Why Relying on Square Metre is Costing Builders Thousands

Trusting square metre rates is like building your house on sand; it might seem solid at first glance, but the foundation is weak. 

In an industry where margins can be thin, not understanding the true cost of services and materials creates inaccuracies which can lead to: 

1. Project Delays
2. Damage to Your Reputation
3. Disastrous Financial Consequences

There is a better way – a method of confidently pricing your projects, which reduces stress and guarantees accurate service and material costs via a detailed, systematic breakdown of job components. For instance… 

• Recently I chatted with a builder who estimated a project based on a flat square metre rate, only to find—midway—that the land’s topography required additional foundation work. This added significant costs and delayed the project.
• Another builder shared a story about a project where the initial estimate was based on average labour costs per square metre. However, as the project progressed, they realised the complexity of the design required more specialised labour, which was significantly more expensive.
• A different builder recounted a situation where the staircase on the architectural plan wasn’t constructible. The allowance would not have paid for the redesign and rework of the project.

The Sad Part About Each of These Situations, is They Would Have Been Easy to Avoid

By performing a detailed inspection and cost breakdown upfront while applying known margins for specific products, each of these builders would have identified these potential issues early (with accuracy and visibility over every element of the job) and incorporated them into the initial estimate, ensuring a more accurate and manageable project scope.

Make no mistake, meticulous planning and detailed cost breakdowns of every single element of a project are your roadmap to success. They allow you to:  

1. Ensure Jobs are Priced Correctly: So you cover your costs and generate a healthy profit margin.
2. Reduce Stress Levels: Knowing your figures inside out means fewer financial surprises, less anxiety and more confidence.
3. Enhance Project Management: With every cost accounted for, managing timelines and budgets becomes significantly easier.

What’s more, it’s…

The Single Best Way to Deal With Variations

There’s nothing more frustrating for a builder than dealing with variations, especially when they’re triggered multiple times throughout the build. 

Without a detailed cost breakdown, it’s often difficult to determine the true cost, how much to charge for it, and to work out if you’re actually making any money from it. 

However if you’ve done your homework upfront, it’s far easier to manage these inevitable changes, so you can handle variations without compromising your profit margins.

Too Many Builders are Experiencing ‘Death by 1000 Cuts’

Often, you don’t notice when you lose one or two percent on each section of a project. 

But it adds up. 

And it means you could be making FAR more than you are right now simply by improving your processes – while reducing your stress.

Think about it:  

Are you confident every time you release a costing for your job? 

Or are you like many builders, who are filled with uncertainty about whether you’re truly making what you think you’re making?

When you rely on detailed breakdowns and meticulous planning, you remove that stress. You gain confidence, knowing your figures inside out, and ensuring each project is not only accurately priced but also optimised for profitability.

Bottom line: precision over simplicity is the key to a successful and profitable custom home-building business which is safeguarded against economic ups and downs. 

That’s why we’ve created this free guide.

Estimating Breakthrough For Custom Builders

Grab it now to discover how to make budget overruns a thing of the past, so you can enjoy more peace of mind.