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Here's a truth nobody tells you before you build: you will change your mind about something.
Everyone does. You walk through the framing and realise the window should be bigger. You see the kitchen taking shape and want the island shifted. A product you'd chosen months ago is suddenly on back order and you need an alternative.
None of this means anything has gone wrong. Changes are a completely normal part of building a home. The real question is what happens next, because that's where builds either keep moving or grind to a halt.
When a change comes up on site, someone has to turn that conversation into updated drawings and, depending on the change, updated consent documents. If the designer wasn't in the room when the change was discussed, the details get relayed second hand. And any time information passes between people who weren't in the same conversation, small gaps in understanding creep in. A dimension interpreted differently. An intention that didn't quite survive the retelling.
Each gap means another round of back and forth. Days become weeks. Meanwhile, the site waits.
More often than not, Hannah is on site with Chris when he's meeting with clients. So when a change comes up, she's already there for the conversation that matters.
That means she can go back to the office that same day, update the detail, and get the minor variation or consent amendment documents done within an hour or so. They're ready for Chris on site the next morning.
Think about that timeline. A design change discussed in the afternoon, documented that evening, and back in the builder's hands the next day. Not because anyone rushed, but because nothing had to be relayed, translated or reinterpreted along the way.
The other benefit of having the designer and builder in the same meeting is simpler than you'd think: everyone hears the same thing at the same time. How a detail should be built, why it matters to the design, and the most practical way to achieve it get settled in one conversation, right at the start.
That's the quiet advantage of an integrated design and build team. It's not that changes don't happen. It's that when they do, they cost you days instead of weeks, and the answer you get on site is the same answer that ends up on the drawings.
We work across Tauranga and the wider Bay of Plenty, and we're happy to talk through your project before you've made a single decision. Get in touch and we'll come see you on site.
