Hi Elaine,

Companies offering this package often come out and ask for a 10-15% deposit but personally I wouldn’t pay any money’s forward when I haven’t even seen the design of the property that you have asked for. I would also ask for a layman’s terms breakdown of all costings of the build, including labour. I would also ask who it is they are putting in to run the job and What qualifications and recommendations they have. And finally I would ask for a outlined time scale on how long the project will take approximately.

Elaine,
Design and Build companies generally are liable to cover the risks of design changes and the material inflation. So it can work in two ways. You can ask them to provide separate quotes for design and separate for the build. That way you can be sure that you are not putting big deposit for the build upfront while the design is ongoing. Parallely, the D&B are still interested in providing you a good solution because their design costs are covered. The risks become apparent at the final stages of design and the build price also becomes more realistic. Disadvantage is that if D&B starts getting a feel that the design process is getting dragged, they will lose interest and may leave the design unfinished. Second option is to use conventional Architect-Engineer system to get design that you like within a budget that you set out for them. Then get three quotes and preferably meet them with Architect so that their experience and work knowledge can be qualified. But clients feel like why should I pay someone to sit in a office and come to site once in a while...but that's a mindset that needs changing. The professionals carry Professional Indemnity Insurance and can't afford to be on the wrong side of the law. So you are safe..Happy to help