You can’t put a price on quality and service, or, can you?
You’d be much happier paying “more” if you benefited more. Likewise, you’d kick yourself for spending less and having compromised quality in build and in service. In renovation terms, the relative difference in price is often not as important as the large loan amount you’ll be applying for.
A home renovation, thus, easily makes for a stressful and potentially emotional time of your life, albeit a first world problem.
This makes home owners call around, exercising all due diligence in finding value and savings between builders, designers, architects and renovating companies. From private recommendations to following a Facebook accounts and research in other aspects in between, home owners find themselves overwhelmed by where to look and what to look for in a builder and designer. Some will find themselves choosing between quality and cost of build.
How can you be assured that the builder and designer you renovate with won’t let you down?
What are the risks, to the builder and the home owner?
Looking around our neighbourhood, we can see building sites near and far. Some are finished and others progressing along just fine. Still, others, sadly, are unfinished, whether they might be taking a while to finish or back on the market, hoping to sell. It pains us to see builders not profiting from home renovation ‘surprises’ and home owners not getting where the home renovation should be. Whether it’s a financial issue, or lack of information or lack of experience. No one from either party should have to go through this.
So what do you look for in your builder and designer?
After years and years of building and designing experiences, passed down from one generation to another. Rossmark has come a long way, continuously learning as we go. We’ve gained considerable experience as a licenced builder and become accredited as a building designer, transforming houses to homes one by one.
Rossmark sees the company as a service provider, guiding our clients through their journey, allowing them to employ Rossmark however they deem fit. We provide information according to what the client finds value, and then some.
We are transparent with our work, we take you through finished homes (with owner’s consent) and encourage you to talk to our previous clients. We also encourage any questions you may have so that you are enabled to make an informed decision (way before deciding to move forward with us at all). We find value in providing the best experience possible to our clients, by applying the expertise we have and providing confidence in our costing, a fixed price, which is not a very common practice.
Fixed prices vs Cost Plus Contracts
It is enticing as it is risky (in the building industry) to see a seemingly cheaper option and feel convinced to do yourself a favour by going with the cheaper option. We all do it! We don’t often see fixed prices, because there are always risks in a home renovation, which are not revealed until you’re in the thick of it all.
In fact, it is more common to see a Cost Plus Contract [These contracts are used when a fixed price for the works cannot be given at the time of entering into the contracta]. This estimation in cost without consideration of every detail and renovation risk can quickly escalate in price. Our recommendation is not to see past the quality of the build and service for a lesser cost.
Why can Rossmark offer “Fixed-Price Contracts”?
We are able to fix our prices because as building designers, we are able to design your home according to your brief and work up a plan that also complies with authority requirements because we understand the planning instrument; and as a licenced builder, we understand the ins and outs of construction, from foundation, to safety and building practices, to the most up-to-date construction practices and building legislation. 
Rossmark doesn’t have magic where we make the risks go away. There are always going to be ‘risks’ or unknowns to a home renovation. However, it is not an unknown when we expect them. We investigate and assess these risks and inform you of the potential costs. We are able to do so, because of the incredible history we have had to learn from and know the risks that can come with a home renovation.
Ball is in your court
We are often told we are expensive, and we see clients build with others, only to be told that they ended up spending more money than what Rossmark initially quoted for.
But even before getting down to the nitty gritty, we provide guidance in comparing your options between renovating your current home, buying a new home and moving elsewhere.
Our methods involve careful design planning and creating a cost plan right at the start, taking into consideration project risks specific to the home, your scope of works and potential decline in market.
If at the end of the design process, with full disclosure of the estimate contract price, you choose to go build with Rossmark, you will find yourself signing a refined contract (with specifics tailored into the project) you know you can afford. Even better, at the end of the journey, we’ll shake hands and walk you into your new space as you expected it to be, maybe more.
Footnotes
aCost plus contract definition– Source: Housing Industry Association Limited 2023 “Guidelines when using cost plus contracts”, accessed 3 February 2023, <https://hia.com.au/resources-and-advice/managing-your-business/dealing-with-contracts/articles/guidelines-when-using-cost-plus-contracts>.