Looking for honest QLD owner-builder numbers from projects larger than a weekend job. Did you actually save money once approvals, insurance, coordination time, and rework risk are included.
If possible, break down: project type and size, council/permit pathway, engineering and certification costs, QBCC owner-builder course/admin costs, site insurance, key trade packages, and contingency burn. Most online discussions stop at materials and ignore supervision overhead and schedule drag.
I am especially interested in where budgets blew out: excavation surprises, structural steel lead times, waterproofing compliance fixes, certifier re-inspections, and price jumps from fragmented trade sequencing.
Please include whether you would do owner-builder again and under what conditions (e.g. only if single-storey extension, only if flexible timeline, only with trusted trade network). Mostly trying to work out when owner-builder actually beats a builder contract in QLD, and when it just feels cheaper on paper until the first surprise invoice.
