Benefits and Disadvantages of a Design and Build Firm For Your House Extension.

Many house extension companies provide a Design and build service to the homeowner suggesting the ‘one stop shop approach‘. This can seem beneficial at first sight as the design is built to a known budget rather than the other way around.

Loft conversion specialists are probably the most exploitative of this type of building contract. It can seem very appealing at first site but it is not a guaranteed method of success.

Many government projects are built this way & most end up still over budget with a bland simple style of non-engaging building. Building to a price can be good if you can establish with the Designer exactly what you are getting for your money. However, the Building Designer in this case is not looking after your interests but that of the builders so you will not be obtaining independent advice.

A design and build house extension company still usually engage external home extension designers but they will be paying their fee not you or rather you are but it is within the builders quote somewhere (no such thing as a free lunch).

The other potential downside is that you do not know if you are receiving value for money as you have not obtained a competitive tender on a pre-agreed design. A home owner often needs time and a selection of options form their own home extension designer in order to establish the best design for their needs. This important design lead in time is often missing for the design & build companies.