Welcome to our second  BIO General Public newsletter.  As we all get back into the swing of another year,  we start planning the coming months and what we want to achieve around the house.

In this issue we will be keeping you updated on the government’s insulation rebate and how you can still take advantage of available funding and offers.  There are other new schemes and opportunities being offered by the Government enabling you to tap into and get some of your tax dollars back.

We'll be featuring a couple of our BIO members that can help you in many areas on designing your ideas and then making them a reality.

Please enjoy this month’s issue and if you have any suggestions on topics you would like discussed or investigated please send them through to info@buildingindustryonline.com.au .

From the "BIO Team".

When building or renovating your home, there are many things to consider, such as finding financial support, registered builders, insurance, contracts and safety codes.

BIO's ensures that their members are qualified and/or registered before promoting them on their website.  BIO members are dedicated to their trade and are kept up to date on industry developments and changes to legislation through the BIO Member Newsletter. 

BIO now offers a FREE service to the public to help them find qualified trades, suppliers or consultants through the BIO General Public Jobs Board.

No more ringing trades person after trades person, trying to find someone interested in doing the work, simply list your job on the General Public Jobs Board.  To ensure you provide as much information as possible you have a free document upload. Upload your full set of working drawings, site photo's and more.  BIO members will contact you after they have had a chance to fully review your project requirements and documents. 

Register your project online today!.

Insulation Rebate goes through a change.

As fast as a Victorian summer day changes to a single figure temperature, the Federal Government ceased it's Home Insulation Program, leaving many contractors and home owners in an unpleasant situation.

However, given there is a federal election in the wind, the "Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme" will replace the Home Insulation Program and the Solar Hot Water Rebate.

Under the household Renewable Energy Bonus scheme households will be able to receive a rebate for the installation of ceiling insulation or a solar hot water system or a heat pump.   $1000 rebates will be available for ceiling installation and solar hot water systems and $600 rebates for heat pumps systems.  The new rebate for solar hot water systems and heat pumps will be available for systems installed after 19^th February 2010.

This scheme will institute several key changes to the delivery of ceiling insulation including:

• Householders – rather than installers - will claim the $1000 rebate directly through the Medicare system.
• Introducing a new registration scheme requiring all installers to reregister, pay a cash bond, show evidence of meeting the training and skills requirements and provide certified quality assurance and occupational health and safety plans.

• Introducing a strengthened compliance regime in concert with State and Territory occupational health and safety and fair trading authorities.

It is intended that the insulation component of the Renewable Energy Bonus scheme will come into operation by 1 June.

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Going Green Pays.

With so much focus being placed on making your home more energy efficient and reducing it's carbon footprint, the Government have introduced a way to help pay for it. 

Green Loans is an Australian Government initiative to help Australians tackle climate change.  The Green Loans Program assists Australian families to install solar, water saving, and energy efficient products.  Green Loans has two main components of support from the Australian Government:

• a free Home Sustainability Assessment and report;

• and access to a Green Loans subsidy provided to participating financial institutions to cover up to four years interest for borrowing of up to $10,000, to implement changes recommended in the assessment report.

Many households who take up a Home Sustainability Assessment may be interested in taking out a loan to undertake the home improvements suggested in the assessment report. To assist these households, the Australian Government has lowered the cost of finance by providing a loan subsidy to participating financial institutions.   For more information visit the following website http://www.environment.gov.au/greenloans/about/subsidy.html.

 

For the greener good!.

New Sustainable Housing Laws are here and to help promote awareness of sustainable housing measures the government has developed a communications campaign entitled "For the Greener Good"  A number of new laws came into effect on March 1st 2009,  with others being introduced up until March 2010.    These new laws apply to houses, townhouses, units and major rennovations.

Do Covenants rule your world?

From 1 January 2010 amendments to the Building Act 1975 and the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 that prohibit new covenants, new body corporate by-laws and in some cases existing by-laws and covenants from banning energy efficient building elements and features come into force. These laws apply to class 1 (houses and town houses) and class 2 buildings (units) that are the subject of covenants or body corporate by-laws.

The amendments that came into force 1 January 2010 will render invalid new covenants and body corporate statements/by-laws which restrict a person from occupying a home before landscaping, driveways or similar work is completed and which restrict owners from using selected sustainable and affordable features, such as:

• light roof colours
• window treatments (e.g. tinting)

• smaller minimum floor areas

• fewer bedrooms and bathrooms

• types of materials and finishes for external walls and roofs

• single garages

• appropriate location for solar hot water systems

• photovoltaic cells.

Existing covenants and body corporate by-laws relating to solar hot water systems and photovoltaic cells will also be rendered invalid.

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Cairns Home & Lifestyle Show 2010

The Cairns Home & Lifestyle Show is on 27th & 28th March at the Cairns Convention Centre. 

Attracting over 5000 people over the two days, the show is a great opportunity to see new products or to promote your business to the Far North Queensland region.

Next Years Kitchens Now....

Cockrell’s Kitchens have been building dream kitchens for over 30 years.

This year at the collaboratively designed  “INSPIRATION CENTRE “ at the 2010 Townsville Summer Home show, Cockrell’s Kitchens are displaying a Future Designed Kitchen.  With features like ergonomic design layouts, seamless stylish bench top surfaces... and secret cupboards that appear as if by magic at the touch of a button, you certainly won't want to miss the unveiling of “Next Years Kitchen Now”  .

Being able to experience and explore a state of the art future kitchen, and to speak with the designers themselves is a great way to get your mind racing with the possibilities of your very own future kitchen.

Log onto www.cockrellskitchens.com.au and browse through their interactive site and check out their special offers.

We are well into the wet season and as much of the state has to consider each day whether or not to take an umbrella or gum boots to go out the front door, the building industry tends to use this time to catch up on book work, get into the inside jobs or go fishing.

Now is the perfect time to start contacting the trades that you think you might need in the coming months, because if you need to get a quote, the tradesperson now should have the time to get it done.  Not only that they are also trying to plan their year and will start scheduling jobs in to make sure they have enough on to keep their teams busy.

One of the best ways to get in touch with the trades you need is to use the BIO General Public Jobs board, simply register your project requirements to get your information inside the BIO system.  Don't forget to include details and proposed starting dates as they will help the trades person time manage.

"The General Public Jobs Board is an excellent service. I was extremely impressed by the response I received, as well as the quality of the response!. BIO members were very interested in helping me with my project. I would definitely recommend this service."
Tom Flood, General Public Member 19 November, 2009

Have you ever thought of managing your own housing or  renovation project, but are not sure where to start?

Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE provides ongoing self paced courses for those wishing to obtain an Owner Builder Permit.  The best thing is that there are no onsite classes  and you can start the course at anytime.... Easily fit it in at a time that is most convenient for you!

The course requires the student to; describe the preliminary actions and responsibilities involved in an owner builder project; plan and control finances and control and monitor project progress including estimating, budgeting and project scheduling; describe the legal obligations of an owner builder; plan off-site administration of a project; and plan on-site administration of a project.

Once you've  finished,  Building Industry Online can get you in touch with the appropriate, trades, contractors and suppliers in your local regions.  

Bank of Queensland

No application fee on your home load! Save 0.7%p.a. variable, no monthly fee ad a host of other discounts to help you pay off your home sooner.  BIO Member Finance Deal.

TP Human Captial - 10% off all of your Training needs.

With courses in Computer Skills, Accounting, Supervisory Skills, Project Management Skills and much more.  Click here to find out more.

BIO Buy & Sell Classifieds

If you are renovating or just have an eye for a bargain, check out the BIO Buy & Sell Classifieds.  There are currently listed some great flooring items up for grabs as well other landscaping products, plus so much more.

What happens when you register your project with BIO? Step 1→ Register as aGeneral Public Member of the site. Step 2 →Click Register your Project. Step 3 → Fill out your scope of works and attached your project documentation. Step 4 → Your project will be live within 24 hours.  The BIO Team will administer your project and link you to your requested Consultants, Tradies, Builders and Suppliers. Step 5 → You will receive an email notification with the contact details of all BIO members interested in your project.  You can wait for them to contact you or you can contact them. To assist you with your project administration, BIO will provide you will a full "ON Project" report.  This report will list the full contact information of interested members, for your project. In addition, you will also receive notification of all BIO members who are not interested in your project.  (Another way BIO works for you and saves you time) Step 6 → Receive your quotes. Step 7→  Once you are happy with the  level of response call your BIO Team and we will remove your project. You will no longer receive calls or emails from interested members.  ( BIO Trade Contractors, Consultant and Builders Members must be registered and licensed to be accepted as members of Building Industry Online.) www.buildingindustryonline.com.au

Looking for a single industry member? Use our free search tool to quickly find available Trade contractors in your location. Enter the search criteria as well as the dates you require assistance.  Hit submit and an available list of trades, consultants or builders will display.  Click here for full instructions. Try it today!.