Going in as an owner builder is a false economy. It takes a builder years to develop the relationships with the right subtrades to ensure the project is built to budget and on time. I can fully understand that you are concerned with cost blowouts, so i will let you in on a little secret to help you avoid this trap. Find a builder who charges for quotes. I know this sounds counter intuitive, but here is the upswing. A builder who charges for quotes is legally obliged to give you an accurate quote, will be less likely to lowball you on PS and PC items, and will take the time to audit your plans to ensure there are no issues. Ask in advance to see a sample of their quotes - it should include a full list of inclusions, BoQ Exclusions, and timeline or Gantt chart as min. There are many brilliant builders in Australia offering this service, and i can recommend a number of them in every state in Australia who will give you exemplary service. good luck!

.......and particularly at this time of the year no builder wants to know about anything - Christmas is here and the pressure is on from all angles..... As a start, compile a list of work to be completed, prioritise the items, meet with the builder and recalibrate the completion date. This is bad situation but very common, particularly in this industry and on renovations. The dilemma you have is, is it better the devil you know, or do you risk cutting your losses and picking it all up with another builder to finish what someone else started...... neither option is great and it depends on the situation. All you can be sure of unfortunately is that very likely you'll either have to pay more to get if finished quicker, or accept a continuing time blowout............ Reading between the lines and with understanding of how small scale domestic builders function, likely what has happened is this (& assuming you are on a fixed contract situation) - Builder has exhausted labour allowance on your job. If they don't do other work and get money coming in they'll go broke. They take on other work and parallel it to maintain cashflow so that the new work pays for the unfinished jobs in progress which they chip away intermittently in their spare time.............builders can be fantastic tradespeople/people but very poor managers/businesspeople......tricky stuff - good luck PD

I don't know why people keep referring to these fad-driven green walls as sustainable - they are not. Green walls are completely unsustainable, when you consider what sustainabity really means. They are nothing but a Frenchman's idea that he pushed heavily to the landscaping industry that is now being touted as an environmental solution to housing insulation. They are actually useless in areas of high heat, especially when accompanied by high wind and low humidity. Most cities in Australia are not suitable because buildings are too exposed to the elements. Trees are actually required to increase shade to the buildings and the walls, and to increase evapotranspiration - hence the green walls are entirely useless. Of course they will cause fires when the plants die - they are entirely unnatural and won't last.

I am looking for recommendations for an architectural builder (design and construct contractor) with proven record of delivery of 3-story duplexes. There are many builders who have delivered 2-story developments, but I am after a company who also specializes in 3-story. Thank you