I like that it is integrated, the step down from inside is only minimal - but that depends on the site as well. We never thought to get quotes from other companies to lay the alfresco slab. The other huge price difference that we found was with our ducted air. Coral quoted 3-4K more than the our local Air Con dealer. We are doing our own floor coverings, as Coral / Carpet Call do not supply what we want.
ReplyDeleteHaving the patio slab poured with the slab eliminates the crack between the two slabs and reduces your chance of insect infestation.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it does limit your concrete selection to the same as the slab, if you want exposed aggregate or something else then you have to pour separately.
Myself Id recommend you make your savings elsewhere, AC, electrical, flooring, Solar and driveway all have great scope for savings.
Great idea, I didn't know that you can request the basics and liaise with the electrician on site.
ReplyDeleteSo do you mean that when basic is 4 light points in the living area, you can ask the electrician to cable 6 and just pay for the 2 additional ones? Then would you like 6 down lights instead of 4 normal light points, how would you do?
BTW your electrical layout looks fantastic.
ReplyDelete