In August 2021, we completed our forty-third home build. Comprising three stories of brick and concrete, it was the largest home for Peninsula Homes from the last twelve years of construction. Adding to the mix was not only the steep site but the timing of the build – the start of this project came soon after Covid-19 arrived in Australia in early 2020.
This project, situated on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, encountered three NSW public health order lockdowns through the building process. While construction was allowed to continue for the most part through these lockdowns, it still made navigating the course very difficult at times. It’s with a great amount of pride that this home was completed on time and on budget, through one of the most difficult years in Australia!
Building in this time of Covid-19 certainly has its challenges with material shortages, restrictions of tradespeople and lockdowns all playing a vital part. It’s fair to say that it has felt like the sand has been shifting beneath us at times. In tackling these challenges, we have played to our natural strengths in problem-solving, adapting to change and communication. It’s a test that has forced us to use our skills and expertise to provide calm and certainty to our clients.
Communicating With Our Clients
Open and regular communication between the client and the building team has always been important, even more so now. We pride ourselves on giving our clients the least stressful building process possible. Staying up-to-date with timing questions and selection changes, both large and small, is essential in making a build smooth and stress-free. The consistent flow of contact through the pandemic ensured the clients knew they could rest easy and that we had everything in hand.
Long-term Relationships With Trades & Suppliers
Loyalty can be rare these days. Fortunately, it’s something we share a lot with our trades and suppliers. Many of our trades have worked with us for over a decade. Close professional relationships have been forged over this time, which sees trades providing us exceptional service and first preference in these difficult times.
Willingness to Adapt
There is more than one way to build a home and more than one order too. We adapted to changing schedules and product availability by being in close contact with our trades and suppliers. We have now become accustomed to ordering months in advance to secure materials, even going so far as sourcing timber from Newcastle to ensure construction continued. Again, our preparedness helps put the client at ease knowing that their home build would not sit idle for weeks or months on end.
We, like most, also tackled working from home and homeschooling. A tricky combination at best! Some days were good, some days not so good. The upside is that we have seen our kids a little more, become even better best friends to our animals and still managed to get our job done with a smile on our faces.
In the end, what we do as builders is all about people. We employ people and we build homes for people. As a world, country and local community, Covid-19 has forced us all to face many difficulties. And it is likely, we will be facing them for some time yet. In such uncertain times, we know we can give our clients the certainty in knowing that we will push through any challenge that arises to complete their home.
