Owner-managing your build with Paal

Owner-managing your build with Paal

When you build with Paal, there are three options to consider. You can owner-build and complete the project yourself, you can engage a builder to carry out the work, or you can owner-manage, where you complete some of the work, while subcontracting tradespeople for certain jobs.

The first two options, while popular choices are not for everyone. Some customers don’t feel confident to carry out the work themselves, nor have they got the time. And engaging a builder, while cheaper than a conventional build, still increases the budget and limits the customer’s control over the process. Plus, in the current post pandemic climate, good builders are booked up in advance and now more expensive with rising material and labour costs. There’s also the risk of builders running into financial difficulty and failing to complete the build.

The third option of owner-managing is one you may not have yet considered; however, it offers many positive aspects, both financial and emotional.

What is owner-managing?

Owner-managing, or project-managing, involves engaging the various trades required to build a home, such as a concreter to lay the slab or a carpenter to erect frames and complete internal carpentry work. While this requires a certain amount of organisation and research on your part, this process offers three main advantages:

You can save money

Paal customers who owner-manage save approximately 30 per cent of the full cost of the build (basically the builder’s margin). This 30 per cent margin can be quite significant, for example building the Richmond home, this amounts to $116,000. And for a more modest home such as the Windsor, this figure would be around $70,000. Both savings are excellent and well worth of the effort of organising trades!

You stay in control

When owner-managing, you have more control by choosing the best trades people for the job. You’re able to hand pick the trades, based on recommendations from family, friends or local reputation. Also, when using subcontractor trades, you only make payment on completion of a satisfactory job. When engaging a builder, you’re required to make five upfront progressive payments – then hope the finished product is as good as expected. Mostly it is, but sometimes that is not the case.

Paal is here to help

By owner-managing your build, you decrease the chance of such disasters, as well as simply having better control over your budget, building time frame and ultimately the final product. It may seem daunting to take this step, however, when you owner-manage with Paal, you’re never alone. Paal has been supporting customers with their reliable dedication to service and quality materials for more than 53 years. Thousands of our customers have chosen to owner-manage and have successfully completed their build, saving time and money and, more importantly, ending up with a quality home, they’re proud to say they created.