Six steps. Look at how little of it is yours to do.
Every step below states what happens, what you have to do, roughly how long it takes and whether anything is payable at that point. The site visit and the first feasibility opinion are free.
Site visit and first conversation
We walk the land with you, look at access, slope, services and trees, and listen to what you actually want. If we think it does not stack up, we say so that day.
Feasibility and budget
Written: how many dwellings the site carries, indicative floor areas, a cost range with the infrastructure in it, the consent path and the risks. Enough to decide with, and to take to your bank.
Design, resource consent and building consent, engaged and managed by us
We appoint the designer, structural and geotechnical engineers, surveyor and planner on our contracts. We order the reports before design starts, prepare and lodge both consents, and answer council’s RFIs.
Fixed-price contract
Before you sign, we go through the price, the written programme and the materials schedule line by line, including brands, models and grades. Bring your lawyer; we would prefer it.
Build, with weekly reporting
Our regular trade teams, sequenced by your project manager. Every week you get photographs, what happened, what is next, and the drawdown position against the contract sum. Site visits any time you want one.
Handover, CCC and guarantees
We attend the final inspection, chase the Code Compliance Certificate until it is issued, hand over the manuals and warranties, and walk the defects list with you. Then the twelve-month cover starts.
Written into the contract you sign
Each of these is a clause with terms attached, drafted to be enforceable against us.
Fixed Price Guarantee
The contract price is the final price. Any variation is priced in writing, with the reason and the supporting quote attached, and it does not proceed until you have signed it. Nothing arrives after handover. Where a risk cannot be priced at signing, such as unknown ground, it is named in the contract as a stated allowance instead of being hidden in the sum.
Signed by both parties at contractProgramme Guarantee
You get a written programme before we start and it forms part of the contract. If we run late for reasons within our control, compensation runs weekly at the agreed rate from the contract date.
Weekly rate stated in contractIndependent Inspection Guarantee
At any stage of the build you may bring in an independent building inspector at your own cost, with no notice to us and no conditions from us. The best moments are just before the walls and the roof are closed, and we will tell you when those days are coming.
You appoint, we accommodate12-Month Defects & Maintenance Guarantee
For twelve months after handover we fix anything that is not fair wear and tear, at our cost. You call us, not the subcontractor; chasing the trade is our job.
One number for all defectsMaterials Transparency Guarantee
Brands, models and grades for principal materials are scheduled in the contract. If something has to be substituted we show you the alternative, the price difference and the performance difference, and get your signature first.
Schedule attached to contractThe awkward ones, answered
How is a variation priced?
At the rates set out in the contract: labour at a stated hourly rate and materials at cost plus a stated margin, both visible to you. You get the quote and the reason in writing before the work happens, and nothing proceeds without your signature. If the variation is caused by us or by a consultant we engaged, it is not a variation at all; it is ours to absorb.
What happens if the programme slips?
If the cause is within our control (our sequencing, our trades, our error), the Programme Guarantee compensates you at the weekly rate in the contract. If the cause is outside it (a consent authority, a nationwide material shortage, weather beyond the allowance) we tell you in the week it happens, show you the recovery plan, and formally extend the date instead of letting it slide.
Can materials be substituted without telling me?
No. The contract schedules brand, model and grade for principal materials. A substitution requires your written agreement, with the alternative, the price difference and any performance difference put in front of you first. We will not swap in an “equivalent” without telling you.
How are my progress payments protected?
Claims are monthly and only against work actually in place, valued before the claim is issued. We do not ask for large payments ahead of the work, and your lender’s quantity surveyor is welcome on site to measure at every drawdown.
What if a consent is declined?
We tell you the likelihood before you spend the money; that assessment is part of the feasibility. If a consent is declined we prepare the response or the amended application at our cost where the application was ours to get right. If the scheme genuinely cannot be consented, you keep the reports, and we will tell you what the land can support instead.
Can I bring my own architect?
Yes, and plenty of owners do. We will contract with them or work alongside them, and coordination stays ours. The only thing we ask is that buildability and the budget are reviewed together before drawings are finished. Having that conversation early is what keeps the fixed price fixed.
Step 01 costs you an hour and nothing else
We walk the land, tell you what we think, and put the first read in writing. No obligation after it.