What Does Your Square Meter Rate Include?
In this video, Jackson Digney, managing director and builder at Enduro Builders, explains why using a flat square‑meter rate (e.g., $1,200/m²) to estimate the cost of a new home is fundamentally misleading. He outlines two main reasons: first, a square‑meter rate typically omits a long list of essential items such as site access, demolition, external services, balconies, carports, GST, heritage considerations, legal fees, special equipment, regional location factors, and many design‑specific fixtures and finishes; sometimes only nominal allowances are made for kitchens or bathroom vanities. Second, the rate fails to capture the wide variability between homes—differences in glazed versus solid wall area, internal wall meterage, door types, tiling extents, benchtop materials, appliance inclusion, and flooring choices all dramatically affect cost. Digney then proposes a solution: engage a builder who works closely with an architect from the outset, allowing rapid development of a preliminary design that stays aligned with the client’s budget. This collaboration produces a preliminary budget estimate and drawings, enabling the client to compare design ideas with costs side‑by‑side. He warns against builders who lock clients into contracts at the preliminary estimate stage and offers Enduro Builders’ free 16‑point pre‑contract checklist to protect buyers, promising not to present a contract until every checklist item is satisfied.
