How project management can save you from disaster

Picture this, you’re building a new home, without using a new home architect and it’s not far from completion. You’re so excited about moving into it. But you’re told that it has structural issues and that best solution is to demolish it and start again. The cost to do that? An eye-watering $2.4 million dollars. Whilst this might sound like an unlikely scenario, that is exactly what has happened to one unfortunate family from Tasmania.

I can’t begin to imagine what they are going through. Seeing their investment crumbling before their eyes. And whilst this example comes from Tasmania, it can, and does, happen right across Australia.

Why Project Management Matters from a New Home Architect

Looking at the design of this particular home it doesn’t appear to have been designed by a new home architect. The design itself is poor, but the bigger issue here is that faulty work. You might find it hard to believe that nobody picked up on the faults sooner. To be fair, it sounds like the owners did raise several concerns. But the build continued, major faults and all, almost to the point of completion. Certainly, beyond the point of economical repair.

How does this happen you might ask?

Whilst many people engage a architects brisbane like ourselves, to create the concept design of their home, and maybe the building approval drawings many then go off and source builders by themselves. The same type of thing happens with renovations. The customer then relies on the builder acting ethically and doing good quality work. And whilst there are plenty of times that this happens, sadly there are all too many times where it doesn’t.

Problems in the building phase can occur for a variety of reasons. Builders can be under pressure, both time wise and financially. Builders under pressure can sometimes take short cuts. For example, a builder, under pressure to complete a project so they can get paid, discovers there is a major delay in getting particular materials. Their solution is to substitute materials. Now substituting one type of material for another is reasonably common in the building industry. But any substituting should be done in consultation with the client. And the materials used still need to be fit for purpose.

Sometimes the customer needs to take some responsibility. Customers can sometimes place unrealistic pressures on the builder to get the job completed. Things like material shortages may be a valid reason for delays. This is where good lines of communication are so important. This is where having a third party comes in so handy.

Carina Heights New Luxury Home Design: This Carina Heights new luxury home design is intended to serve both the current and future generations of the family. This is done by being flexible enough to meet their ever-changing needs and to stand the test of time in terms of both functionality and style. This is one of our projects and a result or good planning and good management of the builders.

When saving you money, costs you money

The solution is twofold to have someone design and fully document your project with completed construction details and then source builders quote and  oversee the project. The obvious choice for managing the project would be the new home architect, or renovation architect, who created the design in the first place. But having invested money on having their new home architect, create the design, often people will try to save money by not engaging them for any further services. But this is a classic case of false economies.

Let’s look at our services as an example …

As a new home architect, we create the design based around our client’s real needs as assessed by us in a consultative way. We can then assist with approval applications and detailed construction documentation. The detail we put into our documentation is designed to remove any ambiguity. Everything is laid out in black and white, so expectations are clear. This alone can save costly mistakes from occurring.

Sustainable & Passive Designed New Home:  This project located Sherwood is a modern design home. Which is focused on sustainable and passive design principles. This means creating a home, from the ground up, with sustainable design choices. This is one of our projects and a result or good planning and good management of the builders of these projects by us via our contract administration and project management services.

Our Services can Save You Money

But the cherry on top the cake and where you really find savings is through our tender process. To start with, we only put projects out to tender with suitable, reputable builders. Now you, the client, have several builders all quoting on your project helping to ensure you get the best price.

So, how much can you save? Well recently we had tenders where the difference from the lowest tender to the highest was $750,000! Now, imagine if that client hadn’t engaged us to conduct their tender for them and happened to engage the more expensive builder. Sure, they would have got a fantastic job. I have no doubt about the quality of this builder’s work. But the builder with the lowest bid is also a fantastic builder. They will get a sensational outcome and save $750,000 in the process.

Of course, it doesn’t end there. When you engage us to oversee the builder constructing your  project you avoid the heartache that is being experienced by the Tasmanian couple that we mentioned earlier. I’m not saying nothing ever goes wrong with the projects that we oversee. But I am saying that we pick it up quickly, and we have contractual process and money in the bank by way of retention to get it rectified, before it goes too far. And that has the potential of saving you hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions.

All it takes is a phone call and you will be on your way to getting the home of your dreams.

If you want a fantastic outcome, where your risks are managed and your stress levels are kept in check, then you owe it to yourselves to engage us to do more than simply create the design. We are a top-quality new home architect and residential renovation specialists who also offer interior design services as well as landscape design. At dion seminara architecture we can provide everything you need all under the one roof. We can save you money and ensure that you get an amazing outcome.

Want to learn more? Read our other blogs!

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