Custom Home Builders Toronto
How to Properly Assess and Evaluate them
Over the years we have seen many potential clients get tempted by or commit to custom home builders that we bid against who promise the world but under-deliver and end up creating a horrible home building experience for them. In many instances the execution of the residential construction project speaks for itself; projects that were supposed to be 6 months lasting a full year, projects that have shut-down because the builder added an extra $100 K to the budget out of nowhere that the client can’t afford, or even starting a project with another builder and then coming back to us to see if we would take over the project (this actually happened!). Good, Fast, and Cheap - you can pick two but can’t have the third! We decided a long time ago that being Good and Fast as a custom home builder in Toronto outweighs cutting corners and being cheap. Sure you pay more but the investment is too large to even consider cutting corners.
In the coming paragraphs we run through the items and credentials that you need to consider and know before committing to a Custom Home Builder. We will also tell you about the expectations that you should have during the process of getting pricing for your budget/scope of work for your project! Finally, we will run through some of the major red flags that should have you running from any home building company that displays these certain characteristics.
Below are the major topics that we will focus on:
How to Find and Assess Custom Home Builders Before Outreach
First meeting/phone call with short-listed home builder: What to expect and be prepared with
Once you have working drawings or permit drawings: What to expect and look for
Final Selection of your custom Home Builder: What to look for and ask
General Assessment Credentials and Topics
How to Pick Custom Home Builders to Reach Out To
Below we have outlined some of the most common ways to quickly analyze and create a shortlist of reputable builders:
Are they local to you? (this is important)
It is important to engage with a builder that is local to you. You do not want to be put in a situation where you have a builder from Oakville working on your property in Scarborough, it almost always puts your project at the bottom of the priority list, since they likely have local projects that are tying up the rest of their time. Local home builders will also make sure that they go further for you which will add more value to the process of getting your project completed!
Do You Know Anyone That Has Worked With this Builder (Word of Mouth)?
It is very important to get real reviews of builders, instead of just relying on Google Reviews, which are almost always skewed towards positive if the builder has a decent marketing plan. Go the extra mile and find people that have worked with the Builder you are interested in working with and get their take on their experience! Better yet, your builder should have no issue giving you references of past clients to phone about their experience during the vetting process!
Positive online presence (Google Reviews)
Online reviews will help in your overall evaluation but shouldn’t be the only due diligence you complete. Remember, your renovation will cost you a lot of money, and will cost you even more if you don’t partner with the right company. The amount of research and due diligence should reflect the amount of money you are spending, so don’t skimp on it!
Does the Builder have a informational website?
Make sure that the company you decide to work with is investing in educating their consumer base about the industry. The worst thing that you can do is not ask questions, and if you can go through a builder’s website and understand the building process that is telling of their commitment to education and creating valuable content.
Do they have Affiliations with home building organizations?
For example, BVM Contracting is affiliated with BILD/Renomark and CHBA. These organizations only allow reputable members of the building community to join so that is a low activation energy method of evaluating a builder.
Client interviews and feedback
Has the builder impressed their previous client’s enough to be able to have them sit in front of a camera and talk about their experience? This is a very telling and informative way that we have been able to separate ourselves as being a reputable home building in Toronto, and we invite you to check out the videos on our home page!
Do they Offer site visits for current Projects?
One of the golden rules is to see a couple of your shortlisted builder’s job sites before you commit. You should be looking for cleanliness, expertise, safety, and most importantly an attention to detail/quality when you visit. Make sure that you come ready with a list of questions so they can answer on site. See if the builder has any information about offering site visits on their website and book a tour!
Once you have your Short-list of Builders: Outreach and First Meeting
Once you have created your short-list of builders to reach out to, now it is time to engage in first meetings to ask specific questions to the builder. Some of the more common questions/topics are shown below:
What is their timelines to complete the renovation or custom home build?
Can they give you a rough budget based on your wishlist? The answer should be yes.
Test them on their general knowledge in construction, make sure that they have confidence answering questions surrounding their industry expertise. Make sure you challenge them!
Ask them if they offer site tours of their current projects. If the builder is unable to do so it is definitely a warning sign!
Appearance - Do they look trustworthy?
Are they willing to work with you and your wish list to try and fit within your budget?
Do they have an in-house team of skilled labourers? This is very important as it allows the projects to move along as efficiently as possible by allowing for all of the in-between-trades work to be done.
Ask for their home building contract upfront and ask how payments work during the project (the answer should be milestone-based billing)
Ask them how far out they are booked (3 months? 6 months? 1 year?). Usually a reputable builder will be booked out anywhere from 6-12 months in advance, so keep that in mind. This means that if you want to work with a good builder you will have to likely wait in line, unless you start the process over a year in advance or get lucky with timing.
Once you have completed all of your meetings, this would be a good time to shortlist your builders to 2-3 and get them to put a rough budget together for the project. Depending on the size and complexity you may need to progress to the design stage to get accurate numbers, but if you are okay with rough numbers you can ask for some based on a preliminary wish list/scope at this stage. After-all, you will want to know if you can afford the work before you engage a designer or architect!
Once you have a good grip on the rough order of magnitude cost for the project, you can move on to the next step!
Once you have Working Drawings or Permit Drawings: What to Look For
Once you have drawings of your proposed work, any reputable builder will be able to work off of them to create a scope of work and budget for you. Keep in mind that if the drawings are preliminary the structural and HVAC scopes can only be estimated since the structural/HVAC drawings are not created until later. If you have permit drawings you can disregard the above point and send to your shortlisted builders for quote. Some items to consider:
Be sure that your home builder is asking you a lot of questions about the project. If they just take your drawings and give you a number it is likely not very accurate to what you want the scope to look like! The more questions that are answered, the more accurate the scope, which means that the budget will be way more detailed and accurate.
Make sure that your home builder offers itemized pricing, which means that they breakdown the cost by activity. If any of the builders do not do this then get rid of them.
Make sure that your custom home builder is accounting for any costs that you have to incur directly during the project. This will give you the full picture of cost for the project and will allow you to budget better.
Your home builder should be making recommendations to save money for you without cutting corners. Challenge them to find ways to re-engineer the budget!
Making the Final Decision: Things to Look For
Make sure the custom home builder you select does the following once they have put together the scope of work and budget for you:
Budget meeting: you will want your builder to go over each line item to make sure you understand what everything means. It also gives you an opportunity to ask questions and make sure the builder has accounted for everything.
Make sure that you give the builder feedback about the budget/scope of work. If they are receptive to the feedback and make adjustments that is a good sign.
Make sure they outline next steps for the decision-making process. If you haven’t already, make sure you ask for a copy of their contract to review as well!
General Assessment Credentials and Ideas
Make sure that the builder has all of the following main credentials:
WSIB Clearance Certificate
Certificate of Insurance
Renovation License
Other items to evaluate and look into:
Make sure they have in-house team of employees (this is important and we cannot stress this enough)
Ensure that they pay their sub-contractors. You can do a check on this by seeing if any of their previously-completed properties have liens on them. Click here to read more and complete a search of any property to see if there are any registered liens from sub-contractors. You do not want to be put in the position where you are liable to pay for the outstanding money that is owed to any of the builder’s sub-contractors, so this would be a great way to ensure the builder pays everyone!
About BVM COntracting
BVM Contracting is a full-service General Contractor or Home Builder located in Toronto. We provide home renovation and building services for major home renovations and custom home builds (full interior renovations, home additions, lot severances, new home construction, and laneway suites). Our goal is to help guide our clients through the process of building their home, from concept to completion.
Further than providing General Contracting and Project Management for major home renovations, we also offer value-added services such as renovation financing, renovation rebate consultations and services, building permit and design services, smart home installation services, and real estate investor services.
To learn more about our offering by visiting our services page.