A question I often hear is:

“How do you choose a good builder? Or is it just luck?”

I don’t believe that choosing a good builder is just luck. I recommend:

1. look around your local area at who is working currently
2. look in your local paper for any builders who are regularly advertising
3. ask local tradespeople (also advertising in your local paper) for recommendations
4. work with a designer (so you maximise the design opportunities for your project) and get their assistance in finding a good builder

Finding a good builder is about bringing together a range of puzzle pieces.

They of course need to be reliable and do great quality work.

However, they also need to be someone on your wavelength – someone you can communicate with easily and you feel shares similar values to you.

That type of assessment can only come through meeting several builders, having conversations with them, and seeing how it feels to be around them.

Good communication is SO critical in the smooth running of any project, so it’s a useful process to test out communication through having lots of conversations in that interview stage.

Once you have lots of conversations, narrowing down your selection involves doing homework:

1. ask for testimonials
2. ask for previous clients’ details
3. ring those clients to ask them about their experience
4. check builder licenses with your State’s licensing authority
5. check any performance records with your State’s licensing authority

Any builder who is proud of their work and does a good job will have clients willing to talk to you.

There are lots of good builders. Who is best for you of course depends on where you live, what type of project you’re doing, and your budget.

Side note: Please don’t ask a builder to design a home for you. Ask a trained design professional to design your home. That will be how you maximise every opportunity for your project, and get the biggest result for your budget.

For further info on why builders don’t like architects, read here.

And if you’re building a family home and don’t know where to start with your options, this is a good place.