As you can imagine, it varies − depending on each home. Some are bigger, some smaller, some more complex, some less so. On average, the entire process, including planning, design, costing, creating working drawings, getting consents and construction, will take between 9 months and a year. We’ll give you a schedule during the planning phase, so you know when you can move into your beautiful new home.

Absolutely. In fact, we encourage you to bring your ideas to the table. If you have a scrapbook of ideas, we’d love to see it. After all, we want to make sure that your home is everything you want it to be. Tell us your thoughts, and we’ll factor them in. We have even had clients who tell us what they DON’T want. That’s very useful to our design team as well.

That’s the million-dollar question, or it could be the $350,000 question. Or somewhere in between! If you give us an idea of your budget, we can tell you if it’s realistic based on what kind of house you’re wanting to achieve. We will always be clear and honest with you and provide a fixed-price contract. We will let you know what you’re in for, upfront. Incidentally, there’s no charge for our initial ideas, and we’re always available for a free no-obligation chat.

Some building companies are fond of the idea of ‘the square metre rate’. It goes like this: a client asks, ‘how much will my new home build cost me?’, the builder suggests a cost per square metre, and the client simply multiplies this figure by the entire area of the proposed house. The problem is that this doesn’t take into account other factors, like the site itself, the complexity of the home, whether services like power are available, landscaping and more. We prefer to consider every aspect of the house.

There’s a lot to think about, but the basic process is fairly straightforward. With Design Builders, your home will be a one-off that’s designed and built around you. We have a proven process that helps us do just that. It covers all the steps from initial conversation to the day you move into your new home, and beyond. The whole process should be exciting, fun, easy and satisfying. We want you to enjoy it as much as you’ll love your finished home. Check out our process here.

We’ll take care of the building consent for you, which can save you many hours. The cost for this is all included, unless you’ve specified otherwise. We’ve taken care of applications and approvals for hundreds of clients, so you’re in good hands. We’re experts at navigating through planning regulations, and delivering homes that meet full building code compliance.

Yes. Design Builders is a member of the New Zealand Master Builders Association. When you move into your new home, you will have the confidence from the Master Build 10-Year Guarantee. By the way, we’ll also stay in contact with you for some time after you move in. This is because you may well have some questions about your home’s operation and ongoing maintenance, and we’re always there to help. There might be a few tweaks to make too. We’ll drop you a line after one month, six months and a year to check how it’s all going for you.