Owner-Builder: Is This the Right Job for You?

This is the first article in our Owner-Builder Series. I'm Jay Carroll, a builder and carpenter and Director of Carroll Building Group, with 25 years in the construction industry.

Over this series, we're going to follow the owner-builder journey from start to finish. We'll look at where to start, planning, scoping and budgeting, comparing quotes and selecting trades, site management and scheduling, quality control and independent inspections, documentation and administration, and finally when to get help and how to bring it all together.

But before we get into any of that, there's a more important question.

Is owner-building actually the right job for you?

Becoming an owner-builder means taking on the role of the builder. So for this first article, we're going to treat it like applying for the job.

Would you apply?

Position Available: Owner-Builder

Position: Owner-Builder

Location: Your project

Contract: Until completion — hopefully

Hours: More than you probably think

Remuneration: Potential project savings

Experience: Construction knowledge highly advantageous

Potential benefits: Greater control, financial savings and the satisfaction of completing your own project

Position Overview

An owner-builder takes on the role and responsibilities normally performed or managed by the builder.

You may physically undertake all, some or none of the construction work yourself.

The job isn't just swinging a hammer. It's about making sure all the different parts of a building project come together.

If you're considering becoming an owner builder in Western Australia, the WA Government Owner-builder information should be your starting point.

Why Are You Applying?

There are plenty of reasons people consider owner-building:

• Potential financial savings

• Greater control over the project

• Choice of trades and suppliers

• Greater involvement in quality and decision-making

• Flexibility in how the project is delivered

• Personal challenge

• Satisfaction in completing your own project

Maybe you've worked in construction for years and believe you've got the experience to manage it.

Maybe you've had a bad experience with a builder.

Maybe you're in a regional area and simply can't find the right builder.

Or maybe you look at the building process and think:

“I think I can do this.”

Different reasons. Same job.

Key Responsibilities

The successful applicant will be responsible for managing:

• Design and documentation

• Engineering

• Plans, permits and approvals

• Scopes of work

• Estimating and budgeting

• Procurement

• Programming and scheduling

• Contracting and engaging trades

• Site supervision and quality control

• Work health and safety

• Variations

• Unforeseen conditions

• Delays

• Bookkeeping

• Administration

You don't personally have to perform every one of these tasks.

A builder doesn't personally engineer the structure, complete every trade or perform every specialist role either. Part of the job is bringing together the right people to deliver the project.

We'll break many of these responsibilities down as the series progresses, particularly when we get into Owner-Builder: Planning, Scoping & Budgeting and Owner-Builder: Comparing Quotes & Selecting Trades.

For now, the important thing is understanding that they're part of the job you're applying for.

Key Skills & Attributes

The successful applicant should ideally demonstrate:

• Construction knowledge

• Organisation

• People management

• Budget management

• Scheduling and time management

• Problem-solving

• Ability to make decisions under pressure

• Ability to adapt when things change

• Strong communication

• Ability to recognise when specialist advice is required

Availability

This role requires flexibility during normal construction hours.

Having ten spare hours each week doesn't necessarily mean you have the right ten hours.

Your electrician might need an answer at 10:30 on Tuesday morning. If that decision prevents them from continuing, they may not be able to simply wait until 6:00 that evening when you've finished work.

And a one-day delay doesn't necessarily mean the project finishes one day later.

The electrician may already be committed elsewhere. They might not be available again for another week or two. That can then affect the next trade and start pushing the rest of the programme with it.

If you already have a full-time job, owner-building can effectively mean taking on a second one.

We'll look much more closely at how these pieces fit together in Owner-Builder: Site Management & Scheduling.

Support & Resources

The successful applicant will be expected to identify and engage appropriate resources where required.

These may include:

• Engineers

• Building professionals

• Independent inspectors

• Experienced trades

• Specialist suppliers

• Industry contacts

• Estimating and scheduling tools

A professional builder doesn't do everything themselves. They bring together engineers, trades, suppliers, consultants and specialists and use their expertise when it's needed.

An owner-builder can do the same.

You don't need to know everything. You need to know what you don't know and where to get the right help.

That's something we'll come back to throughout the series and eventually tackle directly in Owner-Builder: When to Get Help & Bringing It All Together.

Risks of the Role — Some Areas You May Not Have Considered

Applicants should be comfortable accepting responsibility for:

• Budget overruns

• Programme delays

• Procurement mistakes

• Trade coordination

• Quality issues

• Unexpected site conditions

• Compliance and documentation

• Decisions made throughout the project

Someone with substantial construction experience may recognise a problem immediately.

Someone without that experience can face exactly the same problem without even knowing it's there.

Sometimes the biggest owner-builder risks are the things you don't know you should be checking.

We'll look much more closely at this in Owner-Builder: Quality Control & Independent Inspections, including what should be checked, when it should be checked and when bringing in an independent set of eyes can be worthwhile.

Remuneration — What's the Job Worth?

Let's say you've priced your project through a builder at $200,000.

You've worked through the numbers and believe you can deliver the equivalent project as an owner-builder for $160,000.

Potential return: $40,000

Contract period: 9 months

Would you accept this nine-month job for a potential $40,000 return?

Make a $2,000 purchasing mistake and it's now $38,000.

Lose another $5,000 through delays, additional labour or an estimating mistake and it falls again.

But it can also move the other way.

Maybe you've allowed $10,000 for a particular package of work. You prepare a clear scope, get several competitive quotes and find the same work can be completed for $8,500.

You've just added another $1,500 to your potential saving.

Those wins can add up across a project just as quickly as mistakes can eat into them.

But there's an important word in that example:

Same.

An $8,000 trade quote isn't necessarily $4,000 cheaper than a $12,000 quote if they're not pricing the same work.

We'll deal with that properly in Owner-Builder: Comparing Quotes & Selecting Trades, including estimating, preparing clear scopes and working out whether two quotes are actually comparable.

For now, there's only one question:

For the time, responsibility and risk involved, is the potential return worth taking the job?

The Job Interview

Now you're sitting in the interview.

Can you answer these questions?

• Do you have sufficient construction knowledge, or access to people who do?

• Do you understand the paperwork and regulatory requirements?

• Do you have the time and, importantly, the availability?

• Can you manage people, a budget and a schedule?

• Can you problem-solve when things don't go according to plan?

• Can you recognise the limits of your own knowledge?

• Can you bring together the people and resources needed to deliver the project?

• Are you prepared to take responsibility for the outcome?

Now put yourself on the other side of the table.

If you were sitting in my seat and I presented you with your experience, your knowledge, your availability, your resources and your support network:

Would you hire you?

Would you give yourself the job?

If the answer is yes, owner-building can be an incredibly rewarding experience — including the satisfaction of watching a project come together knowing that you're the person who made it happen.

If the answer is no, it doesn't necessarily mean owner-building isn't for you. It may simply identify the areas you need to strengthen before taking it on.

Application Successful?

You've decided you're the right person for the job.

Now comes the obvious question:

Where do I start?

That's exactly where we'll pick this up in Article 2:

Owner-Builder: Where Do I Start?

We'll work through the practical first steps of owner-building in Western Australia — the approval process, what you need to have in place and what needs to happen before the site works get underway.

For now, if you're considering owner-building in WA, the current WA Government Owner-builder information is the official place to start.