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FAQS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. How do we get started? 2. When would we start incurring costs? 3. We already have our structural plans drawn. Can you quote on these? 4. We have not decided on all the details, such as kitchen and bathroom design. Do you have to have these to give us a quotation? 5. Can you give us a square metre rate or an estimate for our project? 6. What subcontractors do you use? 7. Do you provide a guarantee? 8. Do you build outside the Waikato? 9. What is a Licensed Building Practitioner? 10. What is a Registered Master Builder? ANSWERS 1. The first step is for you to contact us so we can arrange to meet and discuss your building needs. 2. We do not charge for our advice or for quotations. We work with architects and designers who will not charge for producing a concept drawing. We can arrange to meet with a designer and provide useful input to ensure that the design meets your personal needs and budget. You will start to incur costs when working drawings and structural plans are prepared. 3. We can give you a full contract, detailed quotation on your plans. If they are drawn up to building consent standard we can provide a firm quote. If not, we can give you an estimate. We can assist with completion of your plans to building consent standard, and then provide a firm quote. If necessary, we can provide realistic advice on where cost savings can be achieved. 4. We can include in our quotation a provisional sum for areas such as the kitchen, plumbing items, ceramic tiles, etc. These can be finalised at a later date. 5. We find it difficult to give accurate square metre rates because every project is different. Once we have seen your plans, if they are similar to a project we have recently completed we can give you a fairly accurate estimate of costs. There are many factors that determine the cost of building. Some important ones to consider are: Type of Section - sloping sections are more expensive to build on than level sections. Style of House - single level houses are generally the least expensive to build and designs which include multiple floor levels contribute to costs. Hidden Costs - additional foundation costs due to fill and other soil conditions Building Materials - these vary in cost considerably 6. All our carpenters are tradesmen employed by us. We employ subcontractors for other areas, such as the electrical and plumbing work. Most of these subcontractors have been working with us for many years, and all are reputable tradesmen in whom we have the utmost confidence. 7. As Registered Master Builders we provide a 10 Year Master Build Guarantee on all our residential work. Three types of Guarantee are available. Guarantees have been available for over 14 years and the Guarantee Company, Master Build Services Ltd, works within the NZ Registered Master Builders Association. For full details of the Guarantees please look at the Registered Master Builders web site on www.masterbuilder.org.nz 8. Yes, we have built homes in Taupo, Whangamata and Raglan in recent years. 9. A Licensed Building Practitioner has been granted a licence by the Department of Building and Housing. All builders who are licensed will be listed on a public register held by the Department of Building and Housing and consumers can search this register to identify a competent LBP on the Department's website. The licensing of builders is a fairly new requirement. It is voluntary to gain a licence at present but all builders will have to have a current license by 2012. Murray Shaw has gained his licence in Carpentry and Site 2 Building, which allows him to build and supervise construction of residential buildings of all sizes and medium sized commercial buildings. All licence holders are required to take part in activities that ensure their skills and knowledge are current and to ensure that they are up to date with such things as changes in the building code, building materials and design technologies. 10. A Registered Master Builder is a member of the New Zealand Registered Master Builders Association.
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