Tips on starting a construction business?

[Andrew001]

Looking to advice on starting a home construction company.

I've got a background in architecture 10+ and am looking to start building. I also ran a landscaping company for a few years.

The first project is going to be my own timber frame house. In saying this, I already have sub contractors do to most of the work, being plumbers, electricians and timber framers. I know most of these guys from the trade and working with them on past projects.

The role for me I am imagining would be project managing the build, ordering materials, getting appropriate insurance

Are there any construction guys out there that can offer some advice on what type of insurancea to get, and any other things that would be help getting all my ducks in row as to lower the amount of inevitable hiccups along the way.
Do suppliers mostly want COD or do they allow you time to pay the invoices
The build is bank financed (standard bank) and the bank allows owners to build. They pay out in stages so my limited understanding is that I would need startup capital only for the first phase/payment. After would the profits on the first stage be enough to fund the 2 stage.
The bank will be paying in 4 stages.
I will be NHBRC registered in a few weeks.
I will be registering a PTY Ltd in the coming days.

Any experiencial advice would be greatly helpful.
Thanks

 

[acidrain]

Looking to advice on starting a home construction company.

I've got a background in architecture 10+ and am looking to start building. I also ran a landscaping company for a few years.

The first project is going to be my own timber frame house. In saying this, I already have sub contractors do to most of the work, being plumbers, electricians and timber framers. I know most of these guys from the trade and working with them on past projects.

The role for me I am imagining would be project managing the build, ordering materials, getting appropriate insurance

Are there any construction guys out there that can offer some advice on what type of insurancea to get, and any other things that would be help getting all my ducks in row as to lower the amount of inevitable hiccups along the way.
Do suppliers mostly want COD or do they allow you time to pay the invoices
The build is bank financed (standard bank) and the bank allows owners to build. They pay out in stages so my limited understanding is that I would need startup capital only for the first phase/payment. After would the profits on the first stage be enough to fund the 2 stage.
The bank will be paying in 4 stages.
I will be NHBRC registered in a few weeks.
I will be registering a PTY Ltd in the coming days.

Any experiencial advice would be greatly helpful.
Th

It will all really depend on who you will be targeting as the client base. Whilst the following are legal requirements, if you are targeting home owners, they are not really going to care whether you are legally compliant or not.

I suspect you will start small and eventually go for the big clients, who will expect legal compliance.

Insurance
Public liability - R10mil is standard.
Workmanship / Defects - No standard amount but for your sake you want to make sure you covered.

COIDA (Workmans Compensation)
Can either go direct via Dept. of Labor or FEMA. I recommend FEMA as anything government takes time.

Health and Safety
Compliance with legislation. Can either employ a safety officer or contact a consultancy firm.

When using sub-contractors, you would be the principle and therefore be ultimately accountable in the event of an incident so you will need to ensure they comply with the above as well and can provide all the required documentation.

As I said, in the beginning it may not necessarily be needed on the client side but if you plan on doing with with property developers, they will likely look for this kind of stuff.

 

[Andrew001]

Thanks for the info.
It will mainly be for our own homes we will be building and selling.

 

[Hemi300c]

It will all really depend on who you will be targeting as the client base. Whilst the following are legal requirements, if you are targeting home owners, they are not really going to care whether you are legally compliant or not.

I suspect you will start small and eventually go for the big clients, who will expect legal compliance.

Insurance
Public liability - R10mil is standard.
Workmanship / Defects - No standard amount but for your sake you want to make sure you covered.

COIDA (Workmans Compensation)
Can either go direct via Dept. of Labor or FEMA. I recommend FEMA as anything government takes time.

Health and Safety
Compliance with legislation. Can either employ a safety officer or contact a consultancy firm.

When using sub-contractors, you would be the principle and therefore be ultimately accountable in the event of an incident so you will need to ensure they comply with the above as well and can provide all the required documentation.

As I said, in the beginning it may not necessarily be needed on the client side but if you plan on doing with with property developers, they will likely look for this kind of stuff.

Insurance
Public liability - R10mil is standard.
Workmanship / Defects - No standard amount but for your sake you want to make sure you covered.

This not 100% correct information.

Although the above will give very basic cover and exclude essential covers you actually need to consult with a broker.

They should provide you with quotes on Contractors All Risk insurance. This will be based on your anticipated annual turnover.

It provides cover for damage to TP property, surrounding property, removal/altering of support etc
It also provides cover for the work, equipment and plant at site and in transit.

Good luck in your ventures