Personal guarantees and director liability for residential builders
Limited liability protects the business, not the person who signed a guarantee. This guide sets out what a builder takes on personally, and what to negotiate before a supplier asks for a signature.
11 min read
Blog
Housing and Market
The numbers behind the pipeline: approvals, commencements, costs, rates and the housing targets governments have set, and what they mean for builders.
Personal guarantees and director liability for residential builders
Limited liability protects the business, not the person who signed a guarantee. This guide sets out what a builder takes on personally, and what to negotiate before a supplier asks for a signature.
11 min read
What a building business is worth, and how succession changes the number
A buyer pays for the earnings a building business can produce without its owner. This guide sets out what they test, and how a planned succession changes the price.
12 min read
Key-person dependence in a small building business: the owner as bottleneck
A small building business often runs through one person, the owner, who holds the licence, the client relationships and the approvals. This is where that concentration hides and how to reduce it.
11 min read
Choosing a niche as a small residential builder
A generalist business prices every job from scratch. A niche chosen against the business’s own capacity and the local demand makes estimates faster and margins steadier.
11 min read
Medium-density projects: how the economics change as unit numbers rise
Adding units looks like more of the same work, but the margin, the cash flow and the risk all behave differently once several dwellings share one site, one crew and one bank account.
12 min read
Government tenders for small residential builders: are they worth chasing?
Government work looks steady on paper. The bid cost, prequalification and payment terms decide whether it suits a small residential builder.
11 min read
Using producer price indexes to escalate a building quote
A quote is a forecast, and materials costs rarely hold still for the life of a job. A producer price index gives you an objective basis for adjusting the price, but only if you understand what it measures, how late it arrives and how to write it into the contract.
12 min read
Benchmarking build cost per square metre without fooling yourself
A rate per square metre looks like a clean comparison, but it hides differences in scope, site and finish. Normalise the job first, then compare it with anything.
11 min read
Property sales volumes and what they mean for renovation demand
A rise in property sales does not produce an immediate rise in renovation work. This guide explains the lag between a sale and the decisions that follow it, and how a builder can plan around that lag.
11 min read
Regional and metropolitan builder markets in NSW: how they differ
Regional and metropolitan building look similar on a plan and very different in the accounts. Travel, freight and the labour pool decide which is the better place to focus.
11 min read
Population growth and migration: reading the demand signal for builders
A headline population figure says little about the work available in your suburb. This article shows how household formation and local demand patterns turn population data into a signal a builder can act on.
11 min read
Affordability ratios: what they tell you about your client base
Affordability headlines are easy to quote and easy to misread. This guide shows how to read the ratios behind them and turn them into a realistic picture of the clients you can win.
11 min read