Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jun 12, 2020 1:36 pm Hi folks, My architect is finalising the design for my new home in Kellyville, NSW. Once its done, my plan is to get preliminary quotes from at least 3 builders to make sure design fits within budget before moving on with detailed drawing and council approval. My question is, how to go about getting quotes from builders? Do I simply email them designs and expect they will provide the quote over the phone? My understanding was that builders charge for issuing tenders. But all I want is a preliminary quote, are builders usually open to providing that? If they do, how detailed are those quotes? Are those figures generally reliable? Sorry for asking silly questions but this is my first time doing this and hope anyone with prior experience would be able to help. Thanks Re: How to go about getting builder quotes? 2Jun 12, 2020 7:33 pm Meet them in person if possible or a virtual zoom meeting in the covid era have the engineering and soil test done have all the specifications that you want - appliances, floor finishes, how many coats of paint, render or not, window schedule, Budget all the air con, sump pump, driveway etc some builders will not do these things so get external quotes. you still will pay for them Be realistic about prices Turn key custom will cost 1600-2000 $ per sqm with site costs etc The accurate prices will be if you specify everything to the minute detail so that there are no surprises. Am building at the moment and would do things differently as i specified Re: How to go about getting builder quotes? 3Jun 12, 2020 10:15 pm BROKEANDEXCITED Meet them in person if possible or a virtual zoom meeting in the covid era have the engineering and soil test done have all the specifications that you want - appliances, floor finishes, how many coats of paint, render or not, window schedule, Budget all the air con, sump pump, driveway etc some builders will not do these things so get external quotes. you still will pay for them Be realistic about prices Turn key custom will cost 1600-2000 $ per sqm with site costs etc The accurate prices will be if you specify everything to the minute detail so that there are no surprises. Am building at the moment and would do things differently as i specified Thanks brokeandexcited for your valuable input. Your own post was also helpful. Do you have a excel template that I can use to fill the inclusions? Flooring, tapware, electrical etc... Also what exactly is engineering? Regarding soil tests, my land is expected to register in Nov. Currently services are going in and roads are being laid. Not sure how long services will take. I'm assuming they will flatten the soil in couple weeks. Is it normal to get soil test done before registration? Re: How to go about getting builder quotes? 4Jun 13, 2020 7:21 am I don't have a spreadsheet but there plenty on the web for owner builders You do have time The soil tests need to be done once the site layout of your house is decided on. Concept design first and soil test for a representative quote. The 900$ Soil test includes site survey, soil samples and for i got the slab and stormwater design. Full architectural drawings, schedule of finishes, energy report, structural engineering etc gets you the most bang for your buck. Always ask for fixed costs where possible not provisional sums. Cost blow out for me retaining walls and site costs Re: How to go about getting builder quotes? 5Jun 13, 2020 6:23 pm We are currently building a full custom home with a small builder in Glenorie. Most builders will expect a payment for a detailed quote, we paid one builder $3000 which included our soil and contour survey (we made sure that the reports were owned by us), we then used those reports for other quotes. One small builder gave us an estimate for free, but to proceed to a a full quote a deposit was required. You are best to wait until you have soil and contour survey before you ask for any quotes, otherwise it will be an estimate with huge variables. Thanks. I called VBA today and they said it was a Consumer Affairs issue, the old handball. Seems like the government organisations don't want to do their job at the moment. 2 7556 Use a product like Equisol's Vitalise to clean the deck then coat with a penetrating timber oil. It will look 10 years younger and add value to your home. Visit for… 1 15794 How much are you ahead in payments compared to where the build is at? Have you fully drawn down the loan? 5 11916 |