What is Design - Build in HomeRenovation in Victoria?
Design-Build is a project management approach that eliminates the crosstalk and keeps everyone focused on the same outcome: an expertly finished home renovation. At MAC Renovations, all of our remodelling and renovation projects are done using this approach.
One of the benefits of design-build is you get an integrated team to complete your renovation. You’ll have one project manager to connect with, and they’ll take care of coordinating the trades, informing the designer, and ensuring the project sticks to the plan. Our clients tend to enjoy the collaborative approach of Design-Build because it typically improves speed, communication, and quality for home renovations.
One alternative to design-build is design-bid-build, which splits the design and construction responsibilities into separate contracts and crews to complete the project. A major issue with this is the lack of clear oversight — there’s no single point of accountability.
Why Us?
“It was clear once the job was done that using MAC probably saved us time and money due to solid planning and good tradesmanship”
– Mark K.
Pre-Construction
Keeping your project on time and on budget requires effective planning, tools, and processes. Over the past 40 years of renovating homes throughout Greater Victoria, we’ve learned who to work with, how long a project will take, and how to overcome issues as they pop up. We have great resources to keep you informed, like BuilderTrend, our pre-construction planning process sheet, and our scope worksheet to prioritize your wants and needs before we begin your renovation.
Construction
Once the construction agreement is signed, we’ll apply for the necessary building permits, then give you a firm schedule of events with a completion date. We’ll introduce ourselves to your neighbours so they know who we are and what we’re doing, and we’ll give them a number to call should they have any questions or concerns. Throughout your construction project, you’ll be able to monitor our progress by logging into your personal renovation project page, where you’ll find daily updates with photos, change request tracking, cost updates, and more. During construction, we use a negative-air exhaust system to prevent dust from settling in your house. At the end of the remodel, you’ll do a walk-through with your project manager, and any concerns you have will be resolved ASAP.
The MAC Renovations Design Showroom
During the design process, you’ll be invited to join us in our design centre at The Ranch, a place where you can see and feel the wide selection of materials and fixtures that might be featured in your home. Instead of driving to the various vendors around town, join us in our showroom to choose the right materials for your home renovation in a safe and private space, in a fraction of the time.
Our design centre at The Ranch is one of the tools we use to save you time during the design phase of your renovation. Here you will find many of the materials you can choose from: feel the flooring and fabrics, see the patterns and styles, and experience the quality of the materials you’re selecting.
Visiting different showrooms to choose the various materials used to take multiple trips over many days. With the MAC Renovations design centre, you can quickly choose what’s right for your home, so you and your designer can spend more time finding the perfect style and less time driving around town.
Fixed Fee
When you’re looking at multiple estimates, make sure they’re actually comparable. At MAC, we’ve found fixed-fee is the right fit for our design-build approach. Other builders in Victoria prefer a cost-plus approach.
With cost-plus, you agree to pay the builder the actual costs paid for labour and materials, plus markup: you won’t know the final price until the project is fully completed. Cost-plus is like those frozen yogurt places that let you make your own dessert. You fill the cup with the flavours you want, then pile on the different toppings. You don’t know what it’ll cost until it’s on the scale, and at that point, you can’t put anything back. The price is the price, and there’s no incentive for the builder to deliver on time.
With MAC Renovations, our design-build approach lets us offer fixed-fee pricing because the work and materials are already determined before the project starts. You’ll work with our design team to choose the flooring, lighting, paint, layout, and all of the elements that make your house a home. Since we know what’s required to complete your project, we can provide a fixed fee in advance. Design-build adds accountability and transparency to your project without sacrificing quality or flexibility. If something comes up during the renovation and you want to change an aspect of the design, we’ll create a change order so you can see how it will affect the timeline and final costs. You get what you want, for the price you want.
If you’re ready for a better building experience, give us a call to see why Design-Build is the smart approach.
Start your renovation project
Ready to create a space that is uniquely yours? Our team of professional and reliable designers and builders will help you start planning the remodel of your dreams. We handle everything, so you can relax and know your home is in good hands.
You’ve got experience on your side – let’s make your space amazing.