Few words feel safer than "fixed price". If the contract says eight hundred and fifty thousand, that's the cost. Sign here. Done. Except a fixed price building contract is only really fixed if there are no provisional sums, no prime cost items, and no variations along the way. And there are almost always all three.
That's not a stitch-up — it's just how building works. There are some items in your home that can't be precisely priced when you sign. Piers in unknown ground. Site cut quantities. Bathroom fittings you haven't chosen yet. The contract handles those with provisional sums (the builder's educated estimate of cost for work) and prime costs (an allowance for fittings you'll pick later). Both can come in higher than the figure on the page, and both are usually subject to a builder's margin on top.
So before you sign, here's what to actually look at. How many provisional sums does the contract carry, and how realistic do the figures look? A best practice MidCoast builder will keep these to an absolute minimum and price them carefully. A low-baller will pad them with gentle numbers to keep the front-page price low.
Same with prime cost items. If the home builder has allowed four hundred dollars for a bathroom mixer when the kind you actually want costs nine hundred, that gap — plus the margin — is coming out of your pocket as a variation. Walk through the prime cost list line by line and ask, "Would this allowance buy something I'd actually choose?"
Then read the variation clause. How are changes priced? What admin fee applies? Does it have to be in writing and signed before the work starts? On any custom new home, variations will happen. The contract is what makes them fair.
A good MidCoast builder will sit with you for an hour or two and walk through the contract. That's not delay — that's diligence. If your builder's blasting through the signing in twenty minutes, slow them down.
If you've got a contract on the table and want a second set of eyes, drop us a line.
