After you’ve established you like the builder, they’re qualified and you can build the home you want, one of the next questions to ask a potential home builder is about the final build quality. Because what’s behind and inside your walls matters!
Since you’re building a new home (as opposed to buying an older existing home), you already know that it will be built to today’s building codes. For new homes in Alberta, this means that all new construction projects will need to comply with the Alberta Building Code.
Knowing that there aren’t any problems with things like old wiring or discovering later a lack of insulation is often one of the reasons why people choose to build a new home for their family. But, complying with the codes and exceeding them can result in a big difference in build quality. A quality home won’t just have expensive finishes where you can see them; it should also be built to last inside too.
One way to test how innovative a builder is and to what standard the main components of your home are built to is to ask…
Question #7: How energy efficient are the homes you build?
In Alberta, changes to the building code means that new homes are more energy-efficient. As a result of these changes, all Alberta new homes are more comfortable, save you money, have cleaner indoor air quality, reduce any moisture issues, have a higher resale value and are more eco-friendly.
While all these benefits are great news for new home buyers, this new code allows for some discretion in how a builder complies with the energy-efficiency standards. This means some will only improve how they build homes to the new standard, while others will look at ways to exceed the code so that homeowners can really benefit from these improvements.
Here are some of the ways that Broadview Homes has improved our building practices to exceed the latest energy-efficiency code.
What else should you ask a builder? Read the full series:
Question #1: Do I like this builder?
Question #2: Is the builder qualified and reputable?
Questions #3: What plans does this builder offer?
Question #4: What comes standard?
Question #5: What options and upgrades can I choose? How much can I customize?
Question #6: How and when can I make changes?
Question #7: How energy efficient are the homes you build?
Question #8: Who do I contact with any questions and who will oversee the construction?
Question #9: How often and when will I have access to the home during the home building process?
