It’s that time of year again…….It’s head down bum up in the rush toward Christmas! Suppliers are busy, tradesmen are frantic and behind the scenes we are working long hours to ensure everything is on schedule and going according to plan. But while we are focusing on meeting deadlines and finishing our projects to a world-class standard, we have to keep one eye on the horizon with the development of new projects for 2016.

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We have projects we have been working on since 2014 and looking to commence at the beginning of 2016.

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After working on a project so long it’s exciting to finally get things moving!

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So many people contemplate renovating or extending for years and years, the first step towards the end goal of building such a beautiful new home can often be daunting for people. A lot of people don’t know what they want or how much it will cost. But you’ll never know if you don’t ask! With a good builder and architect combination you will be workshopped through your design, you will understand the costs to expect and timeline of your project and most importantly discover how the construction process will work and how you will fit into it.

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It’s important to get an understanding early so your expectations are equal to the potential of your home and investment you are considering. It’s often recommended to have fully detailed plans prior to finding a builder, but this doesn’t make any sense. Any architect can design you the most amazing home, but the facts are it must fit within your budget and lifestyle.

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What I think builders should do and what we have done is made ourselves approachable to people from an early stage to provide feedback on plans of how the home may improve its energy efficiency and sustainability and also provide a breakdown of costs for the project at the concept stage. This enables people to discover whether the project is feasible or not at an early stage rather than spending tens of thousands of dollars on plans in the hope that a builder prices them on budget!

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My advice would be pick a builder first, then pair them with an architect for design. The builder and architect can work together and keep an eye on the budget the whole way through so there are no surprises when it comes to finalizing costs. This will also give you an understanding of how the builder works prior to committing to any major contract.

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All the best and happy building! :)

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~ Simon, GM