All building professionals charge for their services but how do you know if their fees are fair and their work is of good quality? That is where RFT Solutions comes in.

For most people, trying to find building professionals is a time-consuming and stressful process. Not knowing who to contact, or what industry standards to expect can lead to costly mistakes and huge delays in the building process. Over the years of operations we have gained a range of typical fees charged by various building professionals.

Here is a broad but typical range of fees for building professionals for a $150k extension:

• Architect: fees ranged from 10-18% of the building construction costs
• Draftsman: (depending on town planning involvement)
• ground floor home extension can range from $1,200 - $5,500
• upstairs extensions $2,500 - $6,500
• new home $3,000 - $5,000
• Land Surveyor: $800 - $1,8500
• Geotechnical engineer (soil reports): $300 - $550
• Town Planner: $1,000 - $10,000
• Structural Engineer: $600 - $1,400
• Building Surveyor: $1,400 - $1,800

Before hiring an architect or draftsman to draw up plans, certain town planning issues need to be considered to see if they will affect the design you are considering. You may also need to engage a professional town planner (if your architect or draftsperson is not performing this role) to obtain a planning permit. A planning permit could be necessary to address issues such as building height, overlooking neighbours property, infringement of neighbour's amenity, the amount of open space on your land, and planning overlays.

This process of obtaining a planning permit can easily take 6 months!! You need to establish who will be the town planner at your council that you will be dealing with and organize a pre-application meeting. The planning permit is simply an acceptance of a design. You will still need a building permit before construction commences.

RFT Solutions operates within the state of Victoria servicing all of Melbourne's inner and outer suburbs such as Alphington, Burnley, Carlton, Clifton Hill, Hawthorn, Toorak, Malvern, Werribee, Box Hill, Camberwell, Collingwood, Fairfield, Fitzroy, Richmond, Caulfield, Elwood, South Melbourne, etc. including the Mornington Peninsula.

We deal with any operational issues working with ALL Melbourne municipal councils and shires such as: the City of Darebin, City of Knox, the City of Maribyrnong, the Shire of Melton, the City of Wyndham, the City of Moonee Valley, Brimbank City Council, Cardinia Shire Council, Casey City Council, Frankston City Council, Glen Eira City Council, Greater Dandenong City Council, Hobsons Bay City Council, Hume City Council, Kingston City Council, Manningham City Council, Maroondah City Council, Melbourne City Council, Monash City Council, Moreland City Council, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, Nillumbik Shire Council, Port Phillip City Council, Stonnington City Council, Whitehorse City Council, Whittlesea City Council!

Our price guide is broken down into 3 manageable stages. Please contact us for our price guide. Our agreement only progresses on a stage by stage basis, thus we obtain your express approval before moving from one stage to another.

Therefore, if at the end of the first stage (or at any point through any stage) you discover that you no longer want to or are able to continue, you are only billed for the works done.

There are advantages and disadvantages linked to all three options. Finding a new location means your family will need to re-build their familiar network of friends. Costs associated with stamp duty, relocation costs, and legal fees should be considered.

Building a new home can also disrupt your family's normal routine for months as you find a place to live while the builders construct your new home. However building a new home removes the restrictions of your existing house and gives you the freedom to build your dream home.

Home extension allows you to maintain your current lifestyle without the major disruption of changing location. If you are seriously considering a house extension, it is a good idea to have your existing house evaluated before you decide to go ahead. While there has been much cautionary advice regarding over-investing, some properties are actually under-invested in. It is more likely that your current house has the capacity to absorb the costs of the extension which will be recouped in the next five to seven years.

Owner builder home extensions can be a sure recipe for family conflict and stress. Choosing to work with a quality builder can lessen the impact on your family life, and maintain the harmony of your home.

For other useful home building advice please contact RFT Solutions and request a Helpful Hints Guide.

Every builder will tell you, the timeline of a building process can vary. However, if you know what you want, and are able to convey it clearly to the architect, draftsperson or design person, and no town planning permit is required, THEN you could be in your new home, extension, renovation within 6 - 10 months. Town planning issues often cause the greatest delays to building projects.

RFT Solutions is happy to help you save money, time and stress when deciding to build your new home, investment properties, home renovation, home extension, townhouse development, outdoor living area and alfresco area, granny flat, holiday home, bathroom renovation, kitchen renovations or other building project.

The RFT Solutions Helpful Hints Guide is designed to help you with one of the biggest financial investments of your life. It is not every day that you invest $30,000 to $1,000,000 in anything! RFT Solutions understands that this is an important decision for you and your family and we endeavour to provide you with the best professional advice for your building project.

Our business is in helping you to overcome the dangers and difficulties building or extending your home. Our helpful hints guide describes the various building stages and the building professionals you may require to build your new home, extension, or renovation.

All building professionals charge for their services - architects, draftsman, soil engineer, structural engineer, builders. RFT Solutions strives to ensure that you have access to the best quality building professionals. The RFT Solutions process handles the research and management of the important tendering process to secure for you building professionals who will provide quality workmanship that will fit within your budget.

The RFT Solutions process applies stringent A.C.A. (Australian Constructors Association) guidelines to its request for tender process. We check for registration and references and offer our clients the opportunity to select an experienced professional based on the best combination of quality, price and availability.

If required, RFT Solutions will negotiate with building professionals to protect your best interests at all stages of the building process. We will strive to protect your investment by negotiating the building contract with the builder on any issues concerning contractual inclusions and exclusions, special conditions, the length of time required to finish your new home or extension, and the staging of payments to the builder.