What it costs
Architectural projects run from $1.5 million to $7 million and above. Standalone interior fitouts, delivered with interior designers, run from $500,000 to $1.5 million and above. Those are the bands the figures below describe, and the most useful starting point for deciding whether TCON is the right builder for your project.
Every project is shaped by the client, the architect and the scale of the home, so a price is a conversation, not a number off a page. What TCON can give you early, through the Pre-Construction Program, is an honest feasibility figure and the discipline to hold it.
As a guide, the per square metre rate depends on whether TCON is working with the existing parts of a home, extending it, or building new.
Work to the existing areas of a home, renovated and fitted out, generally runs between $3,000 and $5,000 per square metre, depending on the level of fitout.
Where the home is extended and new areas are added, the extension generally runs between $5,000 and $7,000 per square metre.
A new home, built from the ground up, typically runs between $5,500 and $7,000 per square metre, and can reach $9,000 where an architect or interior designer has specified a specialty finish on nearly every surface, with stone, joinery or cladding and little painted plaster beyond the ceilings.
These figures include demolition and GST. They do not include professional and consultant fees, which the client pays directly, or landscaping and pools, which are costed separately.
Basements, pools and landscaping
Basements start at about $2,000 to $2,500 per square metre. Fitting out habitable basement space, such as a gym, cinema room or wine cellar, adds to that.
A swimming pool averages about $150,000 including a spa, and ranges from roughly $100,000 to $200,000 with size and finish. Glass mosaic and large-format tiles cost more than a standard ceramic tile.
Landscaping packages typically run from $300,000 to $700,000, depending on how much of the property is in scope.
What drives the cost
Scale and the level of finish move the number most. Beyond that, the market moves it. When the major build and civil sectors are busy they draw trades away from residential work, and material and fixture costs rise around 5 to 10 per cent a year. Part of TCON's job is to keep testing the trade market so quality is delivered at the right price.
On renovations, some costs cannot be fixed until work begins, such as the state of existing plaster, weatherboards, stumps or the subfloor. Where a decision is still open at contract, or a cost is not yet known, TCON sets a careful allowance with the builder's margin included, and finalises it early in the build. If the real cost lands above the allowance, you pay a margin only on the difference.
Deposit, payments and holding the budget
For contracts in TCON’s project range, Victorian law caps the deposit at 5 per cent. Different limits apply to contracts below $20,000. The build is then paid through about twelve milestone progress claims, all agreed up front, so cash flow stays steady for the trades and the work keeps moving.
TCON's feasibility pricing has been landing within about 10 per cent of the final contract price. It only moves further when the footprint grows or the finishes are lifted beyond the original brief. A fixed-price contract is TCON's preference, because it keeps you and the budget on the same path.
The TCON difference: the builder at the design table through a negotiated tender, and a feasibility study before you commit. Feasibility to contract alignment sits within 10 per cent.