Kieran McCarthy's Property Clinic: Get builder on board early

Kieran McCarthy, KMC Homes, engineer and builder.

Hello Kieran

As my partner and I are about to begin looking for a builder to build our new home in Rosscarbery, can you offer me some advice on how to choose/rate builders, and given the recent rise in materials cost, how can I know I am getting the best value for my money?

Should I use a QS during my build?

Thank you 

Michael Williams Clonakilty 

Hello Michael 

Thank you for your question. I think you have actually raised one of the key points in your question - ‘Value’. The issue with a bidding system (where you send your drawings out to several builders and ask them to submit a quotation) is that it is largely based on an award to the builder with the lowest quotation. 

By this logic you will end up with the builder who has provided the lowest quote but not necessarily the builder who may offer the best value to you in your new home build. What happens if all the quotes come back and they are all above your budget? What happens if extras keep arriving throughout the build meaning that your final bill is way above the original quotation? This is often what happens so how do you manage this?

In practice, what tends to happen is that people begin designing their new home with an architect or engineer, they get planning permission, then they begin to focus on builder selection where they fret about costs and budgets once they start to receive builders’ quotations. 

In my view, the budgeting of a new home build is an integral part of the design of the house and should be considered at the very beginning of a project along with architectural design and planning potential. To enable you to do this you would need an input form a QS (Quantity Surveyor) at the very beginning of the design process where he will monitor the development of the design of your new home and advise you and your designer on likely costs so you can align your design with your budget from the very beginning. (Let’s face it, one of the key constraints of a project from the beginning is a fixed budget so best to face up to this front the start) You may at this stage be beginning to feel that the responsibility of keeping the house on budget is really sitting on your shoulders as even though you have a QS working for you, he/she can only really cost the designs handed to them by your designer. It is difficult to pass this responsibility to another party as the elephant in the room here is that the builder, who is the main player on the pitch when you get to site, hasn’t even been selected or indeed even seen a set of drawings, so how can he add value?

In my view, a builder adds most value when he is driving value. What I mean by this is that if a builder is brought on board early, he can both help advise the designers (architect/engineer) and the QS when it comes time to review your house plans before you lodge for planning permission. A good builder will likely know where savings can be made using alternative materials or building methods and remember, now that you have brought your builder into the process early, I don’t think it is unreasonable to share the burden of keeping your new home build project on budget with him and tee this up in your building agreement.

Yes, this is a different approach to drawing up a tender package of drawings and seeking builders quotations post planning permission, but in my experience this process can often prove challenging for the self-builder as they get caught between the design team and the builder with the result of uncertain costs and indeed extended timelines and I feel this often leads to a difficult path for the client. Yes it's true that you really need a reputable builder that you are comfortable with and trust in this instance, and this is key, but isn't that true in all aspects of life? It should be a team effort from the start to keep the project on track so bring all the team players onto the pitch for the pre-match huddle. Don’t bring on your star player at half time when you're already 2 goals down.

Kieran McCarthy is founder and Design and Build Director with KMC Homes, as well as co-presenter of the successful RTÉ1 show 'Cheap Irish Homes',