Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 29, 2013 11:38 pm Hi all, I'm about to finalise my plans for a custom designed house and send them on to builders for tenders/quotes. I have been thinking about whether to ask them to include the types of things that builders usually get someone else in to do and put their 20-30% mark-up on, e.g. kitchen, bathrooms, floor coverings. Needless to say, I'm not keen on paying the mark-up for the sake of the builder making a few phone calls and covering that work under their warranty. I'm also working on the assumption that builders put low PC allowances on these things because they know that this is what clients typically remove from the contract and get done after hand-over. For example, they'll put a $15k allowance for a kitchen for a kitchen that will cost $25k. If the client removes it, the $10k profit is "hidden" elsewhere in the build. So my question is, if I intend to engage my own suppliers for the kitchen, bathrooms, floor coverings etc, is it better to tell builders upfront to exclude them from their tender/quote? The way I see it, excluding these things will remove opportunities for builders to hide their profits and instead force them to be competitive price-wise on the other aspects of the build... which is where their expertise really comes in (and for which I'm prepared to pay). But before I do that, I'm wondering if there are any reasons FOR getthing them to include those things? Thanks in advance, SRod Re: Include kitchen, bathrooms, etc in tender request or not 2May 30, 2013 12:07 am Have you thought about owner building the whole project? I can see why they wouldn't want you to do the kitchen and bathroom. Whose responsibility would it be for the if the electrical and plumbing. What if there was a leak in the shower? Re: Include kitchen, bathrooms, etc in tender request or not 3May 30, 2013 6:58 am we built our custom designed home with a builder. the floor covering we supplied ourselves including the bathrooms when it came to the wet areas we supplied all tiles some taps but the builders tilers installed due to warranty and insurance when it came to the main bath we wanted a particular freestanding bath this was include when we went to tender. also in the kitchen we wanted a butlers sink induction cooktop etc all included in tender. for lights power points etc we gave ourselves an allowance for the builders electrician to install also put in the tender. we let the builder know we were supplying all light and power points. so let the builder know what you want and what you will supply it will also help with your budget Re: Include kitchen, bathrooms, etc in tender request or not 4May 30, 2013 11:55 am JB1: Good points... I know from experience that a badly waterproofed shower can affect a whole building. I think you've convinced me to let the builder handle the bathrooms and laundry. I'm not sure I want all the stress of being an owner builder. 1rocky: I'm not so interested in supplying materials; more interested in being able to get other companies to supply and install. Re: Include kitchen, bathrooms, etc in tender request or not 5May 30, 2013 12:55 pm There is another way to look at the builders profit: -As a kitchen supplier - would you give a better price to a builder who gets you to build X kitchen's a year than you would give to someone off the street? On one option - generally the builder will supply all the design/development/measurements - whilst on the other you have to do that yourself. So whilst the builder might be making a "profit" - the price that is getting paid out of your pocket ends up being relatively the same with 100% of the headache. The only time the above doesn't apply is "cashies". Everyone has a mate that is an electrician that can install lights etc for cash in the hand - however if you need to finance the project then this method won't work either. In short - yes builders do make money on these items. But that doesn't mean that you will save money by doing it yourself. Re: Include kitchen, bathrooms, etc in tender request or not 6May 31, 2013 4:48 pm Thanks, travisaus. You've made a potentially good point, but are you sure that builders pass on the trade discount, or do they get trade prices then charge the client retail price + markup? Does anyone have experience with this? FYI, I can potentially pay for these things out of my savings (as opposed to needing them to be covered by my loan). 1) I had requested R6 ceiling insualtion batts, however I noticed that on some areas there are huge gaps which will allow hot air to sweep in, and also noticed black/grey… 0 3585 Hey. Head to a metal and decide on which profile you will use first. Profiles with larger corrugations can greatly change the appearance of the color in different… 0 3380 The HIA contract, in the term & conditions section states that "Commencment" is deemed when the drainage is started or the piers are dug or the slab is formed up (incase… 2 6150 |