The Benefits of Hiring a Design and Construct Team.
delcon design and construct are a quality Melbourne home builder.
We’re also more than that. Our services are complete turn-key, design and construct, or construction only.
With construction only, your house plans are from another designer or architect. This is ok, but there are significant benefits from utilising a combined design and construct team.
When you use a local, experienced design and construct team you’re going to ensure:
- Your land is successfully maximised whilst meeting your criteria
- Your design pays respect to construction costs
- Your budget is maintained
1 – Your land will be maximised
There’s complete synergy when a design team specialised in local property development and an experienced construction team can work together with you on building out a design. The clients hopes for the project, the designer’s expertise and builder’s practicality all combine and allows the project to fulfil its maximum potential.
Whether it’s a multi-unit development or a custom family home, every centimetre of your block of land should be optimised – for liveability, and for profit. A great property design and construct team will know both the council requirements and the local market demands, and plan for these.
2 – Your design pays respect to construction costs
Building designers and architects are design focussed. They’re looking at flow and aesthetics, but not always primarily at practicality. Their knowledge of construction is sometimes general, which is why a design and construct team is so beneficial. A design & construct team guide the design in terms of ‘buildability’ and efficiency whilst also maintaining focus on aesthetics and flow.
Having a gorgeous design is nice, but if it significantly impacts cost, or takes twice as long to build, that’s going to be less than ideal.
3 – Your budget will be maintained
An all too common story is that of a client who has engage a standalone developer, and when their plans get quoted by a builder, the quote to build comes out significantly (up to 50%) higher than expected.
Recently, a client came to us with their plans for a multi-unit development in the hope that we could assist them. They had originally engaged another team with a budget of $850,000. The build quote from the working drawings then came to $1.1M. That’s not a small increase by any stretch. The client’s house plans have been approved by council – so if the client is to amend the plans to lower the build cost, they will have wasted tens of thousands of dollars and almost 12 months of time.
We hear similar stories to this all the time. It’s a big part of why we are so passionate about publishing information that helps to educate new and less experienced developers.
However, there are a few misconceptions about using a design and construct team.
Many mistakenly think that the builder will then retain ownership of the drawings. This is not the case. A build has many stages. A design contract is completely separate to a building contract. Your builder cannot ask you to sign a building contract prior to providing a cost for the build and having working drawings complete as working drawings form a part of a building contract.
So, after getting your home designed by one builder (or design and construct team) if you decide that you’d like to elect another builder to construct the project, due to price, or any other reason, there is no reason why you can’t.
The bottom line
When you hire an experienced design and construct team, you can draw on the knowledge and professional network that has done exactly what you want to do, time and time again. With a quality team, the chance of a budget blow out, or administration delays are significantly reduced. Of course, there are still unknowns with any build, but when your team is aware of the likely pitfalls and bottlenecks, most are successfully avoided.