One thing you can ask them if you want to engage one trade to take care of all your wet areas example is are they registered plumber , electrician do they have building & Construction certificate 4.........if so they should be multi skilled and can undergo many tasks . Ask questions are they competent for the job,do they have references,can you offer me a set price for this job.what qua rented do you offer. All the best

Wow, didn't realise this had happened.

"Architect-designed houses are not accessible to all." This is a myth championed by the building industry. Alternatively, why not focus on the key benefits architects bring to a project. Here are a few for you: • Appoint an architect to your project and you’ll gain a home designed for the way you want to live.The alternative is a builder-designed home that suits what the builder is used to building. Quality builders will ask for plans and specifications to be thoroughly documented so that they can go ahead and do what they do best, which is build. Working out with the owner what you’re going to build and why is the architect’s role. • An architect manages planning approvals. This process is complex, often arbitrarily applied by many Councils, fraught with pitfalls for the novice and is ramped up every year with new hoops to jump. If you want a professional on your side who knows the territory, will go in to bat for you and will forge a way through this minefield, you need an architect. • If you’d prefer to put the works to tender to a number of builders rather than having to accept the quote of the builder you started the process with, you need an architect. • If you’d prefer to protect yourself with a proper, architect-managed ABIC contract that works equally for both parties and is legally enforceable, you need an architect. • An architect will minimise costly changes during construction as he or she will produce a proper level of drawings (expect 20 x A3 pages for a new home, rather than the 1-2 pages you’ll receive from a drafting service.). The reasons for this are that you have on paper exactly what you want to build. Without this, you are entering a contract with a builder with none of the details resolved. You wouldn’t do that if you were buying a house, so why do it when spending an equally significant amount of money? Unfortunately, some builders see this approach as an opportunity to happily accept constant changes from ‘project managing’ owners because it’s just another variation that he can charge for. The longer he is there, the better for his margins, particularly when there’s no contract to speak of. Finally, an architect is a specialist with a professional duty of care, irrespective of financial gain. In other words, they’re there to support and protect you, without benefit to themselves. No one else in the building industry can provide this.

Are you to organise trades only like a project manager or are you actually doing the building with your own hands? How much experience do you have in the industry? If you are to project manage then you need to be a very good manager of people, trades and suppliers. You'll also need to have some understanding of the relevant building codes and laws to ensure they're doing the works correctly. Do you have the available time to spend on the project? If you're to be the builder, as in hammer and nails, then how good are your skills and how well do you know the NCC and Australian Standards? You'll need to be very thorough as the inspectors will pick up your lack of experience very quickly and go over it with a fine tooth comb as they can't trust your ability. Great builders are good organisers and great tradies in their own right. Not many are millionaire's so really I don't believe you'll save much money, if that's why you want to go that way.