Why Do builders Charge for Quotes on your home renovation and extension?

Are you considering doing a home renovation or extension in the next few months or a year?
 
You may be in the initial stages of getting quotes from builders for your home renovation or home extension…

This stage can be daunting and hard work really.
Some builders will charge you for quotes and some will not.

Some builders will take a month to provide a quote while other will whip one up in a matter of hours or just a day.
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So why does it take some builders less time than other builders to prepare you home renovation quote? 

There is a simple answer to this….

The home renovation quote that takes a few hours to prepare should NOT be considered a fixed price quote and rather a rough ballpark figure or a square meterage rate for your home renovation.

A ballpark figure or a square meterage rate is fine if you are in initial stages.

However if you like the idea of getting a fixed price quote that will not vary too much other than a few small minor variations than I suggest you read on and find out why it is a good idea to get a quote from a builder that charges for such a service.

In order to do a fixed price quote the builder must sit down and work for at least 4 hours and up to 40 hours depending on the size of the home renovation and extension.
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The builder will prepare a detailed quote well over 10 pages showing you all the specifications included in the build along with prepared amounts from their sub-contractors to do the job. This quoting process involves talking to suppliers and subcontractors and compiling several quotes and in some cases, builders will collect around 50-100 quotes for different materials and/or sub-contractors individual quotes.  Thus, in order to get the right price for all the components of your home renovation.

When you consider your home renovation, you must price for taps, basins, showers, kitchen and vanity cabinetry, cabinet colours and types of bench tops, skirting boards, gyprock, timber and cladding, tile selections and grout selections the list goes on and on.
 
If you know how long it takes to cost out and organise a wedding then you can start understand how time consuming things can be when budgeting and organising a huge event. I like to compare a home renovation to this. There are so many different working parts that go into a home renovation and the time it takes to prepare such a quote/presentation for clients is  lengthy.
 
Now, the reason why it is a good idea to pay for the quote (other than the obvious, that the builder is  NOT working for free) is due to the fact that you will be left with  less budget blow outs or hopefully none whilst your renovation is under way. 

To put it in perspective……

Builder A doesn’t charge for a quote- his level of motivation to spend time on getting you the right costs for everything is very low as he is essentially working for free as there is no commitment at this stage to work with that builder going forward.

Builder A will then more than likely cut corners to provide you a quote by providing you with plenty of “allowance” costs  in the price which have the ability to blow out. These costs are noted in the price as provisional sums (PS items) and prime costs (PC items).  These items leave you at risk of your budget blowing out. And worth noting, in order to win the job, builders will lower the allowances to make the final price look better. Then when it  comes building time and you don’t want the basic tap ware from Bunnings but would rather the high end Phoenix range you may find your budget is no longer fit for the renovation you have drawn up and planned!  

Now in steps Builder B….

Builder B has advised he will charge you $660 for your fixed price quote, now he is motivated to get you the best possible price and do research in order to provide you with an accurate fixed price contract that will have a list of detailed specifications and inclusions for you to then compare like for like against other quotes.

When you begin to build with builder B you will be aware of all your inclusions and should not have any budget blow outs, other than variations from minor changes or unforeseen things lurking in the walls or underground.
 
The best bit is- you get a price reduction off the final fixed price quote equal to the cost you paid to prepare the quote. So in the end you get a well presented fully transparent fixed price builders quote for your home renovation and you don’t ACTUALLY pay for it!  IF you proceed with that builder, clearly on a winner!
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Should you pay for the quote preparation and you go with another builder you have a list of exactly what builder B was going to use so you can compare like for like.
 
At Distinct Renovations we are more than happy to provide our clients with rough ballpark figures when they are initially inquiring as we understand that we are in the know and can provide these rough prices. However even for someone that has been in the industry over 20 years, there is no way of providing a “quick and easy” fixed price quote. Therefore we take each job as it comes if it is small enough or the client has decided to take on some of the work themselves we may be able to provide a quote with no charge.

However, for bigger full home renovations and extensions it is vital for us to charge for such a quote, but rest assured as pointed out above you will be confident in our price and will have little to no stress regarding budget blow outs.

If you are interested in renovating and want us to look at your potential project, feel free to contact us online or give me a call to chat further we are here to help you with your home renovations and extensions.