Are we right for you?
While it might be a cliché, it’s true that for most New Zealanders their home is their most valuable asset. It’s crucial that the builders and tradespeople who work on them are professionals with a high level of expertise.
Houses used to be fairly basic in their construction, but the products, systems and construction techniques that are used in today’s homes are far more complex. It’s now common to install double glazing, full home insulation, special purpose wall linings, advanced heating and ventilation systems, energy efficient appliances, home automation, etc., with many of these requiring highly trained specialist installers.
The car industry is a good analogy. Features such as air conditioning, car audio systems, air bags, electric windows and traction control used to be expensive add-ons, but now they are standard. In the past people used to tune and service their own cars, but no one dreams of doing that these days, they take it to the professionals.
Tips for selecting the right builder
There are some very simple things you can do to assure yourself that you are choosing a quality builder. These include:
- Ask if you can speak with their last three customers. Don’t let them provide you with their choice of references.
- If you’re contemplating a major renovation, ask those customers if you can visit their homes to see the outcome, and discuss their experience of the process.
- Ask the builder what their processes are around quoting projects, how they measure progress against agreed milestones during the project, and how they propose to handle variations, should they arise.
- Ask what insurances they carry, and how much they are covered for.
- Ask them what subcontractors they intend to employ, why they work with them, and how they have selected them.
- Find out what guarantees they provide, and whether they are licenced building practitioners.
- Find out what brands of building materials they are using. This will help you better understand whether the builders you are evaluating are all using quality products, or whether some are substituting poorer quality products.
- Assess how professional they appear when they visit you for your first consultation. Do they appear to be following a structured process? Are they considering all aspects of the renovation carefully? Are they listening to your comments about why you want to renovate? Are they offering helpful suggestions? Do they offer to bring in appropriate experts in specialist areas that you may require (e.g. design and architecture)?
Make sure your builder is considering design early in the building process
Find out if your builder offers a “design and build” service, in which they include relevant design expertise early on, or whether they tell you they can build what you want because they “can achieve whatever you want, given the right amount of money.” Builders are practical which is great, but designers are trained to understand of what the renovated home will be like to live in. The earlier in the building process that design is considered the better. It can save on expensive changes later on, and working with the builder, they introduce great ideas which are often surprisingly cost effective to achieve.
The structure of the building industry has changed over the last 20 years. One example is that heating used to be provided by appliances that were purchased at appliance retailers, but now heating is often built in during the construction process. This is just one example of a structural shift in the industry which is making it even more important that design is taken into account much earlier in the building process.
Designing and building are often separated, but the best results happen when they are considered together.
A bit about Refresh
The focus of Refresh is on delivering excellent customer service and value by incorporating design and using world class systems and processes.
Our builders work closely with designers throughout the renovation process. Refresh is the only building company to sponsor The Designers Institute. Through The Designers Institute, we build relationships with the best designers in New Zealand.
All of Refresh’s builders go through a rigorous selection process, which typically takes three months, before they come on board. During this time, we undertake reference checking, background checks, structured interviews, and even personal strength and weakness assessments. On an ongoing basis we require our builders to complete comprehensive training and professional development courses, which cover building practices, legislation, health and safety, and technical product and system information.
The business system that our builders use to quote and manage projects is specifically designed for renovation projects. It allows our builders to accurately and efficiently plan and record all aspects of every renovation, right down to the last nail.
For our customers, all of this means that you can be assured you are dealing with the highest quality builders and tradespeople, and that we have systems and processes that will ensure you get the best outcome for the lowest possible total cost.
We hope this information is useful for you, and we’d love to hear from you if you’d like to meet one of our builders to discuss your next renovation.
Engage licenced building practitioners and build with confidence
Before undertaking any Building Project, building owners and consumers should ensure the builders they select are licensed building practioners.
The Licensed Building Practitioner logo confirms for consumers that the building practitioners they are engaging have been assessed as technically competent in their licensed field.
To retain their licence, a Licenced Building Practitioner is also to provide the Department with a record of training and activities such as reading industry publications or attending seminars they have undertaken as a means to ensure that their knowledge of their trade stays current in order to retain their licence.
From 1 March 2012 changes to the Building Act 2004 mean that building work (including design work) that relates to either the structure (load-bearing walls; foundations etc) or moisture penetration (roofs; cladding etc) of homes including small to medium sized apartments will be classified as ‘Restricted Building Work’ (RBW).
Restricted Building work, which also includes the design of fire safety systems for small to medium apartments, is deemed to be building work critical to the integrity of a building and therefore required to be carried out by competent, appropriately licensed building practitioners.
From 1 March 2012 it is an offense for an unlicensed person to carry out or supervise restricted building work and it is an offence to knowingly engage an unlicensed person to carry out or supervise restricted building work unless they have obtained an owner builder exemption from their building consent authority (council).
Refresh renovations is a home improvement specialist offering a range of services including but not limited to home renovations, extensions, outdoor renovations, home improvements, home makeover, kitchen renovation, bathroom renovation, re-cladding and insulating, joinery replacement, and much more.
