How To Take The Stress Out Of Your New Home Build

There is inherent risk in starting down the new home build journey. Budget and timeframe blowouts are almost expected, being so common on popular shows such as Grand Designs. But it doesn’t have to be a bottomless money pit.

At Flexi, we know how daunting it can be to start down the journey of building your own home. You want confidence and certainty that the biggest investment you’re likely to make will return you a home that you love without costing your sanity. That’s why we strive to give our clients a stress-free build process by addressing 10 key risk areas. Where others fall short, take the gamble or haven’t even considered, we’ve put a plan in place to ensure you don’t just get a high-performance, architectural home, but also an easy and stress-free experience.

With that said, here are the 10 biggest risks to look out for when building your new home:

10 - Health and safety

Health and safety in a construction project is of utmost importance. From edge protection on scaffolding to making sure work being carried out complies with dust and noise regulations for your particular site and location, there are a whole host of hazards that a Main Contractor has the responsibility of identifying and addressing in order to run a successful and safe project.

Flexi’s prefabricated panels make Health and Safety easier to manage by using non-hazardous materials, being manufactured in a controlled environment, and reducing the greatest variable: time spent at height. According to Level, falls from height make up a third of construction-related incidents. Reducing the duration of scaffold onsite and having roof panels that are sheathed with structural plywood goes a long way to mitigating this risk.

9 - Variations

There are so many decisions to make when building a home that it’s nigh-on impossible to get everything right the first time. You might even change your mind on things that you’d previously decided on. This is normal, it’s all a part of the new home journey. In a conventional construction process, these changes that ‘vary’ from the architectural drawings are lodged as ‘variations’ and typically done at charge-up on top of any fixed-price contract that is signed at the beginning of the project.

At Flexi, we’re reducing the risk of variations occurring by communicating the full extent of the design to you, the client, before final decisions are made and priced into the contract. In our Build Packages, we’ve also priced in some standard options, so you can choose what works for you sooner rather than once your home is already taking shape!

8 - Design mistakes

An error in the design or documentation can, best case, be caught early - costing only time and money. In the worst case it may result in something different being built than what you thought you were getting. These problems must be addressed on every single project because most homes are unique, one-off builds that are essentially prototypes. In no other industry is the consumer expected to pay top dollar for a prototype!

At Flexi, we’re building a system. We don’t just incorporate the learnings from one project into the next, we use the same details that we know work and even the same panels! This means that each project builds on the previous - each new Flexi is an iteration rather than a prototype. We also take it upon ourselves to educate our clients about our panel system, how it works, and why we do it, so by the end of the project you could almost put a Flexi together yourself!

7 - Theft

Theft is unfortunately common on construction sites that aren’t secure. Tools and even construction materials are seen as easy pickings for opportunists looking to flick them on and make a quick buck.

Thankfully, another advantage of Flexi’s panelised system with Starke glazing units already installed is that once your panels are assembled in a matter of days, your project reaches the “lockup” stage and trades can leave their tools inside the secure envelope of your home. Not only does this stop your builder’s tools from ending up on Facebook Marketplace, but it means your build team can spend less time packing up and packing down at the beginning and end of each day onsite, further speeding up your build timeline. Win-win!

6 - Communication breakdown

Clear communication is the key to success. A breakdown in communication, or even crossed wires between individual parties involved in building your home, has the potential to be catastrophic.

Flexi’s client portal is the place for all your project documentation and contracts, ensuring everyone is on the same page and has the most up-to-date project information. It is the one source of truth. This streamlined approach gives you, the client, all the information you need, and the main contractor all the information they need for pricing and construction. This way, everyone is in the loop and knows their responsibilities, leading to better project outcomes and less time spent relaying information back and forward and a more streamlined process.

5 - Rain, rain, go away

Rain. It’s not much fun for builders. Weather delays are an accepted part of conventional onsite construction, but contribute to both cost and time overrun.

Flexi’s panelised system is designed to get your build to weathertight fast, so that work can continue on the inside of your home despite what the weather might be doing outside. Our panels are are rated weathertight for 90-days upon assembly due to the weather-resistive tapes and barriers, as well as having Starke glazing already installed. We think you could probably finish a Flexi with only a week total of dry weather across the entire build timeline - a dry day to pour the slab, two dry days to assemble the panels, and a few days to complete cladding, roofing and decking. How about that?!

4 - Issues with subbies

Sub-contractors falling behind in their work or not showing up when you need them is a risk in any project. It is the job of the Main Contractor to liaise with and direct the subbies so that their work is completed to the required standard in an appropriate timeframe so as not to hold up tasks that depend on their completion.

To mitigate this risk, Flexi partners with Main Contractors who already have a network of preferred subbies and suppliers. It’s easier to streamline project planning and management when there is an existing working relationship and expectations are clear. If you are sourcing your own trades and managing your own project, you are exposing yourself to this risk so it is very important that you vet your trades and make your expectations clear from the beginning.

3 - A builder who isn’t invested

The builder you nominate as Main Contractor plays a big part in the success of your new home build. The Main Contractor is responsible for the vast majority of work in the build, even when using offsite prefabricated panels. It is imperative that you have a good relationship with and can trust your Main Contractor. Without these prerequisites, you put your project at risk of cost increase or timeframe delay, especially if your Main Contractor isn’t invested in the project and motivated to deliver on time and on budget for you to the standard you are expecting.

With Flexi’s Build Packages, you can rest easy knowing we’ve partnered with experienced, well-renowned Main Contractors who share the same values as we do at Flexi House. We’ve worked together to bring you these packages and we can hand-on-heart say they’re the best builders for the job!

2 - Inviting everyone over for xmas and not having a home

Schedule slippage is a huge risk in the process of building your new home, perhaps because there are so many opportunities for it to occur and add up over the course of the project. Andre’s own home (not a Flexi), built during the material shortage post-Covid, took 2 painful years to complete. We know first-hand the trials and tribulations that come part-and-parcel with building traditionally onsite - that’s why we’re so convinced we’ve got the solution.

The Flexi House Show Home took just 6 weeks to complete onsite in the middle of a bitterly cold and wet Central Otago winter. A multitude of factors, but not least the ability to get to weathertight extremely fast (13 working hours), played a role in compressing the construction timeframe and making sure everything went to plan. These are the certainties that Flexi House can deliver for your new home build. Let’s help you host Christmas dinner next year!

1 - Spending more than you bargained for

The biggest risk in any new home build is cost overrun. No one wants an unexpected bill that they’re forced to pay just to ensure something they thought was already happening is going to happen.

Flexi is able to offer fixed-price contracts through our Build Packages that ensure you know the cost of building your high-performance, architectural home upfront, avoiding any nasty surprises or sleepless nights further down the track. Our approach streamlines the construction process from end to end, ensuring a pleasant, stress-free experience for all involved and - most importantly - avoiding a budget blowout.

If you’re interested in building your new home, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Most people who’ve built their own home would say the greatest risk of all is never realising your dream of building a new home. That’s where Flexi can help!