What is the Most Important Stage of any Home Buildco or New Build

 
​Most people who are about to start a buildco on their home or build a completely new built home, consider the most important stage of the job to be the construction stage.
 
While I believe that this stage is imperative and without it you will clearly not have a home. 
 
However, we do not think it is the most important stage….
But what, you say is the most important stage of any construction project?
 
The Pre-Construction stage is of course the most important. All that upfront work that you do prebuilding is actually the most important stage to ensure you get all you ducks in a line. That way your build will run smoothly, efficiently and hopefully on budget, or not too far off. 
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There are however so many aspects of the pre-construction phase an I am going to delve into those that I believe are super important.
Starting with building your team.

Building Your Team of Professionals
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oldWhen you undertake any home buildco or new build you need to engage a number of different professionals and consultants. The people you choose can have a significant impact on the experience that unfolds and the outcomes once the job is all completed.
 
It is therefore crucial to choose wisely when selecting each professional and or consultant.

The two professionals  which I believe to be the most important are your designer and your builder.

These two professionals have the biggest impact on the overall outcome of your home and will be working with you for the longest time period.

Selecting the wrong designer could result in a home design you are not happy with, this then meaning you will need to spend more time and money getting the design right.  It could also result in possible difficult conversations and may even result in the need to find a new designer.

All of this costing you time and money. Therefore, selecting the best designer for your home buildco or new build is important.  

Your builder is also a very important team member, and one you need to really spend time selecting.

After all the builder determines your final price of the construction costs and is the one who ultimately constructs your home.

You will need to form a very close relationship with your builder as he will be hanging around a long while as the builds of your home unfolds. Some days you may speak to your builder 3-4 times and over a period of 12 months you may speak to him almost every day!

So please make sure you know, like and trust your builder.

Other than a builder and designer you will also have several other professionals on your team, and it is super important to ensure they are the right fit for you and your job. 

So, who are these other professionals?  Most buildco or new builds in Perth Western Australia,  will need an engineer, energy assessor and a building surveyor. However, depending on the size and type of job you may also require a town planner, surveyor, soil expert or interior designer.
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Communication across your team is very important, all professionals should be able to liaise and consider your project as the key priority. 

Getting the Design Right 
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Once your team is sorted you need to ensure that you get your design right. There are so many ways to prepare for the design stage of your home buildco or new build.

However, I think the most important is having a clear understanding of your needs and wants for your new home and ensuring that is all written down and communicate effectively to your designer.

A lot of our potential homeowners approach us with a sketch of what they would like, which is natural and what we all want to do.

However, the best way to get the design right in my opinion is to have a very good brief that you can hand to your designer that outlines everything you want from your new buildco or new home build.

For Example, how many bedrooms, what rooms to include, how big each room is (rough guides) windows and doors wanted, how many levels and what rooms on what levels etc. The brief you hand over to your home designer should be at least a one-page document outlining what you want to achieve from the home and your future plans for the homes flow and function.

Then leave it up to the designer to design away and present to you an initial design concept. From that design concept you can then move around certain aspects of the rooms according to you wants and needs.

Allowing the designer to design based on your detailed briefing in most cases will lead to a more efficient design outcome.

The reason for this is because the designers know all the residential design codes and based on you needs, wants and budget can put together their initial design.
 
If you work it the other way, it can lead to a lot of backwards and forwards communications with home owner  and designer, this is not the best use of the designer’s time.

No matter how you approach the design stage you must ensure plenty of time is spent getting the design right, as not all aspects of the design can be changed once construction is under way.

Confirming Specification and Price with the Builder 
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Not everyone likes this step but as a builder to avoid disappointment once the build has started, I believe this step is crucial to avoid budget blow outs.

Waiting to decide your specifications once the build has started is just asking for trouble.

Once you have your initial design concept and you know how many rooms and what the spaces look and feel like you should be getting out to the shops to look at your floor choices, tapware, sinks, basins, and baths etc. 

All the fixtures an fittings you need for your homes buildco or build are super important to get decided upon before the build starts.

That way the builder and trades can all price appropriately.  Once the build gets under way all trades know what they are doing the builder can pre order all the material so to avoid delays, and you as the homeowner will have less chance for budget blow outs.  Everything has been factored into the price and there are fewer prime costs and provisional sums (allowances) in the contract.

 Now, as a builder we always process variations and people do change their mind as the build unfolds, this is perfectly fine and human nature. However the more you get set in stone up front in way of specifications the smoother the build unfolds for all involve.
 

Conclusion
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While most homeowners believe that the construction stage is the most important part of any build, we beg to differ.

his is coming from a builder too!
 
Getting the pre-construction phase right is imperative to having a successful build outcome.
 
The best place to start is getting your team of professionals right, spending time to select your builder, designer and engineer can be the difference between a highly stressful build process and that of a calm and peaceful build. OK admittedly a calm and peaceful build is almost unheard of!

Next and more obvious is to ensure that you get your design right. Not spending enough time on your design in the early stages could result in building a dis functional home for you and your family’s lifestyle. So, get your brief accurate and relay this to your designer.

The final aspect of pre-construction phase that is important is, spending the time to make selections up front before the build starts and before you get your final price from your builder. That way you can help prevent budget blow outs and contributes nicely towards making the build process a smoother one.
 
At Distinct we choose to work with you from the early design stages and then it is up to you if you want to continue and build with us.
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Building a relationship with the builder is super important before you start the build. If you are in the early stages of researching a potential home buildco or considering building a new home feel free to reach out to us to find out more about our process.
 
 
 

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