Hiring highly skilled tradespeople will make the difference between a dream renovation and a nightmare, so choose wisely.

“Many contractors are unlicensed, uninsured or operating while insolvent, yet knee deep in work.”

Performing your own due diligence is essential!

The building industry has unfortunately been tarnished by a few bad cowboys. It’s very important that you weed these out and choose a reputable builder for your project.

So where do you find one?

  • yellow pages              Y / N
  • google                         Y / N
  • www.houzz.com.au  Y / N

The best builders don’t advertise because they have endless work … so you have to find them! Start your search by speaking to other building industry professionals who work with builders every day:

  • building surveyors / inspectors
  • architects / designers
  • town planners
  • draftsmen

Note: Professional people surround themselves with other professional people and not cowboys.

Building Industry Associations

Choosing a builder who is a member of one of the following industry associations isn’t a guarantee, however it’s another tick in the box:

  • Modular Building Industry Association Australia
  • Housing Industry Association
  • Master Builders Australia

Who’s On The Tools?

There are two categories of low-volume custom project builders:

  • hands-on (old school)
  • hands-off (project manager)

Hands-On

The person who quotes the job will often be the same person who does the job.

They have more detailed knowledge about projects and fewer distractions but expect to wait months or sometimes years for them to tackle your project.

Hands-Off

They have often spent more time in a classroom than on a building site, however they do have more capacity to run multiple projects and access to more tradespeople.

Choose a builder who is experienced in successfully completing projects similar to yours!

Note: High-volume project home builders are a completely different kettle of fish / 1 licence … 1,000 subbies

A, B, C, D, E & F Team

Builders always have an “A” team … these are their most valuable resource:

  • 3 or 4 carpenters
  • 2 x bricklayers
  • 1 x electrician
  • 2 x plumbers
  • etc.

It may have taken 5 to 10 years to refine the team, and the builder will do everything in their power to keep them together by providing them with continuous work and paying them well.

They’ll be a well oiled machine that builds quality houses.

“Reference checks conducted on the ‘A’ team will always be positive!“

The issues come into play when the builder takes on too many projects and has to hire the ‘F’ team of subcontractors. You need to be 100% sure that your project is going to be built by the ‘A’ team and not by one of the other lower grade teams.

Your challenge will be how best to manage them … Hybrid Renovating ™