I was very lucky as a young man during the nineties to move from being a carpenter & being on the tools to taking
on supervision roles. At the ripe old age of Twenty-Seven, I was given a job supervising & coordinating works for a
new retirement estate which involved converting twenty acres of farmland into essentially what become a new
estate with one hundred dwellings. The works involved more than just building the new dwellings. I was also
responsible for civil works such as roads & services installation through to the landscaping at the completion of a
new street! It was a time that was pre- internet and email, mobile phones had just come into play in the industry, it
was also a time of multi-skill – there were no departments, no area supervisors – just me, I did the lot! I answered
to one man – Tom Gannon. Tom was a tough no compromising individual who called a spade a shovel with years
of construction & development experience. His regular response to “Rome wasn’t built in a day” was “Because I
wasn’t the foreman”
. The sole reason I was able to become a licensed builder myself was the lessons learnt from
Tom, as tough as those lessons often were! Tom’s methods & delivery would not stack up in today’s “correct”
society, but rest assured the building industry would be far better off had more younger generations of builders
got to work under men like Tom Gannon.
Moving forward, when Tom wasn’t in warpath mode, we would discuss how building contracts & the 3 basic elements
within these contracts really shape the outcome.
“There are three parts to it mate” he would say “Quality, Price &
Time”
.
The first thing I am going to do is to adjust these elements slightly keeping the theme we discussed some 25 years
ago. Quality I want to refer to as quality of outcome. Quality of outcome refers to exactly that – will you be happy
with the quality of outcome with the contract you are entering? Quality in this sense is referring to the overall
quality of the work, it is not just referring to the level and spec of the finish, fittings & fixtures. Selecting the right
builder should ensure that quality is in place regardless of spec. The second element is Price, this is some-what
self-explanatory, it is referring to the cost of the project or the contract you are entering in to. Investment is a
better word, the investment against the return should have been assessed & determined long before a building
contract was to be entertained. The final element is Time. This refers to how long will the process be? In today’s
dynamic market with material, trade & labour availability – time spent carrying out a project is a different beast
than it was even ten years ago. Experience is a better term for our situation today. We have all sat through our
friend’s description of their house build, renovation &/or extension at a dinner party or social gathering. In essence
the experience was a combination of good & bad with varying levels of stress & excitement experienced through
the journey. Carrying out a project with a builder is a major thing, it is wrapped in emotion & a real journey that is
long remembered (good or bad) it is important to have a good experience!
So now that I have adjusted & elaborated somewhat on my hardened mentors’ initial words of wisdom, I will explain
the relationship between the three & the potential outcomes of not having these elements somewhat in line. The
key to a harmonious experience that produces a quality outcome for the required investment is to place realistic
expectations on all three elements. I am firstly going to address Investment. For the moment we can cut to the
chase and use the word price. You will be familiar with the comment “You get what you pay for” while it is a
commonly used statement – nothing rings truer than this statement with regards a building project. Building is
expensive, there is no way to sugar coat it. In simple terms the covid “mess” gave the multi-national suppliers a
chance to increase the cost of materials, but the biggest cost on a project is labour be that directly incurred by the
builder or indirectly through labour costs of sub-contractors. To be a responsible, compliant builder and sub-
contractor incurs overheads on top of high wages for in demand qualified people. These costs need to be recovered
within the contracts that are carried out. Having realistic expectations on Investment (price) which equates to your
budget ensures you can engage outcome builders to both quote & carry out the work. What is an outcome builder?
Earlier I described quality & quality of outcome. An outcome builder is a builder who is about outcome and quality
of outcome. You will find these builders will not compete on price, they are experienced have a solid
understanding of project & associated costs and often, will be able to determine a ballpark budget for your project
in a matter of hours. Importantly you will discover the outcome builders in the quoting process, they are typically
the builders who quote within about 10 to 15 percent of each other based on the information presented. Outcome
builders hold good reputations, deliver quality outcomes for clients & operate on relationships rather than budget
constraints. You will find an outcome builder will say no to potential projects more often than yes. Outcome
builders have a solid under- standing of their costs and at the time they discover the investment does not line up
with the intent of the documentation & expectations of the client – they will walk away.
It is at this point that one of two things happen. To keep the outcome builder engaged the documentation (design)
is re-hashed, de-scoped, chopped & changed to stay within the realms of quality of outcome. The second thing that
happens is the project is referred to price builders to get the project built for the Investment (budget) in place.
Price Builders won’t walk away, they compete to the bottom. They will show up within the quoting process because
they will sit 20 to 30 percent (if not more) less expensive than the outcome builder & in recent times frequent the
news under the heading “Insolvency”
. Typically, they don’t have a complete understanding of their business num-
bers over & above the cost budgets for the contracts they have under their control. After winning a contract based
on incorrect cost budgets, they seek suppliers & sub-contractors who simply fit the budget. As to whether these
contractors & suppliers can deliver is almost irrelevant, the price builder will fight & argue to make sure the work is
delivered but quality of outcome is certainly not even in the conversation. This leads to experience (time)
I would like to think by now you would have deducted where the experience comes into play with regards to the the two differing scenarios mentioned above.
“The sour taste of bad quality lingers long after the cost win is forgot-
ten” this is an experience as a client you do not want to risk. The bad experiences discussed around the dinner table
& at parties will be the result of engaging price builders to carry out the works. This is not to say that outcome
builders don’t have problems. It is important to respect that the undertaking of a building project is complicated by
nature with many nuances to work through, but outcome builders have resources at there disposal to work
through these issues, price builders’ wont.
I trust by now I have helped you understand the relationship between quality of outcome, investment & experience.
Keep these three elements in mind right from the conception of a potential new project. Self-analyse and think
about the importance you place on each of these elements as you move forward. A starting point is investment
(budget, price) even people with endless monetary resources will apply a budget to the outcome they require.
Ensure to be clear on this budget from the outset of the planning & design phase. Try to have an outcome builder
involved in the process early to act as a consultant & assist with determining this investment & what that can
deliver. Being “coy” about budget is not beneficial, being open & honest will allow designers & outcome builders
alike provide you a solution for your budget, it also eliminates the need to be involved with price builders leading to
bad experiences as I have outlined previously.
In closing I wish you well on your journey & hope my knowledge & experience explaining quality of outcome,
investment & experience will assist you on the journey.
