What Does Your Square Meter Rate Include?

Have you ever heard of using a square meter rate of $1200 for a new home?

Did you know the the two main areas why this is completely inaccurate?

The first reason that a square meter rate doesn’t include all the extra bits that make a house a home (or if it does, its a nominal amount that isn’t achievable in the real world), these are things such as;

  1. Access requirements
  2. Demolition
  3. External services
  4. External structures, i.e. balconies, verandahs, covered ways, carports and garages
  5. Fixed furniture and fixtures
  6. Goods and Services Tax (GST)
  7. Heritage issues
  8. Hoardings
  9. Legal and professional fees
  10. Loose or special equipment
  11. Plant and equipment not an integral part of the building
  12. Regional locations
  13. Site conditions
  14. Special design features
  15. Special fixtures, fittings, finishes
  16. Zoning restrictions
  17. Cabinetry (sometimes a small amount is allowed, such as $5000 for a kitchen and $500 for a bathroom vanity)

The second reason is that they don’t account for the differences between homes such as;

  1. The percentage of glazed area vs solid wall
  2. The meterage of internal walls
  3. If there are lots of cavity slider doors or swing doors
  4. Tiling to full height or just the minimum requirements
  5. Stone or laminate bench tops
  6. Appliances included or excluded
  7. Premium or basic flooring (or no flooring at all)

The list can go on for quite a while!

So how do you work around this and get a clear picture of what your home will actually cost to build?  

How can you get an accurate idea about how your design ideas work with your budget without spending thousands on architect fees or worse, be locked into a building contract?

The trick is to start with a builder who works closely with an architect.  

This allows your ideas to be quickly formed into a preliminary design you love.  

Having the builder involved from the start means that they are committed to keeping your preliminary design inline with your budget.  They are also able to make you aware when a design idea is going to blow your budget, before it becomes part of the design you love.

They also are then totally across what you are after in order to produce a Preliminary Budget Estimate.

Once you have this along with preliminary drawings you have the two ingredients required to then develop your design and your costing side by side, keeping you constantly in the loop on where the budget for your home sits.

Some builders will try to lock you into a contract at the Preliminary Budget Estimate stage.  

We don’t believe in this and want to help you, protect yourself from being locked into a contract to early in the design process.

It’s why we make our 16 point pre-contract checklist available for you.  

We won’t offer you a building contract until we have ticked every box on this checklist!

Get your copy for free today.  Click the link below to download now!

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5 Keys to Efficient Homebuilding
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Enduro Builders is South Australia’s most sought-after builder, designer, and construction company. We are ready to create your unique, modern and high end luxury Energy Efficient homes.

Ready to talk?  Book an initial phone call today!


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