Frequently Asked Questions

Start by giving us a call, with nearly 30 years experience in the building industry, you can trust us to give you the best advice and to guide you through the entire building process. We are happy to give guidance and recommendations to get you in the right direction with your individual build project.

It always pays to get your builder involved early in the build process. Simple advice from an Experienced and Qualified Builder can be critical when making decisions. Identifying considerations that can arise due to the landscape or existing structures on your section, architectural styles, design plans and building material options, can help you stick to your budget, achieve your dreams and save a lot of hassle later on.

Chosing a Certified Builder can provide you comfort in the knowledge that your builder is trade qualified and offer the protection of consumer friendly building contracts. With a Certified Builder, you will also be provided with the Halo 10 Year Guarantee. A Registered Master Builder is backed by a trusted Organisation and can offer a 10 Year Builders covered. We are both so we have got you covered the best way that suits your build needs.

If you undertake structural work or work that affects the weathertightness of a building, and the building is residential, then that work may be classified as Restricted Building Work. Restricted Building Work can only be done and/or supervised by a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP).

If you are carrying out building work you may need to apply for a building consent.

Here are some examples of work that requires consent:

• any structural building including new buildings, additions, alterations, accessory buildings (sheds), and re-piling
• plumbing and drainage
• heating (fireplaces), ventilation and air conditioning systems
• siteworks for a building
• retaining walls higher than 1.5 metres, or retaining walls with a building or driveway near the top
• fences higher than 2.5 metres and any swimming pool fence
• swimming pools
• decks more than 1.5 metres from ground level

If in doubt we recommend you ring your local council and discuss your project with them.

Yes you do! We offer either The Halo 10 year Builders Guarantee or the Registered Master Build 10 year Guarantee for the Best Peace of mind.

We also persoanlly offer the Sarich Design and Build Guarantee.
Click here to read more.

Yes your guarantee can generally be transferred to the new home owner. Application for the transfer must be made within 30 days of settlement. Having the guarantee gives the buyer peace of mind and will help to sell your home

We offer and can recommend a Full Build Contract for many projects. This enables you to know from the start exactly what the cost will be for the project and what is included in that cost.
However, if this isn’t practical for your build, we can work with a Cost Plus Mark-up contract with rates charged according to what work is completed.

Planning well at the start of your build is essential and the best way to manage costs af a build as it helps reduce costly variations throughout the build. We can offer preliminary pricing to assist in this process with sound estimates on both new builds and complex alterations.

Throughout the build we track the financial aspects of the project with Builda Price, a project management software to monitor build costs at anytime.

Payment is made on a progress payment system which will be detailed in your building agreement. For a Full Contract, payments are made at specific stages of completion during the project. When you receive a written contract quote, these specific stages and amounts will be outlined. For a Cost plus mark-up contract you will make payments with a frequency determined in the build contract.  Payments are made for the work that has been completed for that specified timeframe/period. 

We welcome you to make any changes you would like to enhance your home. Any requests by yourselves that incur extra labour and/or material costs will be treated as a variation to the contract. These variations are costed and presented to you for approval authorising the builder to carry out these changes before any such works can be started.

We will always endeavour to keep our construction sites safe and clean. We are members of SiteSafe and will provide you with a safety information pack at the beginning of the building program.