Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 21Feb 25, 2012 8:18 am We also had a tender with Alkira, The tender is to give you an idea, if you want a more accurate tender then pay for your own survey and soil classification, they then should be able to give you a more accurate price. It depends on what is provisional, piering, soil removal, slab costs, drop edge beams will all be provisional until either you have a soil test,survey or when they are on site, that goes with most builders Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 22Feb 25, 2012 8:11 pm Hi Apue - Just found this thread. We are also building a Custom Design in a suburb near to you. (Check that the builders will build in your area - when we were shopping around some builders said a flat out no to our area). I know exactly what you mean about shopping around. Before we settled on a builder we were looking at a few including Cosmopolitan who wanted to charge us $600 for a quote. (We were very keen on them, lucky we didn't go with them as they just went under!). We got a tender from Masterton (who we were serious about) and Westminster (again, no tender fee but they also went bust). If you are paying $1K to Wisdom I agree with what gogo says - make sure you get to own the survey. That sounds quite cheap actually. We got a site survey done privately a few years ago (recommended through Masterton) and that alone cost us $1K. We got to keep the survey though. We also own our design as it was our concept, drawn up by an architect ($3,300) then another planning company did all the Council plans and approval ($14K! ). There are cheaper ways to do it than the way we did ... SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 23Feb 27, 2012 7:39 pm gogo65 We also had a tender with Alkira, The tender is to give you an idea, if you want a more accurate tender then pay for your own survey and soil classification, they then should be able to give you a more accurate price. It depends on what is provisional, piering, soil removal, slab costs, drop edge beams will all be provisional until either you have a soil test,survey or when they are on site, that goes with most builders So did you go with Alkira? Their reputation seems good but their workflow is different (unfavourable) from what Wisdom outlined. In fact, I was very impressed with the Wisdom's first up meeting (before tender) as they've clearly showed what I get for the money and their free-serviced estimated cost was pretty much same as what I got from Alkira's tender. How would you rate Alkira to Wisdom with respect to the post building quality & process? Overall, I'd like to go with a builder who delivers the tender's content as you know. My home building https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55844 Demolished: 11/May/12 Approval: 3/Jul/12 Concrete Slab: 20/Jul/12 Frame: 14/Aug/12 Handover: 21/DEC/12 Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 24Feb 27, 2012 7:50 pm SunshineT If you are paying $1K to Wisdom I agree with what gogo says - make sure you get to own the survey. That sounds quite cheap actually. We got a site survey done privately a few years ago (recommended through Masterton) and that alone cost us $1K. We got to keep the survey though. We also own our design as it was our concept, drawn up by an architect ($3,300) then another planning company did all the Council plans and approval ($14K! ). There are cheaper ways to do it than the way we did ... Thanks for the advice! Yes, I've asked Wisdom and they said they're quite confident they can provide the site detail so I can quote for other builders. I went to Eden Brae and their work queue was clogged so they can't start before Aug. I heard good things about Wisdom so I don't think I'll quote further. The review from Alkira is quite good though I was a bit worried because their slow response. It takes a few days (or never) to get response back as the sales seems hell out of busy. My home building https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55844 Demolished: 11/May/12 Approval: 3/Jul/12 Concrete Slab: 20/Jul/12 Frame: 14/Aug/12 Handover: 21/DEC/12 Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 25Feb 27, 2012 7:59 pm We ended up going with Zen homes. We are building a custom design with a much higher levell of inclusions for similar price to alkira and wisdom (ceaserstone to bathrooms and 40mm kitchen, poly kitchen, 9 foot ceilings, alarm, video intercom, high standard of tiles and carpetetc) Alkira have a higher standad of inclusions than Wisdom. better appliances/tiles/carpets and bricks etc The issue I had with Wisdom was all the upgrade costs, particulalry tiles and bricks also slab upgrade costs. Our builder inclded slab upgrade for free our neighbour paid nearly $3000, her tile and carpet upgrades were over 10k. Our brick upgrade was 3k, I have seen other wisdom people use the same brick on a much smaller house and pay 5k For us we liked going with a smaller builder as we dealt with the owners, our next door neighbour has had quite a few delays, her plans were out of council in Novemebr and they did site cut last week. Our plans came out in december, we had site cut the next day and we are now at bricking. For us that will eventually save us thousands in rent. We have also changed things up to this week with no variation costs. Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 26Feb 28, 2012 10:36 am gogo65 We ended up going with Zen homes. We are building a custom design with a much higher levell of inclusions for similar price to alkira and wisdom (ceaserstone to bathrooms and 40mm kitchen, poly kitchen, 9 foot ceilings, alarm, video intercom, high standard of tiles and carpetetc) Alkira have a higher standad of inclusions than Wisdom. better appliances/tiles/carpets and bricks etc The issue I had with Wisdom was all the upgrade costs, particulalry tiles and bricks also slab upgrade costs. Our builder inclded slab upgrade for free our neighbour paid nearly $3000, her tile and carpet upgrades were over 10k. Our brick upgrade was 3k, I have seen other wisdom people use the same brick on a much smaller house and pay 5k For us we liked going with a smaller builder as we dealt with the owners, our next door neighbour has had quite a few delays, her plans were out of council in Novemebr and they did site cut last week. Our plans came out in december, we had site cut the next day and we are now at bricking. For us that will eventually save us thousands in rent. We have also changed things up to this week with no variation costs. Ditto on what gogo said. Wisdom seem to be popping up a lot recently on the forum. There is comfort going with a bigger builder, but then again some of the bigger ones have gone bust recently too (Westminster who we almost signed with and then Cosmo). Depends what you want. If you want a company with structured processes and order then a bigger company like Wisdom will be good. But if you want more flexibility (and better inclusions / upgrades) then a smaller builder may be better. We went with Zen Homes too. There are always pros and cons in every decision, just depends on which style of service suits you. gogo - what changes did you make this week?! Do you mean the front window or something else? SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 27Feb 29, 2012 5:52 am gogo65 We ended up going with Zen homes. We are building a custom design with a much higher levell of inclusions for similar price to alkira and wisdom (ceaserstone to bathrooms and 40mm kitchen, poly kitchen, 9 foot ceilings, alarm, video intercom, high standard of tiles and carpetetc) Alkira have a higher standad of inclusions than Wisdom. better appliances/tiles/carpets and bricks etc The issue I had with Wisdom was all the upgrade costs, particulalry tiles and bricks also slab upgrade costs. Our builder inclded slab upgrade for free our neighbour paid nearly $3000, her tile and carpet upgrades were over 10k. Our brick upgrade was 3k, I have seen other wisdom people use the same brick on a much smaller house and pay 5k For us we liked going with a smaller builder as we dealt with the owners, our next door neighbour has had quite a few delays, her plans were out of council in Novemebr and they did site cut last week. Our plans came out in december, we had site cut the next day and we are now at bricking. For us that will eventually save us thousands in rent. We have also changed things up to this week with no variation costs. I found the inclusion of Alkira is not good as what wisdom offers if diamond and wisdom 90k package deal are chosen. The pros Side of alkira is 2.7 ceiling and better reputation. From top of my head; Alkira. Vs wisdom 2.7 vs 2.6 ceiling 20mm vs 40 mm caesarstone Westinghouse vs blanco kitchen Normal Timber vs t2 termite timber R1&3 vs R1.5&3.5 for insulation None vs carpet and tiles flooring None vs 5.5k credit for landscaping More importantly wisdom pkg includes M class slab and basix etc by paying 20k extra. The only reason why I considered Alkira was it has better floor plan for us and the reputation. I wonder if Alkira has actually built better houses than wisdom. My home building https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55844 Demolished: 11/May/12 Approval: 3/Jul/12 Concrete Slab: 20/Jul/12 Frame: 14/Aug/12 Handover: 21/DEC/12 Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 28Feb 29, 2012 6:46 am Oh we had a a pckage with alkira, like the wisdom package That included everything that wisdom did and more, inlcuding two electrolux ovens and the beautiful electrolux cooktop. I find the basic facade on alkira is better then the wisdom one. Floor to ceiling to tiling, carpets, tiling, driveway etc were all included in the platinum package??(sorry cant rememebr the name, as it was 12 months ago) also had far superior taps and fittings, semi frameless showers, green frames, extra insulation, shower niches included etc, better doors, poly kitchen, and yes the 9 ft ceilings in comparison to 8'6" All builders should include M class slab, (ours included P) I think both will build a nice house I just believe that at the end of the day you pay more to upgrade the wisdom to get to the alkira standards. I would say Alkira definitely has a better reputation, thats not saying wisdom doesn't, but I believe they are in different classes of builders Alkira is more upper end. But this is just my opinion Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 29Feb 29, 2012 7:42 am This thread is of great interest as we're getting close to approaching builders ourselves. We have put together a floor plan design and are trying to finalise construction drawings. We've had the block surveyed and the geotechs have done their site/soil analysis. We should be getting the engineering specs for the floor slab back soon. With all of that, we're heading to a few builders and will be getting quotes. We've been working on a rough costing of $1300-$1600/sqm, based on general discussions with a couple of builders 18 months ago (no quotes). We haven't got anything fancy in the structure - all standard truss roofing, etc. When asking for tender, we are also providing a list of scheduled costs (what we will source/provide versus what we are happy for the builder to organise). So, my main question is should we be paying for the quotes? If so, what is a rough price guide for a quote? With the background work we have done, should we be expecting that the comparing quotes should be comparing apples with apples? Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 30Feb 29, 2012 10:24 am Pete, We did not pay for our tender, our builder designed our home and gave us our tender and we did not pay a cent until we accepted the tender. We had a tender through Alkira, Kurmond and a private builder as well as a rough costing from Wisdom. We did not pay a cent for any of those tenders. I think you have certainly been generous in your budget, our builder is closer to $1100-$1200sqm with very good inclusions. Are you building in NSW?? Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 31Feb 29, 2012 10:28 am gogo65 I think you have certainly been generous in your budget, our builder is closer to $1100-$1200sqm with very good inclusions. Is that including site costs and such, or just the building? Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 34Feb 29, 2012 10:38 am gogo65 Pete, We did not pay for our tender, our builder designed our home and gave us our tender and we did not pay a cent until we accepted the tender. We had a tender through Alkira, Kurmond and a private builder as well as a rough costing from Wisdom. We did not pay a cent for any of those tenders. I think you have certainly been generous in your budget, our builder is closer to $1100-$1200sqm with very good inclusions. Are you building in NSW?? yes, building in the Newcastle area. From what I can gather, slightly more exxy outside the capital cities?? Not sure if it's true - will find out soon I suppose! Would love to get it closer to $1200 sqm, that would be brilliant! I think that's what we are aiming for. Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 35Feb 29, 2012 5:07 pm Pete_n_Pet gogo65 Pete, We did not pay for our tender, our builder designed our home and gave us our tender and we did not pay a cent until we accepted the tender. We had a tender through Alkira, Kurmond and a private builder as well as a rough costing from Wisdom. We did not pay a cent for any of those tenders. I think you have certainly been generous in your budget, our builder is closer to $1100-$1200sqm with very good inclusions. Are you building in NSW?? yes, building in the Newcastle area. From what I can gather, slightly more exxy outside the capital cities?? Not sure if it's true - will find out soon I suppose! Would love to get it closer to $1200 sqm, that would be brilliant! I think that's what we are aiming for. I think Tullipan build in the Newcastle area? We are building with Zen Homes (same as gogo, paying around $1200 sqm with high level inclusions), but my friend around the corner is building with Tullipan and they seem to be going well. I can't remember their pricing, a bit above ours but not too much. As for paying for tenders, we spoke to about 9 builders in the end and none of them charged for a tender (eg. Masterton, Ferntree, Westminster, Zen Homes, plus some smaller private builders). The ones that wanted to charge (like Rawson and Cosmopolitan) were asking around $600 - $1000 to tender. I think getting multiple tenders (say 3 at least) is good to give you comfort in your end decision. But not paying for a tender means you can't expect too much detail. SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 36Feb 29, 2012 5:38 pm SunshineT I think Tullipan build in the Newcastle area? We are building with Zen Homes (same as gogo, paying around $1200 sqm with high level inclusions), but my friend around the corner is building with Tullipan and they seem to be going well. I can't remember their pricing, a bit above ours but not too much. As for paying for tenders, we spoke to about 9 builders in the end and none of them charged for a tender (eg. Masterton, Ferntree, Westminster, Zen Homes, plus some smaller private builders). The ones that wanted to charge (like Rawson and Cosmopolitan) were asking around $600 - $1000 to tender. I think getting multiple tenders (say 3 at least) is good to give you comfort in your end decision. But not paying for a tender means you can't expect too much detail. by the time we go to builders for quotes/tenders in a few weeks, we are planning for the architectural drawings done, engineering details for the slab done (we have already done our own site survey and soil analysis), BASIX certificate done and building approval given. Plus we are currently drafting up the building specification (including proposed schedule of finishes). I really hope we will get reasonably detailed quotes so that is like comparing apples with apples. Well, that's the plan. Could all go down the drain, wouldn't take much. Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 37Feb 29, 2012 6:03 pm When we were getting our tenders we had a spreadsheet, that just kept being added to, at the end of the day there were so many little things that we just had to forget about. However we didnt go to quite the same detail as you with specifications, I just was worried about the kitchen Good luck, hope the plan goes well, keep us updated Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 38Feb 29, 2012 9:57 pm Hahahaha. . . Pete n Pet . . . HAHAHA. . . detailed quotes. . . HAHAHA! Sorry, shouldn't laugh. I'm sure my builder laughed himself to sleep at night because of the level of detail I went to in my description (anal? me? doesn't everybody work out how many lineal metres of skirting board the builder will need?) HAHAHA. . . In the end, to make things a little easier, we had our builder give us an allowance for certain things within the build. . . e.g. (don't quote me on this) - $11,000 for bathroom bits, $15,000 for the kitchen, $10,000 for appliances, $5,500 for carpets. If we came in under, he gave us a credit note, if we went over, we paid the difference. .. easy! Then we were able to deal with his suppliers ourselves, and if we found we could get a much better deal elsewhere (like we did with the appliances), we bought them ourselves and he credited us for the full amount we'd allowed. Gogo. . . don't forget the kitchen! Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 39Feb 29, 2012 10:04 pm jodge Hahahaha. . . Pete n Pet . . . HAHAHA. . . detailed quotes. . . HAHAHA! Sorry, shouldn't laugh. oh-kay. That doesn't fill me with confidence. jodge I'm sure my builder laughed himself to sleep at night because of the level of detail I went to in my description (anal? me? doesn't everybody work out how many lineal metres of skirting board the builder will need?) HAHAHA. . . In the end, to make things a little easier, we had our builder give us an allowance for certain things within the build. . . e.g. (don't quote me on this) - $11,000 for bathroom bits, $15,000 for the kitchen, $10,000 for appliances, $5,500 for carpets. If we came in under, he gave us a credit note, if we went over, we paid the difference. .. easy! Then we were able to deal with his suppliers ourselves, and if we found we could get a much better deal elsewhere (like we did with the appliances), we bought them ourselves and he credited us for the full amount we'd allowed. we weren't going to the detail of estimating the lineal metres of skirting board required or similar - well, I don't think we were planning to do that! I like your suggestion, we will try that angle with the builders. Thanks Re: Do you obtain multiple tenders before building? 40Feb 29, 2012 10:13 pm sorry, wasn't laughing at your efforts, was laughing at the thought of a builder giving you a detailed quote. . . HAHAHAHA (still laughing). . . ours wouldn't even include coffered ceilings in the quote. . .said he'd give us a price when it was time to put them in. Paperwork? Builders don't do it! Well. . . as you can well imagine, I went COMPLETELY over the top to try and work out what our build was going to cost. Naive first time builder. .. as soon as you give them a 30 second glimpse at your plans they'll know exactly how much they're going to charge you. . . then they'll probably add 10% for unforeseen problems that might crop up on the way. .. then they'll tell you they can't quote for coffered ceilings until you've started the build, then they'll charge you double for the price of the coffered ceilings because the roof cost more than they thought because the price of steel went up. Ardo That is so funny! I wonder how many people know who Larry Haun is these days. I have a couple of young guys we call Mo 1 & Mo 2 who run a crew of 6 boys and… 9 15598 Building a fence now will help limit people dumping rubbish and soil on your property. Many houses in suburbia on small lots have fences up before a build. I moved into a… 1 4429 You should check your detail drawings, it may show downpipe within brick pier. 14 14220 |