5 reasons why you should never trust a free building quote
Embarking on a home renovation or new home build project is an exciting venture that requires careful planning and consideration. If you’re after a Fixed Price building contract, it’s crucial to obtain accurate building quotes to assess costs and select the right contractor. While free building quotes appear enticing, investing in a comprehensive, paid-for quote offers numerous benefits that can save you time, money, and potential headaches. Like most things in life, you get what you pay for. So let’s take a look at the advantages of paying for a comprehensive building quote compared to relying on free quotes.
1. Accuracy and Detailed Scope of Work
Comprehensive building quotes provide a detailed scope of work, outlining specific tasks, materials, fixtures and fittings, and services included in the project. This level of detail helps you understand what you are paying for and avoids confusion or misunderstandings down the line. In contrast, free building quotes often lack the depth required to adequately evaluate the scope of the project, leaving room for ambiguity and potential additional costs (which could end up costing you more than the price of a building quote alone!).
By investing in a paid building quote, you ensure a thorough assessment of your project, resulting in a more accurate outline of material and trade availabilities, costs and timelines. This accuracy helps prevent unexpected expenses, and timeline delays and ensures a smoother construction process.
2. Customisation and Personalisation
Custom home build projects are unique, each with its own set of complexities and requirements. Free building quotes typically offer generic estimates based on limited information calculated on a rate per square meter, whereas a paid comprehensive building quote allows for customisation and personalisation. Contractors who provide paid building quotes take the time to understand your needs, preferences, and project intricacies. This personalised approach ensures that the proposal aligns precisely with your vision, leading to a better outcome and overall satisfaction.
3. Transparent Cost Breakdown
Paid building quotes offer transparency through a comprehensive cost breakdown. Each aspect of the project, including labour, materials, permits, and any additional fees, is clearly specified. This transparency allows you to assess the merit of each cost item and make informed decisions based on a complete understanding of the financial implications. With a free building quote, the lack of transparency can lead to hidden costs or unexpected charges, derailing your budget, and timeline, and causing unnecessary stress.
4. Reliable Timeframe Estimations
Custom home build projects rely on accurate time estimations to ensure smooth coordination and completion within the desired timeframe. Paid building quotes provide detailed timelines, considering potential challenges and allowing for realistic scheduling. This level of reliability helps you plan other aspects of your life around the construction process and minimises the risk of unnecessary delays. Free building quotes often lack the necessary time limit commitments, leaving you uncertain about the project's duration.
5. Greater Professionalism and Commitment
Paying for a comprehensive building quote demonstrates to the builder, your commitment to the project. Given the number of suppliers involved, it takes 3-4 weeks for a builder to pull together a detailed, accurate, and professional building quote, ensuring all elements have been included and itemised. This includes reviewing your DA or CDC approved Construction Plans and Documentation, requesting subsequent prices and availability from subcontractors (and waiting for their responses), pulling together the combination of these responses which best aligns with your timeline and budget expectations, and then doing a proper review and check of all the detail to ensure everything lines up. It makes sense then, that paying for a builder’s quoting services will be reflected in their detailed proposal. This commitment extends to their work ethic and quality of service, giving you confidence that your project will be handled with care and professionalism.
MILEHAM’s approach to providing detailed building quotes
Clients who have opted for the full design and build service with MILEHAM receive updated building estimates as they move through our four stages of design, leading up to plans being submitted for relevant building approval.
After your plans have been approved through the council or via CDC, construction plans drawn up by our architects (or your own - for our build-only clients), alongside other documentation submitted during the approval process, are used to accurately price all aspects of your project and provide a detailed scope of work.
MILEHAM charges an upfront fee of $1,500 + GST to prepare a comprehensive, accurate and professional building quote. To provide you with peace of mind, we GUARANTEE our Building Quote WILL NOT be higher than the free Building Estimate we have already provided you. If it is, we will refund your building quote fee.
Firstly, we meet with you to discuss and provide advice on materials, finishes and other recommendations to gain a better understanding of your vision and budget. We obtain quotes on your behalf from our personally vetted and approved network of subcontractors (painters, electricians, plumbers, etc.), as well as source costs from suppliers on all materials used, a detailed and complex process that generally takes up to four weeks (see Reason 5 above).
Once this information is compiled and checked by our team, you are provided with a detailed breakdown via a comprehensive building quote (we use the Master Builders Association contract), which will form the basis of a fixed price contract should you decide to proceed. This quote is valid for 21 days and, once signed, construction needs to begin within three months. Any delay to the construction start date will require a revised building quote to reflect any labour and/or material cost fluctuations at that time.
While free building quotes appear attractive, the advantages of investing in a comprehensive, paid for building quote are undeniable. Accuracy, customisation, personalisation, detailed scope of work, transparent cost breakdowns, reliable timeframes, and greater professionalism are the hallmarks of a comprehensive building quote. By choosing to pay upfront for a detailed building quote, you set the stage for a successful construction project, mitigating risks, avoiding surprises, and ensuring your vision is brought to life with precision and satisfaction.
MILEHAM’s goal is to provide our clients with an exceptional and stress-free, custom home building experience. We are meticulous in ensuring our building quotes are comprehensive, accurate and transparent. Our reputation as an award-winning custom home builder relies on quality craftsmanship delivered on time and on budget, rather than competing for projects by offering the lowest price possible (an approach which opens the customer up to a greater degree of risk and disappointment).
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