Building For The First Time

In this guide, we break down everything you need to know. We cover choosing the right professionals, handling preliminary paperwork, and ensuring the best outcomes for your new home.

Understanding the range of builders in the market

When building your first home in Sydney, you’ll encounter a variety of builders, each offering different services and approaches. It's essential to understand these options so you select the right builder for your dream home.

Project home builders

Project home builders dominate much of the Sydney market, offering a vast range of pre-designed homes. Communities like Home World showcase many of these builders, providing a convenient way to compare their designs and offerings in one place.

Customization

While some project home builders offer customization options, others stick to a rigid design template. Even with customization, changes tend to be surface-level or minor structural modifications.

Pricing

Project builders often advertise large discounts and attractive deals, but these discounts are often built into the base price. If you are building a forever family home, look beyond the base price as it may not reflect the true value or long-term quality of your build.

Pros

• Wide range of design offerings
• Large, established teams with efficient processes
• Beautiful display homes that allow you to visualize the final product

Cons

These companies often prioritize profit over personalized service. The process is heavily driven by their internal systems rather than your specific needs. Base prices don’t always reflect the true cost of building a home that meets your long-term goals.

There are medium to large project home builders, with the larger, national brands falling under volume builders. Volume builders typically have a more rigid process and larger brand presence, but might lack flexibility when it comes to personalizing your home.

Custom home builders

Custom home builders offer a more personalized option for those seeking flexibility. Any small to medium-sized builder that offers design services or works with your existing plans falls into this category. Unlike with project builders, with custom builders, you’re more likely to meet and collaborate directly with the builder responsible for your home.

Service offerings

Custom home builders offer a range of services. Some start with your design, while others design your home from scratch. You need to thoroughly research each builder as their services and quality can greatly vary.

Pros

• Tailored service that caters to your specific needs and desires.
• Direct access to the team that will build your home.
• Costs may be higher upfront but can end up comparable to project homes after factoring in upgrades.

Cons

Due to the more personal approach, costs can fluctuate, and timelines may extend depending on the complexity of the design.

Key advice

If you’re considering a custom home builder, visit some of their current projects to gauge their work’s quality. Getting a feel for a builder approaches projects and how their team operates on-site will give you confidence in your decision.

Boutique builders

This category includes high-end custom home builders with a focus on luxury homes, typically in the $3 million and above range. These builders provide an extremely high level of service and customization, though they cater to a smaller market segment.

Specialty builders

This is where Marvel Homes and other niche builders fall. Specialty builders focus not just on the home’s design but also on a specific building standard or outcome. Marvel Homes specializes in Passive House builds, making high-energy-efficiency homes accessible to custom home clients.

Focus

Specialty builders deliver homes that meet strict energy, accessibility, or environmental standards. This could include NDIS-compliant homes, Green Star-rated builds, or Passive House standards.

Pros

• Specialized expertise that aligns with the client’s goals for sustainability, energy efficiency, or accessibility.
• A tailored service that ensures both the client and builder are aligned on the desired outcome from the outset.

Cons

Not ideal for investment projects or builds where cost is the main focus, as these builders prioritize long-term value, health, and energy efficiency over initial price considerations.

Who to approach first—architect, designer, or builder?

A common question when building a new home is, "Should I start with an architect, designer, or builder?" The answer depends on your vision, budget, and your project’s complexity. There’s no single "best" way—it’s about understanding your final goal and aligning your team with it from the start.

Starting with an architect

If you’re looking for a fully custom design or have a challenging site (e.g., sloping land), an architect can provide a unique solution to meet your specific needs.

Role

Architects focus on the aesthetics and functionality of your home while ensuring it integrates with the site. They’re skilled in handling complex designs and providing creative, tailored solutions that reflect your vision.

Drawback

Architects can sometimes produce designs that exceed your budget, especially if a builder isn't involved early on to guide costs. We’ve seen cases where architect-led projects required redesigning to meet budget constraints during construction.

Engaging a building designer

Building designers are ideal if you want custom touches without the level of detail and expense that comes with hiring an architect. This option works well for more straightforward designs.

Role

Designers are more budget-focused. They aim to create functional, aesthetically pleasing homes that work within your financial limits. They can manage council approvals and work with builders to ensure designs are practical for construction.

Drawback

While more cost-effective than architects, building designers may offer less creative flexibility. For homes with specific energy efficiency or healthy living requirements, a designer might miss some of the more technical details.

Going direct to a builder

If you already know the style or design you want, particularly if it’s inspired by a display home or previous build, starting with a builder may save time.

Role

Builders can handle the project from start to finish and connect you with their in-house designers or drafts people. Some builders specialize in Design and Construct services, which helps streamline the entire process from design to approvals and construction.

Drawback

Going straight to a builder without an independent designer or architect may limit your design options to what the builder offers. Some builders may focus more on ticking regulatory boxes (like BASIX or NatHERS) than going above and beyond with energy-efficient or healthy home features.

Our recommended approach

If you’re building a custom forever home, the best approach is to involve both the builder and the designer from the start. Often, the builder is brought in later, which can result in designs that are difficult or expensive to build.

For example, if you’re focusing on health and energy efficiency—like building to Passive House standards—it’s essential to involve a builder early. Builders can offer practical insights into how design decisions affect the performance and construction of your home. Architects and designers might overlook these performance aspects, leading to unexpected issues or compromised energy efficiency further down the line.

Avoid design-first pitfalls

We’ve seen cases where clients spend months working on a design only to find out later that their dream home exceeds their budget. This is why it’s essential to control both design and costs simultaneously, rather than treating the design in isolation.

A design and construct approach works particularly well for those who want healthy, energy-efficient homes, as it keeps all aspects of the project—design, approvals, and costs—aligned.

If you have a complex site, engaging both a local architect and a builder from the beginning can help ensure the design fits your budget and site conditions. It’s much easier to adjust the design early on than to scramble for more funds after construction begins.

Choose the right team so you don’t need to educate your builder

One of the most important pieces of advice we can offer is to be clear on your priorities—whether that’s energy efficiency, healthy living, or building a forever home—and then select professionals who already have experience delivering on those goals. It’s not uncommon to see clients try to force-educate their selected builder, especially when it comes to incorporating high-performance features like airtightness or advanced ventilation systems. This can lead to cost overruns and frustration.

Instead, seek out builders who specialize in these areas to ensure your goals are met without unnecessary friction.

Handling preliminary paperwork

Before diving into the design and construction of your dream home, there are essential first steps that involve gathering key documents and reports. These will guide the design process, inform the necessary approvals, and help identify any site-specific challenges early on. Here’s a breakdown of the initial paperwork you'll need:

1. Survey report

One of the first documents you'll need is a survey report from a licensed land surveyor. This report maps out your property, including boundaries, land slope, and features like trees, fences, or structures. It’s a crucial document that will be used by architects, designers, and builders when creating your home design.

Tip:

When obtaining the survey report, make sure to request the DWG file (digital working file) in addition to the PDF. The DWG file is used by architects and designers to integrate the land data directly into their design software, ensuring accuracy. You can hire a surveyor yourself or have your builder or designer manage it.

2. Certificates 10.7 and 5

These certificates can be purchased direct from your local council. They provide critical insights into the regulations that affect your build and are a must-have when planning your new home. They’ll inform you of any zoning restrictions or environmental impacts like flooding or bushfire risks.

• Certificate 10.7 outlines zoning, flood, and bushfire risks, as well as other development constraints on your lot.
• Certificate 5 provides a detailed analysis of land use and restrictions but doesn’t cover every single detail related to the property.

3. Hydraulic engineer desktop audit

In Sydney, many councils require on-site detention (OSD) tanks to manage stormwater runoff. A hydraulic engineer’s desktop audit helps determine whether you need an OSD tank for your project. On some sites, you can combine the OSD tank with the rainwater tank, which can reduce costs. However, this is site-specific, and the hydraulic engineer will provide guidance on whether this is possible for your build.

4. Sewer diagram

This document shows the location of any existing sewer lines on your property. It’s essential for identifying how the sewer system will integrate with your new design. The placement of the sewer line can impact where and how you position your house, as well as have a potential impact on your foundation.

You can request a sewer diagram from Sydney Water or your local water authority. Builders and designers also use this document to ensure your design complies with regulations and avoids costly complications during construction.

5. Town planner assessment

Once you've gathered the above reports, the next step is to engage a town planner. They will assess your project based on information in the survey report, certificates, and other documents, and help you determine the best approval pathway.

Approval pathways

The town planner will help you decide whether to pursue a Development Application (DA) through the council or a Complying Development Certificate (CDC) through a private certifier.

DA: Generally required for more complex sites (e.g., flood- or fire-prone areas) or when seeking to vary council controls.

CDC: A faster and often cheaper route for straightforward builds, where the design complies with all relevant codes. This pathway is often used for flat, uncomplicated sites without significant restrictions.

Time and cost-saving tip:

If your site and design are relatively straightforward, the CDC process can save you considerable time and money compared to a DA, which often involves longer approval times and higher fees.

Conclusion

If you gather these documents early on, you’ll be better equipped to plan your dream home with fewer surprises down the line. This paperwork not only informs your design but also helps you understand your site’s constraints, zoning, and regulatory requirements. When building your forever home, ensuring you have the right information upfront is key to avoiding delays, unnecessary costs, and design limitations during the construction phase.