Why choose CHE?
Full Project Management
Hiring an experienced project manager is crucial to the success of a building project involving your treasured family home, especially when the scope of work involves an extension or renovation.
Completing an extension or renovation project successfully is significantly more challenging than a new build where you start from scratch and challenges are minimal. Experience and planning are paramount in achieving excellent outcomes. Your family home is likely to be out of square or level; the extension needs to tie into your property without highlighting the existing defects.
If your builder and/or project manager lacks experience, problems will not be solved correctly, mistakes will often occur and the high-quality building project that you were expecting is likely to be put into jeopardy.
Alvin, CHE’s Company Director and principal project manager, has overseen 146 successful extensions and renovations. With this much experience, it is very rare that he encounters a problem that he does not have a systemised, successful solution for.
This is an ideal trait for a project manager and one to watch for when you are looking for someone to help you make your dream home a reality.
Certified Builders
Due to the complexities of an extension project, most builders will only give an estimate or ball park figure. When we first started out in 2003, we operated like this too. However, we often found that our clients expected the estimated figure to be the final figure. This was consistently lead to confusion and disappointment for both parties.
Nowadays when we conduct a site visit, we bring along everybody who we feel will make a significant contribution to your project. We do this for two main reasons; the first is that our handpicked tradesmen are specialists in what they do. They are able to give us an accurate description of their proposed works as well as a fixed price, which is not going to change throughout the course of your project.
Secondly, having subcontractors on site before the job begins gives them the opportunity to spot any previous defects or work components that will need repairing or upgrading through the course of your project.
Subcontractors will either make us aware of these issues or price the works accordingly before making you pay for a job that they may not be able to complete.
The extensive site visits that we conduct mean that we can guarantee that the investment figure in your Action Plan will not change unless something unforeseen crops up or you change your mind.
Quality Assurance
One of the most interesting phases of the project, and quite likely the most important, will be the stage where you ask a builder to put together a quote based on the dreams you have designed.
There are many different methods of quoting a project, from a verbal quote to the more traditional two-page written quote.
Both of the aforementioned methods provide a lot of room for errors and variations, especially when only one person comes to your home for a site visit.
This is why here at Certified Home Extensions we do neither. Instead, we provide our clients with a 19-page Action Plan that includes everything from the type of Gib going on your walls, to the handles on your doors.
Instead of saying, “Hey, I thought that was included”, we guarantee that you will be impressed at the depth of details provided.
Having an Action Plan that is tailored to your project also means the fixed price investment figure the breakdown is based on, will remain constant unless something unforeseen occurs during construction or you choose to make a variation that requires additional cost.
Constant Communication
Constant and consistent communication is crucial to providing you an easy experience from design to construction.
Our team will update you once a week regardless of the stage we are at. We will always keep you in the loop, whether we are drawing up concept plans or hanging doors in your new extension. This means that we will never leave you wondering about the status of your project, as well as weekly emailed reports throughout construction.
You will have 24/7 access to your project schedule on our project management software.
We put a high emphasis on trust and communication right from the initial phases of your project. Architectural designers, tradespeople, engineers and council members always speak a different language and it is important that you feel comfortable approaching our team with any questions that you might have. It as our job to translate for you, making you completely comfortable from the before to the after photo of your home.
Make your dream home reality with Certified Home Extensions!
We have completed over 203 unique projects each one with special needs and requirements. For this reason, we have developed our 7 Steps to Success. It allows us to get as much information from you as possible before providing you with our expert advice, recommendations and proposed solutions.
Your extension journey usually begins when you make the decision to give us a call on 09 236 6944.
During our first phone call we’ll ask you a few questions so that we gain the most accurate understanding possible of how we can help you best.
Once we have finished & become fast friends, we’ll schedule a time for one of our team to come out and see you so that we can complete the picture as to what your completed extension dream will look like.
Once we have touched base for the first time (see Step One) we will usually schedule a time for one of our team to come out to your home and meet with you and any other decision making parties that may be involved with your project.
Our main purposes during this session is to leave with the full understanding of your reasons for choosing to extend or renovate, the financial resources you have available, the timeline that you would like to meet and the picture you have in your head of what your completed dream for your home will look like.
We encourage you to have on hand any ideas, house plans, section information, pinterest boards or any other relevant information that will be helpful for us when we are seeking to help you make the dream that you have for your home a reality. Remember any question is a good question so never be afraid to ask during these sessions!
(If you have plans already skip ahead to Step 5)
Once we have met onsite for the first time, we’ll arrange for you to meet with one of our personally chosen architectural designers who will be ideally suited to your project.
Their extensive experience (all of our designers have been drawing plans for 10+ years) will enable them to add to or improve any ideas that we have come up with together – that is if we haven’t found the perfect solution already while getting a feel for exactly what you want to achieve from your building project.
Within 2-3 days of this session we’ll send you an investment proposal for how much the designer believes the design stage of your dream will cost and once you are happy they will be able to start drawing!
With their extensive architectural experience, they will further add on to any ideas previously discussed and more and will be able to quickly identify challenges on site that council may pick us up on. By identifying these challenges early we can better prepare ourselves later down the track during council consents stage.
We pride ourselves on the way that we coordinate the process of getting from concepts to building consent from our clients, believing that bar any unforeseen complications we can have you ready to start construction approx six weeks faster then any other company.
The team at CHE does this through constant communication; with you so that you always know what is happening and with the designer + council to make sure that you remain a priority and that things happen as fast as possible.
Dealing with council especially can often be quite challenging and that’s the real bonus of dealing with a company like us, we spend our day working for you making sure that your dream for your home is made a reality as smoothly and with as little stress as possible!
Within 10 days of us submitting for Building Consent we will schedule a site visit with all of our important subcontractors e.g. builder, plumber, electrician etc. We feel that it is in the best interests of all parties to get the specialists to site to give us a price so to speak as they can sometimes make us aware of potential problems or issues, reducing the risk of any unforeseen surprises and giving you complete clarity before you start paying our guys to do a job that for some reason may be more difficult than expected for them to complete.
Once they have submitted their prices to us, we will compile them into a 13 page Action Plan. This Action Plan is tailored to your project and will give you a full understanding of what has and has not been taken into consideration e.g. we may exclude electrical work because you have your own electrician that you would like to use. Alvin will personally present this plan to you and go through every detail, the last thing that we want you to be saying is “Hey, I thought that was included.”
Hooray! Once you are happy and have signed off on your Action Plan we can usually begin construction within 4-6 weeks, depending on the availability of the builder.
During construction, Alvin will organize weekly meetings and send weekly reports to ensure we keep you updated every step of the way.
If you have a question, would like an additional meeting or require clarification at any time give us a call. We will be happy to arrange whatever necessary.
The end of our journey together draws nigh!
At this stage your extension dream has been made reality, final payments have been made and you are living happily ever after!
You will also receive:
- Commercial Cleaning of your Home
- Signed Off Code of Compliance Certificate
- A Bottle of Champers and a Gift Basket to celebrate
Of course our journey together will never really be over, we pride ourselves on providing the ultimate level of service even when your building project has been completed If something should come up throughout the course of you living in your dream then feel free to give us a call and we will be more then happy to help.
Our Certified Systems
1. Weekly Client Report
The ideal weekend is full of good food, quality time with family and plenty of fun with friends, not pacing the floors trying to get an update about what is happening with your project from your builder.
That’s why despite whether we’ve seen you during the week or not, our Friday afternoon routine is to sit down and compile an emailed weekly report. This will detail everything that has happened during the working week, everything that will happen next week and any decisions you may need to make in advance, to ensure good uninterrupted work flow.
That way you’ll always have a live understanding as to exactly what is going on with your project, leaving you free to enjoy Friday night fish & chips with the family.
2. Project Scheduling Software
Life is busy & only getting busier, so we understand the importance of you being able to keep up with what’s happening on your project while you’re on the go. That’s why prior to the commencement of construction we get you set up with a personalised log in to our online project management software.
This gives you 24/7 access to a project schedule, online messaging platform and other documentation all of which mean you’ll know exactly what is happening with your project at any given point of the day. So whether you’re on the train on your way home from work or bolted upright at midnight with something on your mind, the answers to any question on your mind will always be within easy access.
3. Action Plan
Here at CHE we don’t just offer a 1 page estimate or even worse a verbal, instead you’ll get our (minimum) 29 page Action Plan. This includes an overall fixed investment figure & a detailed breakdown of exactly what will be going into your project.
All components are covered from the bathroom fittings we’ve selected together to the type of framing that the builders will use in your new walls. Everything is explained in easy to understand terminology & Alvin will personally present our breakdown to you, making sure you understand every detail.
Instead of saying “Hey, I thought that was included”, we guarantee that you’ll be impressed with the extensive breakdown that we provide!
