What’s the difference between a ‘Volume’ & a ‘Custom’ Builder

*Please note the following are generalisations and any person considering building a house should thoroughly do their research on any builder they intend to work with* 

A volume builder is a construction company that builds its same home design on a large scale.

They will likely have a ‘design range’ or a ‘display home’ which you can choose your layout from. They will try to sell that same house to many other customers as well. By doing the same build over & over they can build homes at a cheaper price.

If you want a table you head on down to IKEA and get a good looking & affordable table, but when you go to someone else’s home they may have that very same table. 

This is the volume builder, because they mass produce the same home again & again, they know exactly what is involved in its construction, like a table in a factory.

Whereas if you would like a specifically built table, you head down to your local furniture maker where they can design and build a table that is just what you want and nobody else has one like it.

This is the custom builder, as they will likely only build the home once, it will involve more time designing from the start and normally take a little longer to construct as every detail has to be considered for the first time. You will however end up with a home that is uniquely yours.

Pros

• Cheaper
• Faster to build
• Easy selection of Materials

Cons

• Lower Quality
• Not exactly the home you want
• Less to no ability to change design & selections
• Limited choices in material selections
• Common to see the same home multiple times in the same street

Clients are normally

• First home buyers 
• Investors 
• People who need larger homes who don’t have large budget. 

Pros

• Specific designed house to your needs & lifestyle 
• Larger choice in material selection. 
• Higher quality 
• You are more involved during the process (if you want to be)

Cons

• Design & construction times are longer. 
• More expensive

Clients are normally

• People with a specific idea about their home 
• A larger budget  
• Are focused on one or more certain aspects they really desire (such as efficiency, sustainability, high end features, healthy indoor quality, disability requirements etc).