Selecting A Builder

You are about to have your builder be accountable for an extraordinary amount of money so the way I looked at this we are going into business together, albeit for 9 months. This goes without saying you want to get this right.

From my limited experience what I found there are two (2) type of builders what I call project builders who will handle everything from end-to-end and a regular builder who maybe referred by a draftsman to do the building work, excluding the paperwork to submit to council which your draftsman handles, and more willing to let you choose what or who/where you want to get involved.

Finding a Builder

Now a draftsman or an architect refer business with builders and vice versa so if you are dealing with one then chances are you'll probably be referred to the other and likely go with them. Given these two parties are referring each other work then there was accountability for the builder to deliver a quality house extension. My friend is a draftsman and I was referred to a builder this way.

However if you are resorting to Google searching for "house extension Sydney" given you don't know of any draftsman, architects or builders then I would recommend chatting to suppliers such as a Window companies, see details about referrals tip.

I ended up getting three (3) estimates from builders and compared them against each other.

Availability

Everything I heard about builders wasn't exactly great so for me I'd made sure that I would do everything I could to help support them and ensure I was onsite and available whenever possible so we are all on the same page. I made sure I was in charge of the items of the bathroom and laundry include floor .etc I took these decisions out of the builders hands given it's always going to be hard for them to know what your tastes are plus they can sometimes be looking for the most cost effective as opposed to long lasting option.

Prerequisites

Builders want to see you are committed with floor plans and some may even ask if your Development Application has been approved by council.

Once all your paperwork is in order you can start talking with your builder about a formal estimate. For me that meant making sure my floor plans were drawn up so I could start receiving builders quotes before that everything per metre costs.

Note: when you are reviewing your estimates it's important to keep an eye on provisional costs.