So you are considering extending and renovating your home? This is potentially one of your biggest investments so you need to know you are getting the right advice from the right people from the start. Firstly, talk to a domestic home extensions builderthat does the full package. This means they design as well as build. The secret to a good value home extension lies in how well it is designed. Architects and Drafting companies will often draw plans of what you want but without making you aware of the costs involved. This is because they simply don’t know. They are purely aesthetic in mind-set and not builders. To this end, more often than not, people end up with costly plans of something beyond their fiscal means. A good home extension builder / designer can integrate aesthetics and your ideas with practicality and with an eye on budget as he goes. This allows the home extension builder / designer to gauge the cost before any expensive plans are drawn, or worse, permits applied for. Here’s an example: Let’s say you want a typical two bedroom second storey extension with bathroom, separate WC, BIR’s and a retreat area. An experienced extensions designer-builder will be able to give you a very good price indication say $100 – $120k. Therefore if your budget is say $80k then you know that this concept is out of your budget with no cost to you to find this out. But if your budget is $140K you can be comfortable with the thought that this particular builder can come up with a design, within your budget and you will still have some money left for things like curtains, painting, floor coverings, and air-con. etc. So Does your Builder make the grade? Use our Checklist to ensure that….. The Company operates under a Registered Building Practitioner’s official registration: e.g.: DB-U 35xx (Domestic Builder – Unlimited) (Check with Building Control Commission.) This person should be a director or owner of the company and if not ask questions? as they could be ‘using’ a friends licence for some reason?