custom home build mistakes

There are common custom home build mistakes that clients should avoid when procuring your next residence.

not hiring an architect first

Licensed architects bring a great deal of experience and expertise to avoid custom home building mistakes.  Interestingly, clients are happy to pay a real estate agent 6% but believe engaging an architect is an unwarranted cost.  Ironically, architect’s can create many budget savings in the building project should clients adhere to their professional advice.

Many clients get enticed into thin, lightweight and loosely worded building contracts that favor the builder’s commercial interest and profit outcomes.  The builder’s cost base and profit margins compete with the client’s interest in a fair, cost-effective and quality house design.  Some clients are induced into cost plus contracts and believe the Architect has superfluous skills and an unwarranted cost.  Signing a builder’s contract prior to the custom house design is putting the ‘cart before the horse’.  Where clients acquiesce their contractual advantage and agree to a builder’s costs and profit margins are“…like a fox guarding the hen house…”.

purchasing the incorrect site lot

Selecting the wrong lot can be the fatal flaw for a building budget; especially without a contingency sum.  Often it is the site gradient/slope that clever considered architectural design cannot mitigate budget blowouts.  The essential considerations when purchasing a lot are: site gradient, services, zoning, building code, building footprint and neighborhood context.  Working with architects can help lot selection and plan the residence is critical to avoid custom home build mistakes.

setting an unrealistic budget

It’s important to set a budget early on and not go over it.  Many clients have a general idea of the area requirements of their architectural brief.  However, clients often are often surprised how many square feet/meters is actually required to accommodate service, walls and circulation space.  Early in the architectural design process; building budgets are typically calculated multiplying the gross area by the current market rate.  Clients who do not set realistic building budget is at the top of the list for custom home build mistakes.

rushing the architectural design

Rushing architectural design can lead to problems during construction; resulting in contract variations and budget blowouts.   Taking time during the sketch design and design development phases can ensure a smooth construction phase.  Architects superintend the building contract with the builder so ensuring competent and complete working drawings is best practice.  Thorough working drawings prevent rampant paperwork with; architects instructions, contract variations, contract sum adjustments and extensions of time.

future-proof planning

It’s important to consider your current and future lifestyle when planning the spatial layout during the architectural design phase.  The only constant in life is change and a competent architectural design embraces that issue and plans for it.  An astute architect maximizes your investment by ensuring the residence has room for growth.  An architectural design that is cognizant of the future facilitates increased value for purchasers should you decide to sell.  Ask the architect to design with flexibility in mind and provide him detail on how your lifestyle may change in 10 or 20 years which can be included in the architectural design brief.

wrong builder selection

Clients can research builders by talking to other homeowners, reading reviews, and checking references but how do you assess value for money?  I’ve met individuals after the fact, who rue and regret their choices in the procurement of their biggest investment.  The saying, “…hindsight is a beautiful thing…” is especially true in construction.

Clients are better served by engaging an architect who is governed by the State’s Architects Act and Regulations.  The architect can generate a cost effective competitive market result through a bid/tender process followed by superintendence during project construction. 

Clients obtain value when incorporating a robust, equitable and fair contract that provides for a third party superintend role.  A contract should allow the Architect to assess any monetary variations of the builder with a pre-agreed rate for builder’s profit margin.  Builders do not have to adhere to the same strict legislative controls as an Architect with oversight from a governing Architects Board.