Choosing a builder in the Bay of Plenty

Most advice on choosing a builder comes down to "get three quotes". That is not useless, but it is close, because three quotes for three different scopes of work tell you almost nothing. Here is what is worth checking instead.

Start with the licence

Restricted Building Work on a home must be carried out or supervised by a Licensed Building Practitioner licensed in the relevant class. The LBP register is public and free to search.

Look up the people who will actually be doing the work, not just the company name, and confirm the licence covers the class of work they will be doing on your project.

Ask for comparable work, not just any work

A builder with a strong portfolio of standalone homes is not automatically the right choice for a multi-unit development, and vice versa. Steep sites, coastal exposure, heritage constraints and tight infill sections all carry specific problems.

Ask what they have built that resembles your project in the ways that matter, then ask to speak to those clients. Most people will say yes. The ones who will not have told you something.

When you do speak to past clients, the useful question is not "were you happy". It is "what went wrong, and how did they handle it". Something goes wrong on every build. How it was handled is the thing you are actually buying.

Compare quotes properly, or not at all

Quotes are only comparable if they cover the same scope at the same level of detail. A lower number often means less is included, or that allowances have been used where another builder has priced the actual item.

Specific things to look for:

• What is a firm price and what is a provisional sum or allowance
• Whether fixtures, fittings and appliances are priced or merely allowed for
• What the contingency is, and who controls it
• What is explicitly excluded
• How variations are priced, and whether that is agreed before work proceeds

A quote that is noticeably cheaper than the others is worth understanding rather than celebrating. Either they have seen an efficiency the others missed, or they have not priced something you will pay for later.

Get it in writing, because the law expects it

Residential building work above a set value requires a written contract, and the builder must give you a disclosure statement and a checklist before you sign. At the time of writing that threshold is $30,000 including GST.

Read the payment schedule and the variations clause closely. Those are the two clauses you will use.

There are also protections that apply regardless of what the contract says, including implied warranties and a 12-month period during which a notified defect sits with the builder to put right.

How they communicate is part of the product

You will be dealing with this person or team for months. Notice how they handle the enquiry stage, because it is a fair preview.

Do they answer the question you asked. Do they tell you when something is not possible, or go quiet. Do they explain what is driving a cost. Someone who is vague before they have your money is unlikely to get clearer afterwards.

Ask about capacity and who is actually on site

Find out how many projects they are running, who will be on your site day to day, how much is subcontracted, and who you contact when something needs a decision.

A builder being busy is usually a good sign. A builder being too busy to run your job properly is not, and the two can look identical from the outside.

Things worth pausing over

• Reluctance to provide a written contract
• Pressure to decide quickly, or a price that expires unusually fast
• Large deposits out of step with work completed
• No Record of Work offered for Restricted Building Work
• Any suggestion that consent is not needed for work that clearly requires it

The short version

Check the licence, look at comparable work, talk to past clients about problems rather than praise, compare quotes only when they cover the same scope, and pay attention to how they communicate before you have committed to anything.

General guidance only, not legal advice. Thresholds and requirements change over time, so confirm the current position before relying on any figure here.