Avoiding Renovation and Builder Disasters: Picking a Local Builder

Factors to Consider When Picking a Local Builder

According to the recent statistics by NSW Fair Trading, more than 60% of homeowners have complained about builder worksmanship and unfinished projects. If you do not want to be on the same boat when working with builders, then check out our guide on finding the right builders in Sydney.

Why You Need to Be Careful in Picking Builders

The number of home building complaints from 2013 to 2015 has gone up with more than 65% of the people complaining about builder workmanship. This is against the 63% of complaints filed in 2013. Furthermore, according to NSW Fair Trading, other problems encountered by customers in the past two years include unfinished works or contracts, materials, design fault, changed environmental conditions, and legislative/standard change.

Other home building complaints by defect include: unsatisfactory finish, non structural defect, external water penetration, faulty fixture or appliance installation, none completion, contractual dispute only, and other non-structural defects among other. Unsatisfactory finishes accounted for 30.25% of complaints in 2015 versus the 29.24% in 2013.

This emphasises even more finding the right builder to do your house or property work.

What You Can Do to Plan A Successful Renovation

There are several ways you can manage a successful renovation. The first starts with finding a good builder to work with who really cares about his own reputation and has a successful track record in delivering quality projects.

Other things to consider include:

1. Know what you want? – At the very least, you should be able to visualise what you want. Have a clear picture of what you want to do with your house. Come up with a rough sketch or in fact an actual image of your ideas to help the builder understand what you want to in the end product. There are many design apps available. However, if you are not confident in sketching out your ideas then it is best to talk to a home interior designer. These professionals can help you map out the changes to your house including how do to it and what to tell the builder.

2. Future considerations – you have to consider whether you are staying in your home for the long run or just a short time. This will help you avoid doing any improvements that can cost a fortune only to be used in a temporarily. Likewise, this will also help your builder understand what type of changes you want made.

3. Set a definite budget for your project – Many homeowners and property owners find their building projects in a sham because they fail to estimate their budget properly. Some goes over their spending allowance while others simply come up short, the project is finished abruptly. Knowing your budget can make a big difference. This will also help you pick out the right materials including the improvements or additions made.

Find A Reputable Local Builder Right Here

If you are planning to build or renovate, our Tradebusters free concierge service can help connect you with recommended local builders and other tradies that have been in our network for many years and have a proven track record with other users of our service.