Any thoughts on these builders

Hi Alan, I would suggest you stay away from Signature Homes. Although I used the Auckland North Shore franchise I did have significant interaction with the national head office. I got into a dispute situation with the franchise which wasn’t getting resolved. They then brought in the head office to supposedly help mediate and resolve the situation. In reality they just used the head office as additional artillery and ramped up the pressure to try and get me to fold. Got very ugly and extremely unprofessional. I got a poor quality home from Signature which I had to spend 10’s of thousands on post handover to bring up to standard. I would highly recommend going with a non-franchised builder.

I also would also advise to go with smaller builders. You will get a much more personal approach. Builders I would recommend (and have had personal dealings with either building myself or in a professional capacity) are: Greenland Homes, Peter Ray Homes, DNA Structures Limited, Que Homes, Quinn Homes, Paul McStay. I would say all of these are honest and reliable builders with good designs and good spec for your money. Ask lots of questions, make sure you know exactly what is included and that they have had actual quotes for work as per plans rather than including lots of PC sums etc.

Hi Alan, I agree with the replies, stay away from bigger franchised companies. I have built with Paul McStay builders and I cannot recommend them highly enough. MT

Try Broadhurst Builders based in Kaiapoi, they have done some good work around the area and I have seen their signs a lot and they have one in Pegasus at the moment

I can’t agree more. Stay away from franchise builders. You only need to read half a dozen of the thousands of posts on here to get a bloody good idea of what to expect dealing with a franchise. Myth – a franchise builder will take care of everything for you and you can continue your life stress free whilst they Build, they are professionals after all with decades of experience in the building industry and It is by far the easier, cheapest and quickest way to get a new build and should anything go wrong, you have the assurance and the guarantee of the franchise head office to help you sort out any issues. Reality – their decades of experience was from working at the trade desk in Bunnings and whilst you and your partner are out working 60 hours a week each to fund this they will cut every corner they can find, fail inspections that you won’t be around to see so you’ll never know, order the cheapest and often incorrect materials and chances are you won’t notice this either until it’s too late. They will under quote you by $200k but use variations to get another $400k out of you by the end and if you don’t pay, you won’t get the keys and all the f#*k ups they make along the way will push your build out by months and sometimes years. When you complain to head office that your build is over budget, over time and looks nothing like the plans you agreed on they’ll either ignore you or bully you and in the end you’ll give up. Go for a smaller, local builder who’s been in your district for quite sometime is my recommendation and ask a million questions and then a million more.

Well said MJ. My build with Signature took 4 years to complete and I had to go on anti-anxiety medication for 2 year after completion. After the 4 years it took me another year and many thousands more before the house was even close to an ok standard. To be honest being part of this blog is quite unhealthy for as it continually opens up old wounds. Nether the less I do it because if I can save one person from going through the same experience then it is worth it!! Please follow the advice.

Well said and good advice.

Please keep posting, it’s the only way advice gets around and the more educated we can make people the quicker we can change this unregulated and criminal industry. We need people like you, you really should consider applying for a position on the LBP board!