What to look out for when hiring for a builder
Your relationship with a builder needs to be taken seriously. This is often a long-term commitment with a person and or company offering a service that in many cases that has a direct impact on your life - in the case they are building the house you will be living in.
Australia is fortunate to have many great builders throughout its’ many states. But for every great builder, there is one or more not-so-great builders.
There are simple characteristics to look for such as - they build similar homes to what you are wanting to build. They build in the area or are located close by (this means they know the area, they know subbies that work in the area and they can get materials to the area).
Here are a few things that you may not have thought to look for in a builder but are equally as important and can help determine the quality of the builder:
Experience
This seems obvious but can often be overlooked. Don’t just look at how many years a builder has been in business, this is important but is only the tip of the iceberg. You want to look at the previous builds they have completed. Were the clients happy? How long did it take? Was it completed within the time frame? Was it within budget? These questions will obviously be best answered by previous clients. There is no harm in asking the builder for references before engaging them for a project.
Communication
Does the builder communicate regularly? If you are looking to get a price from a builder this is a good time to see how they communicate. Are they answering any questions you may have? Do they respond in a reasonable time frame? In addition to these, you are going to want to make sure the builder is asking you questions too. You want to gauge their interest and commitment to your project.
Team
Now the bigger the team size doesn’t necessarily mean the better the builder. Many builders have a very small team and this is beneficial as it decreases their overheads and most likely means they take on fewer projects which means they will be more focused on your project. Some builders may not even have an office. Once again, this is not a bad thing necessarily. These are just factors that need to be considered. If they have no office, find out why. They may be having cash flow issues which is a major concern or perhaps they find there is no need to have an office as they can simply work from home.
