construction cost
Case Studies – Estimating costs of our very own Australian Solar Farms
In May 2019, Giles Parkinson titled an article “It’s not easy to build a solar farm in Australia any more”. This was published on the Renew Economy website on the 16th of May 2019. Mr. Parkinson goes on to state that albeit in the past, the powers to be believed it was easier to build…
Read MoreBuilding approvals point to a potential future housing shortage
It doesn’t seem that long ago we were talking about an oversupply of apartments across Sydney, South Melbourne, and Brisbane. However, a lot has changed in the past few years. The ABS October figures on building approvals show a seasonally adjusted estimate for total dwelling units falling by 8.1% in October. The graph below from…
Read MoreWrapping up the year with Data, Dance Floors, and Depreciation
Our year started on a high, coming off the back of a massive win for MCG. Landing a position on the Financial Review’s top 100 of fastest-growing businesses, we hit the ground running! Mike Mortlock and Mitch Ford completed their much-anticipated triathlon, with over $2k raised for Heartkids, a charity helping those affected by congenital…
Read MoreProgress Claim Case Study – The MCG Method of Assessment
As part of the services of quantity surveyors, we are regularly commissioned to undertake progress claim assessments on behalf of financial institutions. During the last month, we have seen quite a common conversation held between ourselves and a client (developer) regarding the difference between our assessment of the builders claim and the amount that the…
Read MoreBushfires & Floods – The cost of a Natural Disaster to home owners
Australian Research In 2000, the Construction Data division of Reed Business Information Systems (Reed) surveyed 1000 randomly selected homeowners. They concluded that: 87% of homes were under-insured by any amount The average level of under-insurance was 34% In 2002, the Insurance Council of Australia conducted a survey of seven companies sharing 80% of the home…
Read MoreMost common building defects in residential multi-owned properties
In a recent research paper pertaining to the examination of building defects in residential multi owned properties, there has been some great findings. These findings were authored by Nicole Johnston (Deakin University) and with Sacha Reid (Griffith University). In summary, two studies have been undertaken to identify the most common building defects in residential multi-owned…
Read MoreAn Expert Witness Case Study – Owner V Builder, August 2019
In a recent expert witness case that I was asked to provide my opinion of costs on, the result has now been published. Background The background to both applications is best described as: The Owners’ sought damages from the Builder in respect of: o (Item 1) Defective and/or incomplete works (the Defects Claim); o (Item…
Read MoreMCG insights into property investor behaviour that you need to know
Since we started preparing depreciation reports for property investors back in 2011, I wanted to collect data that I thought would illuminate the property industry as to the types of acquisitions the average property investors was making. Through the course of doing what we do, we also have to ask some fairly unusual questions that…
Read MoreTax depreciation estimating – The value of having your finger on the pulse
Back in the day, tax depreciation was not a service that quantity surveyors offered. In fact, it’s an industry that’s not much older than 21 years whereas quantity surveying in general can be traced back to at least 1859 but possibly 1785. Sorry, you’re right, you didn’t ask. Anyway, my point is that most quantity…
Read MoreTimely reminder to home owners – Watersun Homes Collapses
The headlines are reading, ‘Home builder goes under, Thousands lost, Hundreds of home owners left out of pocket’. The reality is that we have all read these headlines before and unfortunately, these brutal words will continue to feature from time to time within the construction landscape. Building your home is a personal thing, whether it…
Read More