In a nutshell, Project Builders are the ‘McDonalds’ of the home building industry. Project builders have a number of different set designs and packages and build on mass, working to a process line with little or no option for customisation. A Project Builder may also offer House and Land Packages and finance; while some have even been known to include a car in the package to stimulate a sales package.
They have a team of sales staff that negotiate a building deal and then you are usually moved on through a series of ‘hostesses’ to manage the various stages up to the construction phase.
Typically for the construction phase a Supervisor will be appointed to your home who will be constructing a number of homes (up to 40) at one time so you will be given limited if any opportunity to discuss your project with him and may have to correspond via an office administration assistant.
The downside of using a Project Builder is that they are often reluctant or may even deny you the opportunity to make any changes along the way. This is because any changes you might wish for will require specialist skill sets that are beyond both the tradesman that they employ and perhaps the supervisor himself.
When using a Project Builder you may even find that your building supervisor is not a builder himself or necessarily hold any specific qualifications other than have good organisational skills and be able to following the companies procedures properly, Just like a fast food chain, this system works fine as long as you are happy with the product that is on offer.
Advantages of this system is
- Display homes allow you to see what you are getting rather than having to visualise from plans
- Offer a very competitive price point (although read the fine print to fully understand what is and isn’t included in your quotation)
- Offer a complete ‘one stop shop’ for plans, obtaining approvals from various statutory authorities, assistance with finishes/ colour selections right through to handover of the completed product.
- Compared to using the Local builder method will require less involvement (Time) from the consumer as most parts of this process are predetermined
Disadvantages of this system
- These type of builders operate on price point ( being cheap). Quality is not of the utmost importance and will often suffer
- Little or perhaps no opportunity to customise to suit individual needs
- Resale value has the potential of a negative impact with the stigmas attached to your property as being “Project built”.
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Typically will be a self-employed, very hands on style operator who perhaps will also have an apprentice or carpenter. They will most likely come from a trade background (carpentry being the most common) although some have a theory based education only (University graduate). They usually will not specialise in any particular style of work and take a broad spectrum of work including renovations, extensions and maintenance and will only take on a small amount of work at a time which means that you may have to wait until they are available to start your new home.
This style of builder will not become involved in your project until you have a completed or approved plans, so design and plan preparation and approval will usually not be part of their services.
Therefore you will need to organise this part of the project yourself, which can be a huge and daunting task in itself if you do not have access to a suitable design / approval process team. This can be very problematic for the homeowner and a lot of your funds can be misspent in this area by having design consultants construct a home design that is not cost effective/ efficient to construct.
Most architect/designers do not really have a handle on construction costs and subliminally design monuments to themselves rather than working to your budget! Many a project has been designed and approved by council only to be shelved later in the process once it has been costed by the builder as it falls outside the allocated budget.
Advantages of this method
- The Builder has a hands on approach which also means a lot more trade supervision. Therefore the quality is often quite good.
- You are dealing with the owner of the business.
- Making changes are much easier (although will be expensive).
Disadvantages
- It is often the most expensive way to build.
- It is not a ‘one stop shop’, so design and approval will need to be organised by a third party which will require a lot more time and effort from you, and will certainly be more costly.
- You may have a delay in starting construction if the Builder is already working on another project.
- Design and approval process is done by a separate entity to the construction phase, so there is no coordination between the two areas. Nor is there one entity that can be held accountable for delivering your new home as expected.
- There is no up front quotation to work off before you commence down the building path. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to work to a budget as the overall project is being derived from a number of different sources.
- Do not have the buying power for materials and subcontractors of the high turnover builders who specialise in new homes so will be more expensive.
- Construction techniques and trades will not be as cost effective as those employed by specialist home builders.
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At Horizon Homes, we are specialist boutique new home builders that have
focused on the positives of the different builder types to give you a quality, cost effective product. Whilst we offer standard designs and pricing we are just as happy to
provide a fully customised design service to suit your needs.
Design
We understand that you know what you are looking for in a home and that you have specific needs that need to be addressed with your property. (For example, taking advantage of a view or aspect or pool, in law or teenage accommodation, privacy issues with neighbours etc.)
We provide up front comprehensive pricing so you can make informed decisions keeping your budget in mind.
Approval Process
There is a myriad of hurdles and compliance issues that need to be dealt with through various Government and statutory bodies, and construction approval, so apart from our specialist architectural design team we also engage specialist:
• Structural and Hydraulic engineers,
• Energy efficiency consultants
• Surveyors
• Arborists
• Landscape architects
• Occupational Hygienist etc to name a few
All of our building applications are lodged and negotiated through the Council approval process by specialist town planners, they also have the authority to issue a complying development approval should that avenue of approval be available in your circumstances.
Pre Construction Phase
As part of our service we also provide specialist consultants to assist you in your product selection and finishes, tile selection, as well as your electrical, home technology and security needs.
The Construction Phase
As previously mentioned, Horizon Homes is a culmination of two long established multi award winning Sydney builders David Mackenzie and Dennis Carroll (or Denbuild Pty Ltd and Mac-Corp Pty Ltd).
The building construction process is handled by either of their Companies Mac-corp Pty Ltd or Denbuild Pty Ltd both of which have been established and trading since the early 1990’s.
In doing so, you will be engaging the services of a local specialist that can provide the individual building service that the large corporate companies are not able to.
Our supervising staff are long term employees who are capable, experienced tradesman in their own right (just like your local builder), You have direct contact with them rather than communicating through an administration assistant.
All of our tradesmen and suppliers are selected for being specialists in this style of work and are highly skilled and cost efficient. |
