Hiring the right builder is one of the most important decisions you’ll make when building a dream home for you and your family. It’s something that takes time, energy and dedication to get right.

It’s not something you can rush or solve with one phone call. There are many formal and informal checks you can undertake to ensure you find the right builder or building company for your project, whether it be a knock down rebuild, duplex, custom home, or a standard project home.

Check their past work

Before you hunt down the right builder, you must have some idea about the type and style of home you’re wanting to build, and then find a builder with the skills that best align with your plans.

It is important to find a builder who has existing home designs that you favour or has built similar dwellings in the past. You don’t have to get caught up in the minor details of colours and exact layout but if you’re keen on a Hamptons-look home and the builder specialises in ultra-modern homes you should probably look elsewhere.

Request references

All reputable builders will have the names of past clients who are happy to speak to you. You’ll learn a lot about a builder/building company by speaking to past clients.

Try finding reviews online of your builder but be wary of online reviews and use these only as a supplementary source of referral.

Ask questions of previous clients like:

How quickly did the builder respond to questions?
Were you kept fully informed at every stage?
Did the builder keep to the budget and timeline that was originally promised and if not, why not?
How did they handle unexpected problems if any arose?

If possible, visit and inspect past builds, or if they have them, display homes.

Check licences and insurance

You should never assume that a builder is fully licenced and insured. It’s up to you to check by asking them to provide the necessary proof or for you to run your own checks.

In NSW, a builder who undertakes works of more than $5,000 must have a licence, but there are different categories of licence. Several insurances are also required including public liability insurance, workers compensation insurance, and home building compensation.

A reputable builder like ZAC Homes will happily provide all the necessary details and advice about this critical area. We’ve worked with the various industry bodies and regulators over many years to ensure we are always covered to protect your dream home build and our business.

Assess how they communicate

It’s difficult to fully assess how a builder might communicate during the build process, but even in the early dealings with them, you’ll get a feeling for how responsive they are to questions, and whether they take the time to talk things through with you, and what communication channel they favour.

A reputable building company will respond right from the beginning of your interaction. This responsiveness indicates that they invest in their team to ensure that customers and their experience are at the forefront of their business.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Does the builder understand my concerns?
Have they helped me work out what’s important in terms of design and features?
How quickly do they respond to my enquiries or questions?

Don’t rely on price alone

If you get several quotes from builders don’t judge them only on cost. Committing to building a new home is a huge decision and you need to be happy with what they are providing, not focused just on the cost. It’s likely that if you’re looking at two or three quotes, they have included and excluded certain items so it’s very hard to compare them. At ZAC Homes we can provide a fixed price tender if requested that provides peace of mind, no hidden costs, and no surprises.

Consider what they offer

Some builders, like ZAC Homes, will offer services right from the rezoning and demolition to the completion of your new home. Other builders will only build the new home, so you will need to organise all the approvals and demolition if your project is a knock down rebuild.

Home building companies will also vary in what they offer as far as custom builds. Some offer only project homes built to match the designs they provide with very little variation.

ZAC Homes has three different levels of building:

Fast Track – off-the-plan design
My Style – modify an existing design
Tailored approach – custom design with complete flexibility.

Build a new custom home with ZAC Homes

ZAC Homes builds with trust, respect, integrity, and pride, which we work hard to deliver to every client. Call us on 1300 350 793 or send us an online enquiry and our team will work with you to design and build your dream home.