How we work
Pre built homes are as easy as this
First you look through our standard pre built homes designs and choose the one that you think best meets your needs. Next you contact us, and we arrange a time to sit down together and go through exactly what you want. This is when you have the opportunity to tailor the floor plan of your new transportable home and choose any optional extras that you would like.
We then produce the final plans for your prefab home and put together a full quote. We do our very best to make it easy for you to understand all the different things you are signing up for. Once you are completely happy, you pay the deposit.
With the deposit paid, you have done your bit. Before we start building, we get all the paperwork, plans and specifications ready to take to the Council to get a building consent. It’s one area of building a house that can drive people nuts, even if they use an architect or draftsman and a builder, but when you buy an Able Spaces prefabricated house, we handle it all for you.
Next your house goes into the queue of pre built homes being put together in our Factory. We know you are excited, so we keep you updated on how progress is going, and even send you some photos.
While your new transportable home is being built, your site is made ready. In the Greater Wellington Region, we can do this for you at an extra cost. Everywhere else in New Zealand (and in Wellington if you prefer) you get a builder and other tradies to get your site and services ready for delivery.
Your pre built home then gets delivered and placed on your site. The finishing touches get put on it, services are connected to the home and you get to move in.
FAQ
LIVEABLE SPACES
WHAT'S YOUR LEAD TIME?
Our transportable homes are built in 6-8 weeks from start to finish. The rest of the time is taken up with Council consents. We work on a first come first serve basis.
HOW DOES YOUR BUILDING AGREEMENT WORK?
For pre built homes, we supply you with a quote, which includes a layout plan and specifications. Once you're happy with the quote, you accept it and we prepare the building agreement for you to look over. Our agreement is set up for progress payments as follows:
10% deposit
10% on building consent being issued
10% on subfloor being built
25% when roof is on
25% when windows are installed
20% on practical completion before the house gets delivered
If you're dealing with Westpac for financing your pre built home, there are specific agreements in place that states the ownership of any materials is transferred from Able Spaces to you at each progress payment. This gives you peace of mind, that should anything happen to Able Spaces, you can come to site and take everything relevant to your build. This is available for all clients.
CAN I MODIFY YOUR STANDARD PLANS?
Yes! You can modify any of our standard plans, whichever delivery option you are looking at (transportable, modular or kitset). Feel free to ask for a copy of the layout plan that’s closest to what you want to be emailed to you. You can then scribble over it with your changes, and we will work with you to make your ideas a reality. Once we’ve have the preliminary plans finalised, we’ll provide a quote, and you can decide whether you would like to use us or not. There is a $4500+GST Design fee for this.
WHAT ARE YOUR HOUSES BUILT WITH?
Our walls and ceilings are made out of Durapanels. They are a solid core panel so you can fix bookshelves, TV brackets, paintings etc anywhere on your walls, without the need to look for a stud! The finished look is like GIB but a lot stronger. We insulate underfloor, all external walls and ceilings. We use timber trusses and use Coloursteel Corrugated 5 rib iron for our roofs. We have a variety of cladding options: Pine weatherboards, cedar weatherboards, charred weatherboards, grooved Shadowclad or plywood and batten.
WHAT OTHER OPTIONS DO YOU OFFER?
We can do plywood feature walls out of V Grooved ply, Oukume ply or pine ply which can be clear coated or white washed. The joins between the ply sheets can have a negative detail or be butt joined. Come and see our prototype building to see the different options in real life! Contact us to make an appointment.
You can also choose an engineered stone benchtop and diffferent heatpumps.
WHAT ARE THE COUNCIL REQUIREMENTS FOR THESE BUILDINGS?
Typically, anything over 30m2 or any building that has facilities like a kitchen or a bathroom, requires a building consent. If you’re wanting to be completely off-grid and on wheels, then different rules may apply as you then end up with a Tiny Home, which we don't do. It’s best to check with your local council. We supply our pre built homes with a Building Consent and Code of Compliance Certificate. We are a Licensed Building Practitioner and a Registered Master Builder and take pride in our workmanship. Our pre built homes are classed as dwellings.
Our homes are built on a timber subfloor and usually end up on timber piles. If you are opting for a kitset home, you can have it built on a concrete slab foundation.
CAN THE REALLY LARGE BUILDINGS BE TRANSPORTED?
Yes, depending on where it’s going and site access. We get our transport contractors to check it out for you. We need to make sure delivering your new pre built home is possible, whether it can be done in one piece or two or more modules or whether a kitset is the only option. Once they know that, they can give you an estimate for the delivery. Using a house removal company like Gold Coast Movers, Brittons or Central House Movers ends up being more cost effective than a crane as they can install your pile foundations at the same time as doing the delivery.
We can build up to 9.2m wide homes in one piece.
DO YOU HAVE A SHOW UNIT?
Yes, at our factory in Trentham, Upper Hutt. Our show home, that we use as an office, is the Western Lake design. You are also welcome to view our pre built homes before they leave our workshop by appointment only. We have two viewings available Monday to Friday: 10:00am and 1:00pm. We also do viewings on Saturday mornings, by appointment. Please contact us to make a booking. Please note we do not allow children under 12 in our factory, for Health and Safety reasons and closed shoes must be worn as it is a construction site.
Some of our clients are happy to show you through their Able Spaces homes, others are happy with a drive-by viewing.
CAN YOU DELIVER NZ WIDE?
Yes, we can. If access is an issue, we can deliver a modular home that is delivered in several sections and joined back together on site, or a kitset house that is built on site.
HOW ARE THE STANDARD HOMES/CABINS FINISHED?
The panels are painted in your chosen colour and look like GIB but are a solid core panel from Durapanels. The ceilings are flat, and square stopped. Our pre built homes come fully completed with floor coverings, all electrical, plumbing, kitchen cabinetry and bathroom, all fitted out, and also come with a Code of Compliance Certificate.
DO YOU PROVIDE INSURANCE?
Yes. We offer the Registered 10year Master Builder Guarantee and Tranzit Insurance (which covers your transportable home from the time it is uplifted from our workshop to it being placed down on your piles). Our standard insurances are Public Liability and Contracts Works insurance.
OUR ACCESS IS RUBBISH, CAN YOU BUILD ON SITE?
We have kitsets available for purchase if access is difficult. You can then choose your own builder or one of our contract builders.
HOW ARE UNITS POWERED?
For our pre built homes, the on-site electrician will hard wire the mains to the house's switchboard and install the meter board. The small sleepouts and rental units are powered through a 10amp external caravan plug. We provide you with the caravan extension lead which you can then plug into a normal power plug.
ARE THE PRE BUILT HOMES INSULATED?
Yes, all our prefab homes are fully insulated and double glazed to the new insulation requirements as part of the NZ Building Code. Our windows have Low E glass and are double glazed to achieve R0.47. Our underfloor insulation is R2.5 Expol polystytrene. Our walls have R2 Earthwool and ceilings have R6.6 Earthwool.
CAN YOU BUILD TO OUR SPECIFICATIONS?
We are happy to look at it and quote based on your specifications. Please be aware the timeframe will differ, and it will incur a design fee of $4500+GST for us to create the drawings for your custom prefabricated home.
RENTABLE SPACES
DO YOU HAVE A MINIMUM RENTAL PERIOD?
We offer 6 months, 12 months, 24 months or longer rental contracts.
DO I HAVE TO PAY A BOND TO RENT ONE OF YOUR CABINS?
Yes, bond is 4 weeks rent
IS THERE A DELIVERY CHARGE?
Yes which depends on access. Contact us for to get an estimate.
HOW OFTEN DO I HAVE TO PAY RENT?
Weekly, fortnightly or monthly in advance. You will receive an invoice via email as per the frequency you have chosen on your rental contract.
DO I NEED COUNCIL CONSENT FOR YOUR UNITS?
It is best to check with your local council, but generally anything over 30m2 or anything with facilities needs Council Consent. We only supply the cabins, we do not take care of the building consent process.
HOW MUCH SPACE DO I NEED TO GET MY UNIT DELIVERED?
Our leased buildings are currently 3.09 metres wide so the driveway needs to have a 3.3 metres width minimum. The unit sits on top of a 1.2-1.5 metre truck deck. So, provided the driveway is wide enough, it should be easy to deliver a portable building, but it all depends on where you want the unit located and if there is anything in the way, e.g. trees, power lines etc. We can organize for our trucking company to check out your site and quote the delivery.
HOW ARE THE UNITS CONNECTED TO SERVICES?
We only supply the unit. The customer is responsible to connect the services as they see appropriate for their site. This includes the 3 x water connections. The unit comes with a gas infinity (but no gas bottles) and a caravan plug with a lead that connects to the main house.
WHAT GROUND PREPARATION IS REQUIRED?
The units come on steel or timber bearers as part of the subfloor. They need to be kept off the ground with timber blocks. You can then anchor the unit with Duckbill Anchors. Alternatively, you can install piles and connect the unit with B55 brackets to the piles. Securing the unit to the ground is the customer's responsibility.
