What are the three reasons why supplying your own fixtures and finishes is recommended for homeowners and builders?

When homeowners are planning a new home or renovation, and trying to save money or get exactly what they want in their future home, this question often comes up:

Should you be supplying your own fixtures and finishes, and removing them from your building contract? So you can avoid the builder’s margin, and reduce the cost of your project?

If you’re planning to do this in your own project, there are key things to consider, plus specific aspects of your contract to be across. Listen to this episode for more information.

This is Episode #199.

In this episode, I’m continuing on with information about what to consider if you’re planning on supplying your own fixtures, finishes and fittings when constructing your renovation or new build, and excluding them from your contract with your builder.

This is Part 2 of this topic. So if you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, it’ll make a lot more sense if you go back to Episode 198 and listen to it first. Then you can come back, and listen to this episode – it will be waiting here for you.

In the last episode, I went through the first two of the five main reasons I hear both homeowners and builders use to explain why it’s a good idea to source and supply your own fixtures, fittings and finishes in your project.

These reasons I described are:

1. Being able to get exactly what you want in your home, because you choose and buy it from the places and people you want to.
2. Not having to pay for the builder to shop for you, and generally avoiding paying the builder’s margin.

And in this episode, I’ll be taking you through the remaining three main reasons I hear discussed by both homeowners and builders.

The three reasons why supplying your own fixtures and finishes is recommended for homeowners and builders are:

3. Knowing that the items you want are in stock and available.
4. Being able to start on site sooner rather than later.
5. Purchase things on sale or discontinued / end-of-line items and save serious money.

In this episode, I also want to spend a little time highlighting specific areas of your contract to be aware of, especially during times when (as it is at the time of recording this episode), we’re experiencing time and cost pressures in home building and renovating projects.

If you’re going to be supplying your own fixtures and finishes when renovating and building, then of course all the things I discuss in this episode are worth remembering.

Here are some key action steps you can use to be better prepared for this in your project – and listen to the episode for more detail on these recommendations.

1. Insist on a schedule or program from the builder that gives detailed information on when the items you’re supplying will be required on site. Not all builders do them though, so ask builders about this as part of interviewing them.
2. Do your research about lead times and delivery expectations. Lead times can really surprise homeowners at the best of times, and generate a lot of disappointment when homeowners don’t allow enough time to include the things they want in their home.
3. Consider whether you’ll need to purchase things early and store them somewhere. This may be the best way in some instances to have certainty you can supply things in time, but check how it impacts your warranties.
4. Be clear about the lines of demarcation between what’s in your scope of responsibility and what isn’t – so you can discuss things in an informed way with the builder.
5. Lastly, remember that this area of supplying your own fixtures, finishes and fittings is a time consuming endeavour, so ensure you have the capacity to do it the way it needs to be done.

Lastly, let’s go through some specific contractual considerations to be aware of when reviewing and signing a contract with a builder, and then moving through your project under the execution of that contract.

Listen to the episode now.

RESOURCES:

Article about HomeBuilder and how its exceeded all predictions for project numbers >>> READ HERE

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