Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 11, 2008 7:41 am This is one of the reasons we went ahead with Clarendon... We must admit once the job goes to site it much much better than the red tape at thier office!!!
http://www.news.com.au/business/money/story/0,25479,24323539-14327,00.html ################################################ ALMOST 250 building firms have collapsed in Australia in the past 18 months according to credit agency Dun & Bradstreet. The company is warning up to 10 per cent of residential building firms are at 'high risk of financial stress or collapse' this financial year. That equates to about 700 nationally. "It's a bleak picture" Damian Karmelich of D&B said. "Companies have been having a tough time with high interest rates, and that has hit builders' cashflow, which is almost always the root cause of their undoing." New home construction is currently at its lowest level since 1959, bludgeoned by high interest rates strangling buyer demand and high costs for builders. "The Government has not released enough land and without land you won't get houses," Master Builders Association NSW head Brian Seidler said. "With less work around, competition and prices are very tight. A mistake could ruin you if you are a small business, and that really puts the pressure on." Material prices are hurting. The price of steel rose by up to 70 per cent between January and July. "That means an extra $2100 in costs on a typical three-bed single story house which uses three tonnes of reinforcing steel," Mr Seidler said. "And then there is the cost of fuel. It will be consumers who end up paying but it just makes property even less affordable and that is no good for anybody." The news will be a worry for anybody planning on employing a builder to construct a new home, especially as this data comes in the wake of the collapse of Beechwood Homes, the largest contract builder in New South Wales. Do your research Dun & Bradstreet and agencies such as Veda Advantage offer reports which they say can highlight danger signs months before a company hits trouble. Potential customers can see if the company has missed payments or had action taken against it. "Our research shows that if a company has a director of a previously collapsed company on its board, it is twice as likely to go into administration as any other firm" Mr Karmelich said. "You can see NSW builders are struggling: The average payment time for Australia's residential builders was almost double the standard payment term at 59.7 days. That shows the average firm has cashflow problems." Kristen Boschma of Veda Advantage said: "We recommend you find out whether the company has a good history of paying its bills, and whether the directors have good backgrounds." [url][/url][url][/url] Buildling a Clarendon Crestmead in Sydney DA Approved on 20/03/2008 Slab Poured on 02/09/2008 Frame Completed 15/10/2008 Brickwork Complete 2/02/2009 Roofwork Complete 05/03/2009 Re: Builders at Risk ...... 2Sep 11, 2008 7:49 am lobo - nice article.
Though did you go with Clarendon because they were a big publicly listed company? That doesn't stop them from going bust vs small companies! After 4 years - we're in! Re: Builders at Risk ...... 3Sep 11, 2008 9:53 am Hi,
Are you protected by the builder's insurance once they start work? That is are you guaranteed to get your house built if they go under? Dale. Re: Builders at Risk ...... 4Sep 11, 2008 10:30 am Dale, yes you are, so there will be no direct cost to you but it will cause a considerable delay, which could cause indirect costs such as paying rent for longer, etc.
My parents built a house, it was a custom builder and the builder went bust part way thru, builders insurance evaluated situation and appointed another builder. Note: the insurers choose the next builder, not the home-owner, so that could have implications too. Altogether, from the point the insurers took over, it took 2 years for house to be completed. Re: Builders at Risk ...... 5Sep 11, 2008 10:34 am B-wood went bust……their back! Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Builders at Risk ...... 6Sep 11, 2008 1:28 pm stonecutter1309 lobo - nice article. Though did you go with Clarendon because they were a big publicly listed company? That doesn't stop them from going bust vs small companies! They were de-listed several months ago and they are a private company now Re: Builders at Risk ...... 7Sep 11, 2008 2:27 pm It would seem to be a 2 tier economy out there at the moment.
At your working class level (most of us here on the forum) things are very tight indeed for builders. This market of course includes the bulk of your volume builders I have a close friend who works inside one of the very big volume builders and he has been talking lately about the serious concerns that are being discussed behind closed doors in regards to the state of the market. In the 6 weeks leading up to the start of this month this very large builder only sold a total of 4 homes. For such a large volume builder this is a very troubling result and it is being reflected across most of the major builders. In the Architectural end of the market though business does not appear to be slowing but indeed booming for those smaller specialist builders with very good reputations. Three of these building companies I know cannot keep up with demand. For them the wealthy are not slowing down. The same is being reflected through most of the economy. You just have to look at the new car market. While the sales for your main stream makes are struggling the luxury market seem to be increasing their volume of sales. We can only hope now interest rates will keep coming down because if new home building activity in the volume end of the market does not pick up we face the very serious issue in a few years of a very large shortfall in housing for the average working family! This the RBA/Government really cannot afford to let happen! Finally Designing and building the home I always wanted to! Re: Builders at Risk ...... 9Sep 11, 2008 4:19 pm rldragon2003 stonecutter1309 lobo - nice article. Though did you go with Clarendon because they were a big publicly listed company? That doesn't stop them from going bust vs small companies! They were de-listed several months ago and they are a private company now Which makes them even less accountable now! No accounts or other information released to the public - you've got no idea if they are financially solvent or not. After 4 years - we're in! Re: Builders at Risk ...... 10Sep 11, 2008 6:58 pm stonecutter1309 lobo - nice article. Though did you go with Clarendon because they were a big publicly listed company? That doesn't stop them from going bust vs small companies! Yes you are right in general. However you would not expect a larger professional organisation to close down due to reasons such as gambling debts or vices by a CEO. A organisation like Clarendon hopefully will have some decent staff and a good accounting and forecasting software. Having said that I think Dominic is a straight operator and will be as reliable if not more than Clarendon! Its the inbetweens that i was not sure about like the size of Beechwood.. Buildling a Clarendon Crestmead in Sydney DA Approved on 20/03/2008 Slab Poured on 02/09/2008 Frame Completed 15/10/2008 Brickwork Complete 2/02/2009 Roofwork Complete 05/03/2009 Re: Builders at Risk ...... 11Sep 11, 2008 9:15 pm Maybe this forum is a good place to start a rumour file if anyone hears anything about a builder which may save others the heartache of signing up with a dud. I had heard rumours about Marshall Baker before they went under but didn't think too much of it. The only thing we need to be mindful of is defaming a reputation, if it is not true, but hey... our dream and hard earned dollers are at stake. If they can't manage their business they shouldn't be taking our money.
What do people think? Re: Builders at Risk ...... 12Sep 11, 2008 9:45 pm I don't think that is a very good idea. A rumour is just that... rumour. Not everything you hear is true and legally I don't think it would be very sensible. I think it's best if people make their own decisions based on fact. Re: Builders at Risk ...... 13Sep 11, 2008 9:52 pm I got caught out by Beechwood and lost my $3000 deposit. I am now very nervous about picking a new builder and would like to know if there are any rumours about builders not paying their bills, etc.
I know Beechwood have a new owner but they increased the price by $8000 using the excuse that the 120 day tender period had now elapsed (like that was my fault!) so I will not be building with them. Am now looking at Allworth, haven't seen anything bad about them but then again I thought Beechwood was a safe bet being a large builder. Re: Builders at Risk ...... 14Sep 12, 2008 9:41 am Yes I understand that not all rumours are true, but if I had a building contractor do some private work for me and was told that he had heard on the grapevine or knows a major building company were on the brink of going broke I would be wary. Better to be a rumour and be safe than loose your money because know one told you. Re: Builders at Risk ...... 15Sep 12, 2008 10:43 am In researching the builders I was looking at I spent a few hundred dollars by going out to some of their sites and introducing myself to their contractors/sub contractors and even the owners of the home if they were there. Some of these guys had no interest in a quick chat about the builder but some I took down the pub for a drink or meal (my shout) at the end of the day and had a chat.
They can be a true wealth of information if the questions your asking are fair and reasonable. According to most I spoke with one of the best ways to tell how a builder is traveling is by the speed of payments to their contractors and suppliers. The longer the payment period stretches the more the chances of them having difficulties increase! The other tidbit I gleamed from them was to be weary of a builder that the trades do not enjoy/like working with. The builder I have chosen had trades who all said they enjoyed working for this builder and would knock back other jobs to take his work plus are always paid on time by them. That type of feedback really helped make my decision a lot easier! The great thing about this is the above information can easily be attained by putting in a little bit of leg work and stepping out of our comfort zones by walking up to a complete stranger and saying hello! Finally Designing and building the home I always wanted to! Re: Builders at Risk ...... 16Sep 12, 2008 11:04 am Speaking of research I saw the http://www.bestbuilder.com.au website mentioned in a couple of psts here.
However the site hasn't been working for at least the last few days. Does anyone know what has happened to it? Dale. Look at your bill from the electricity company. It should detail the charges. You will need to do some estimating and some calculations. Then charge the… 8 4248 Site works are just about to start on our build with Blueprint in Midvale. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=106894 2 3953 Hi all, We are looking to build a new two storey house in western Sydney. Can anyone recommend a smallish builder to go with? We are trying to stay away from the big… 0 12145 |