Frequently Asked Questions
Question 1
What is the idea behind ‘the one stop shop’?
Having spoken to a number of customers during the course of projects that we have carried out on their behalf, Over the year, the feedback from customers has suggested it would be nice to be able to walk into a ‘one stop shop’, where help and advice was available across the entire building spectrum, from small maintenance issues, to the complete planning, building and refurbishment of an extension.
Question 2
What is the business relationship between House of Building and all the trades and companies it employs?
House of Building provides an ‘umbrella’ over approximately forty five small local businesses and trades people. Each one pays a fee to be associated through House of Building. Sharing general costs (most notably high rental charges for our prime location) in this way reduces overheads for all and that means they are not being passed on to you, the customer.
The relationship is truly beneficial to all parties: House of Building can offer a complete service in a central Reigate location and each company can benefit from a high street presence that may otherwise have been impossible to achieve. This close knit network of companies benefit from economies of scale and, indeed, a shared knowledge base, where all trades cooperate together to the best result for the customer. A fantastic knock on effect of this ‘micro community’ is that it is keeping local businesses trading during a tough economic climate, and maintaining the sense of community spirit and networking that lies at the heart of the venture.
Question 3
So, does House of Building subcontract?
No, there is a subtle but important difference between subcontracting and employing. House of Building employs specialist companies directly to work for them and not the customer.
Question 4
Who will be responsible for my project from the submission of an estimate to its completion?
You will be assigned a project manager who will be your prime point of contact throughout the duration. In the unlikely event that he/she can’t be contacted on any day, we have a customer services team in the office six days a week from 9.30am to 4pm.
Question 5
Who do I pay and what are the terms of payment?
House of Building does not ask for deposits or payments before we start a job and with all our installations, we offer attractive finance plans agreed between yourself and the contacts manager. These usually take the form of staged payments worked out proportionately over the time period of the project. Your contract is with House of Building, your liability is with them and you will transact only with them.
Question 6
What is the process following initial estimate?
From a first look at your project, our contracts manager will provide you with an ‘estimate’. This will be broken down and individually itemized to allow the customer to scrutinize carefully and add or remove items as appropriate. After this process and after an acceptance of the estimate, the contacts manager will visit the project again to ‘fine tune’ the estimate into a ‘quotation’. This process reveals any extras at this initial stage, leaving House of Building and the customer with a detailed plan which will be as close to the final invoice as can possibly be achieved.
Question 7
Can I specify my own products?
House of Building is primarily an installation specialist. The products we recommend will be those we have found to be the best. However, we are very happy to source and install products that you specify and are always interested to work with new companies.
Question 8
What happens if the something goes wrong?
House of Building has Full Public Liability up to £5 million.
Guarantees for building works are inherent in the signing off procedure by the Building Regulations department of the local council. Certification received says standards have been reached with recourse to our architects who are insured individually.
All our trades are insured through their professional affiliations e.g. Gas Safe and Part P.
All parts and materials used are guaranteed by our suppliers.