It is important when looking for a Builder that you find one that suit your needs and can deliver your home on time and with the least amount of stress. Building your home should be a fun and exciting experience.

1. Will your builder give you an absolutely FIXED and FINAL price on the footings cost before you sign a contract?
2. How long have they been building in the area?
3. Are they experienced, How many homes have they built?
4. Have they won any awards for the homes they have built?
5. Have they won any awards for the business they run?
6. What Guarantees do they give?
7. Has your builder allowed for extra costs for the footings in the area you want to build in? Is it fixed and firm or will it change?
8. Have they allowed for connecting your house to water, electricity, sewer, gas, and stormwater if required?
9. How much has your builder allowed for site costs, like cut and fill if your block is sloping?
10. Will they remove the soil from excavations from your site or charge you for it later? What has he allowed in his pricing?
11. What limit does the builder have on their Fidelity Fund Certificate? The higher the limit, the less risk of the builder going insolvent. (see Residential Building Cover)
12. If your builder hits hard digging conditions when he digs your footings and services will he charge you extras? How much, at what rate, when? What if he has to dynamite out the rock?
13. Will you get China sink bowls, quality taps, security screens on windows, deadlock on front door, glass shower screens or will these be extras after you sign the contract?
14. Does your builders price include all requirements to meet the governments 5 star energy requirements or will he charge you later, ie 3.0R insulation etc.
15. What is your builders answer to termite treatment? Does he protect the service protrusions?
16. Do you realise that steel frame construction is still highly susceptible to termite attack of the timber architraves, skirtings, plasterboard, cupboards etc? What’s their answer?
17. Does your builder do a quote with “PC Items”, or “Allowance for ….” or “Estimate only” or “No allowance” or “TBA” and then expect you to sign a contract that you can’t get out of before he has told you what the real price will be, even if they say their price is a “Fixed Price”
18. What is the full price of the as displayed home you want? Does the price include all the features, both internal and external?
19. Will your builder sign you up to a Housing Industry Association Contract (HIA) contract or will he use one he has made up himself?
20. Will your builder cross out all the clauses in your building contract that allow them to increase the price after you sign the contract, like footings extras, spoil removal, council requirements, etc?
21. Do you get plastic taps or stainless steel taps?
22. Can they build in any area?
23. Will your builder do storm water, paving, landscaping etc for you if you want or expect you to fend for yourself?
24. Has your builder allowed to clean up your site and remove the rubbish and excess materials after they finish or do you have to clean up?
25. How many other homes will your building supervisor / construction manager supervise while he is trying to build your home or is the builder trying to do everything themselves?
26. Has your builder quoted you air-conditioning, is it free, or has he said, once we work out whether its 3 phase or single phase we will have to charge you extra for the cabling and installation after you have signed the contract?
27. Will your builder guarantee that any freebies he is giving you haven’t inflated your price at all?
28. Have you asked people who have built or who are building with the builder you are thinking about in your area, what they now think of that builder?
29. Ask them how much extra the builder charged after they signed the contract that they were told they had to pay?
30. How long it took to start construction and how long it took to build?
31. How was the quality? How did they finish the home?
32. What did they do about any problems they encountered, before, during and after the home was completed?
33. Did you know that the most complaints the “Department of Consumer Affairs” gets, are about Builders supposedly ripping off customers over unexpected footings costs and about fixing quality issues especially after completion. Ask Consumer Affairs how many complaints they receive about your builder and what do they say? Here’s their phone number (08) 8999 1999 for you to ring and ask.