Newbie - North East Scotland

[Peterc]

Hi everyone.  Peter from Montrose here.

We're looking at a tiny 21m x 22m plot 7 or 8 miles away from us and have plans to build a small near passive house with solar, ASHP with UFH and MHRV.

Initially we thought we'd have to self manage contractors to build within a sensible budget but we've had discussions with ACL group in Elgin who have come up with a very good offer.  We're also talking to Scotframe and looking at several others.  We know several local contractors and are confident that we'd be OK going the self-managed route, but a full service package sounds attractive.

Does anyone have recent experience of dealing with this outfit?

Any other suggestions welcome.

[MR10]

Hello and welcome.

ACL or ACJ group? I have no experience of either. 

Have you purchased the plot? Do you have planning/warrant in place? Can you expand more on the 'very good offer'?

 

There's a 'Due diligence' post somewhere, worth a read if you can find it.

 

Edited February 6 by MR10

[Peterc]

Yes, sorry - typo - it was ACJ Group that I meant!

Full planning is in place for the plot but we don't like the design of the house that was submitted.

It should be a simple job to get a variation to the plan. 

[TonyT]

Can you not consider local trades instead of a timber frame company, they will make a frame on site for far less.

[Peterc]

I would certainly consider that option, but I felt we'd have a better chance of getting better performance with factory made 235mm wall panels with built-in insulation.  We don't aim for a total passivehaus build, but we'd like to be close.  What do people think? 

(Also still looking for advice about other people's experience of working with ACJ Group.)

[MR10]

@Peterc I would suggest taking a peek at their accounts/filings in companies house first. 

Still interested in knowing what the 'very good offer' is but only if you feel comfortable sharing. 

 

[Peterc]

They have verbally said that they can build us a turnkey house for £1600/m2, which suits our target budget, but I'm concerned that this will not be to the spec we want and by the time we add the extra insulation I know we will want and any individualisation it will be a lot more than we have budgeted for!

The alternative, to self manage with subbies, is difficult for me to cost as we would need to get to building warrant stage before we can get reasonably accurate quotes, by which time we will have passed the point of no return and I don't want to have to reduce the spec at that stage to hit our budget target!

A few years ago I'd have been more confident and handled a lot of the work myself but when you get into your 70s this becomes more of a challenge.  We are lucky that we have access to some really high quality tradesmen who we have used in the past.

It's a small plot, only 21m 22m so we want a build with a relatively small footprint as we'll still have to meet requirements for two parking places and turning space etc.

[Kelvin]

That is very cheap for a full turnkey house. 

[MR10]

@Peterc Does this include groundworks? It seems pretty cheap. Again, I'll urge you to do due diligence, their filings in companies house shows they're a 'dormant' company. 

 

Verbal offers are also meaningless especially when they're not quoting based on the current plans or specifying what level of insulation, finish etc. There's also the matter of the 'fine print', where you could be hit with hidden costs and variations. I would take any verbal offer with a pinch of salt. 

 

Speak to timber frame (assuming that's what you're after) companies who have in-house design teams that can tweak the design and get the necessary approvals, that way, you'll get a proper idea of costing and you can adjust prior to the design being finalised.

Scotframe, Fleming homes, Claymore, MBC are a few you can speak to, others are available. 

 

It might be a simple job to get a variation to the plan but planning could take weeks or months to approve.

 

It would be a good idea to outline the specifications you're looking for (air tightness, insulation levels/u-values, glazing, MVHR etc.,) and then take it from there. That way, you get what you want (or close to) not what they give to you. 

 

I don't think there's much (if any) experience of ACJ here else I would like to think you would have had a response on that by now.

[JohnMo]

I started my Warrant process with ACJ, didn't finish the process with them we parted way.

[Peterc]

Decision made.

Had a long private message from JohnMo (many thanks John) which tipped us definitely in the direction we were leaning.

As I said earlier, we have a joiner/builder/cabinetmaker who's done a couple of small jobs for us and a brilliant big project for our church; we have a plumber with an electrician colleague who we've used recently and did a great job; a groundwork contractor who also worked on the church project: a close neighbour who is a self-employed roofer - nearly everyone we need.

We've also decided to work with a local architect we've known for several years for peace of mind.

We're budgeting about £170K and £30K contingency for a bungalow build of about 110m2.  (Maybe one and a half stories to reduce footprint?)  We just need to be brave!  Fingers crossed now as we move ahead!