How We Work
Our Building Process
We want to make your new home building project easy from start to finish. That’s why every project begins with a friendly chat so we can all get on the same page.
You can tell us what you want to achieve and we’ll pitch in and help you understand what’s involved. Whether you already have your plans or are in the early stages of developing your ideas, this is the perfect time to shape your vision, identify potential issues, and work out a realistic budget.
Our process is designed to be simple and make everything run smoothly. In a nutshell, we plan carefully, communicate openly, build to a high standard, and do what we say we’ll do. And it works. People love working with us – and as proof, almost all our new work comes to us through referrals from satisfied customers.
1. Let’s Talk
Initial meeting
First we get together to hear about your plans and inspiration. You might already have plans drawn up, or just be in the earliest stages of thinking about building a new home. We love getting involved as soon as possible. For example, we’ve started talking to people before they’ve even acquired the land for their new home. The main thing for us at the first meeting is to understand your vision, and to give you a clear insight into what’s achievable for your budget. If you’ve seen our Grand Designs episode, you’ll know that the plans for that house needed to be modified to suit the budget, but all the same we still managed to end up with a spectacular result.
2. Planning & Design
Turning your ideas into plans
With all the parameters set, we can move to the next stage – getting your house design down on paper. If you have existing plans, we can work with them, or if not, we can refer you to a very accomplished architectural designer we like working with. We’re happy either way. Often there is a little tooing and froing as we get the plans exactly right. This is another point where our experience comes in very handy, as we’re very good at coming up with practical solutions to tricky design problems.
3. Plans, Pricing & Consents
Getting the details sorted
When you’re 100% happy with the plans for your new home, it’s time for us to produce an accurate building cost estimate. Once you’ve agreed to the price, and any tweaks to the plans have been made and approved, the designer or architect will submit the drawings to your local council for the necessary consents. Usually this will just be a building consent, but in some circumstances an accompanying resource consent might also be triggered – however, this won’t come as a surprise to you, as we’ll have covered the possibility in our very first meeting.
4. Contract & Timeline
Clear costs before we build
When all the boxes are successfully ticked at the council, we’ll get together to sign the standard Master Builder’s building contract. At this point we’ll also lay out the building schedule for you. This is a timeline of the build with all the significant milestones marked on it so you can see what’s happening and when.
And if you choose to get it, we’ll apply for the optional 10-Year Master Builder’s Guarantee on your behalf. This guarantee covers you for loss of deposit, non-completion, workmanship and structural defects. There is a small cost for the guarantee that’s related to the total value of your build.
5. Construction
Bringing your project to life
Now the really exciting part starts. Once we’re into building your new home, we make sure to keep you up with the process – we’ll let you know regularly what we’re doing and how the building work is tracking along the timeline. We are proud to be able to say that because of our experience and attention to detail, our new home builds in North Canterbury invariably proceed right on schedule and according to plan. There will be occasions along the way when we’ll invite you to the site for a progress meeting. We’ve found our clients love the opportunity to see how their new home is coming along in person.
6. Handover & Aftercare
Ready to enjoy
When the big day comes, we’ll have a final meeting on-site where we’ll take you through your beautiful new home, room by room, in detail. This is your opportunity to make sure you’re completely happy with everything. We’ll also take you through the appliance warranties and give you maintenance and care tips, because we get quite attached to the houses we build. We want your new home to stay looking its best, as much as you do.
READY TO GET STARTED?
Let’s make your build simple from the start
Talk to Todd about your ideas, budget and plans, and take the first step towards a clear, straightforward building process.
