How to spot a best-practice builder (and the bloke who'll quietly sink your project)

The single biggest call you'll make on a new build isn't the floor plan or the splashback — it's who's holding the hammer. Get the builder right and most other problems get sorted before they become problems. Get the builder wrong and the rest of the list won't save you.

So how do you tell a best-practice builder from one who'll quietly sink your project? Look for structure and process. A proper builder has a system from first contact through to handover, and you'll feel it from the first meeting. Emails come back. Quotes are itemised. There's a clear written process for how variations get handled. If everything feels ad-hoc and "she'll be right", that's a flag.

A few other things I'd ask before you commit:

How long they've been licensed in Queensland, and can you see the licence and insurance documents. Both should be current and easy to produce.

Who their previous clients are, and can you ring two of them. A good builder has a list ready. A builder who dodges this question is dodging it for a reason.

Whether they answer their own phone or whether you're going to be talking to a salesperson who disappears the moment the contract's signed.

What their fixed-price contract actually includes, and how they handle provisional sums and prime costs.

Whether they belong to an industry body — HIA, MBA — and whether they've nominated for any awards. Pros are happy to be measured.

The biggest red flag of all is a quote that's tens of thousands cheaper than the next one. That almost never means a great deal. It usually means the builder has either left items off, used cheap allowances they know won't hold, or is in financial trouble and will desperate-bid the job to keep cash flowing. Once they're broke mid-build, you don't get the cheap deal — you get a half-finished house and a Department of Fair Trading file.

I've seen what happens when good people pick the wrong builder. It's not pretty and it's not cheap to fix.

Have a chat at inh.com.au/bundaberg before you commit.