The Best Builders in Christchurch

Updated 17 October 2021

Asking for quotes and picking a builder is a big job and a lot of careful consideration is needed. Whether you're renovating, extending, adding a feature or building a work from the ground up, having a trusted builder is essential. If you're at the quote stage, the next step involves finding a reliable and trusted builder in Christchurch who can take your dream to reality. 

To help you and put you in the strongest position, we've handpicked a list of reliable, affordable and trusted builders in Christchurch to save you time and money. 

Our Christchurch builder guide covers:​​​

• How Much Should I Pay a Builder?
• How to Get Realistic Quotes from Builders
• What Stages are Payments Made to a Builder?
• Trusted Christchurch Builders

As a rough guide, around a third of the budget for any self-build or renovation project goes into labour costs. Unlike basic DIY projects, few people have the skills builders have. Hiring a builder outsources all the risk and project management, including finding specialists for specific work. 

If you project manage the building project yourself, you’ll save on labour costs but be heavily involved in the day-to-day progress. You will also have to manage deliveries, schedule work, assess the quality of work done and come up with a plan if things go wrong. 

Be Aware: Labour shortages are rife all over Christchurch
Right now in Christchurch there is, generally, a lack of builders. Finding tradespeople who are available has become a problem. This means that the most experienced builders are able to command a higher price given the demand for their services. 

Whatever your project, be it a new house or simple extension, getting building quotes is time-consuming but fundamental to your plans. Rush the quote process, and you could be stuck with a big bill, a lousy job, or both. Simply agreeing to the first quote is unwise, as there are many reasons why prices will vary between builder. We outline a suggested process to get the best quotes and ….

Understand what an estimate or quote actually is
The jargon used for building projects can be unfamiliar. To make things simple:

1. An ‘estimate’ is just that: an informed but non-binding guess of what a job might cost. You will receive an estimate most often on renovation work, where it’s not completely clear what the full extent of the job will be. 
2. A ‘fixed-price quote’ is an agreed price based on work shown on a drawing or specific design. As long as nothing changes, the fixed-price quote is the total of what you will pay. Any variations to the specific design will incur an ‘extra over’ cost, which will be advised to you before work is carried out.

Be 100% clear about the work required
As you’d expect, the more information you give, and the more specific you are, the more accurate your quote will be. You’ll know upfront what the likely costs are, rather than finding out extras have been added on because your design specification didn’t include important essentials. If your specification is not clear, any fixed-price quote may be meaningless due to the additional costs incurred to complete the project. 

Understand why do quotes vary so much
After completing your design specification, the next step is to ask several trusted builders (our list of top 5 Christchurch builders below is a good start) for a quote. You will almost certainly get a range of estimates and quotes, due to a few factors we explain next:

1. Demand – Christchuch, generally, is a high-demand building region. Builders know that someone is always willing to pay the going rate, even if that’s not going to be you. For this reason, builders who are available will quote less, whereas those with firm orders booked up months in advance will quote higher, or not at all. 
2. Single quotes – If you’ve got a pre-existing relationship with a builder, or been referred one in particular, the builder may know you’re only sourcing one quote. This means they know they are setting the market, so it may be higher because you prefer to go with them.
3. Bait and Upgrade – Builders know that once a job is accepted and work starts, it’s very unlikely they’ll be kicked off. Because everyone loves a cheap quote, a builder pricing low can get a foot in the door. But this shouldn’t be agreed to without full consideration. A cheap quote can quickly be irrelevant if there are charges for additional work not included. This is the major reason why being as detailed as possible in your building specification is essential. 

Warning: Cheap Quote vs Final Cost

• There’s a big difference between a cheap quote and a quote that offers value-for-money. If one is significantly lower than the others, then be very careful about accepting it.
• The more detailed the quote, the better, especially around pricing. A
• price-breakdown that shows everything covered and specifies what everything will cost is best. This lets you compare like-for-like. 
• If you want more detail, or for some prices to be verified, ask the builder - there is no point in staying in the dark, as you, and you only, are paying 100% of the costs. 

Most builders accept a range of payment methods, including

1. Direct Credit (internet banking)
2. Cheque
3. Credit Card via the builder's website (this will only apply for smaller-sized transactions, and a surcharge may apply)

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As mentioned above, cash is king to building business. Pay on time to avoid any tension in your working relationship.

​Our list below, which is no particular order, covers Christchurch. We have selected these based on their history of longstanding service within Christchurch, location and data extracted from internet reviews on Google Business, BuildersCrack, Facebook, TradeMe Services and others.

No building company has paid to appear on this list, and MoneyHub.co.nz has no relationship with any builder below.