Build Team reviews

1611674884

Matthew O'Connor

google

Dear Matthew, We are sad to hear that you encountered issues with your build. We did revisit in February 2021, following the posting of your review, to attend to the issues which led to your complaint. We hope that this has gone some way to restore your faith in Build Team. Kind regards, Dan, Build Team

1623243512

1

This company is incredibly bad. We had issues start to finish with them and even 3 years after are dealing with the shoddy job that they did for us.

1496834506

Dee El

google

Thank you for your feedback Dee El. We note that we did encounter some challenges during the Build Phase, however build projects are not always predictable and unforeseen issues do arise. We have reached out to you on numerous occasions to request a meeting to address your concerns, so we can be offered the opportunity to resolve them. We are wholly committed to resolving disputes in a fair, reasonable manner and maintain we are here to support you if you get in touch.

1463488547

1

It was drawn to my attention that my previous review here had been removed. However, I am glad to be given the opportunity to repost, rephrase and to reconfirm all previous comments which are a personal opinion made from an informed perspective. I do not recommend this company. What you will read here are selective reviews. Buildteam have highly proficient in-house marketing which operates alongside a very slick sales technique. There are some obviously satisfied and delighted customers who have been totally thrilled with everything. Lucky them. However there are also a vast number of different opinions that fail to remain long in public view. You would expect to see some balanced opinion, especially in the building trade so I would recommend any potential discerning and intelligent customer to do some thorough and independent research. Our experience was not the top notch quality which is publicly promoted as standard. Instead it was a most unsatisfactory experience, included immature project management which was not customer relationship based, a mixture of third party contractors who were completely disinterested in us as clients, unreliable quality of work, many hidden costs, a promoted Trustmark endorsement which turned out to be invalid, building errors, and innumerable issues which were brushed aside, marginalised or ignored. If you are familiar with the phrase "gaslighting" then you will know what I mean. This was spread across 9 awful months of what had been pitched to us as a 10 week straight forward project. Critical comment and honest forum threads are frequently observed to be challenged and silenced. I have seen many removed from here, mine included, perhaps due to a well informed approach to a convenient loop hole in Google processes. We had a totally miserable time with this company. I am in touch with a significant number of others and continue to have more unhappy clients get in touch, all with similar stories. In spite of the carefully measured and seemingly professional response which may appear below, the evidence is remains there appears to be some dramatic inconsistency in the customer experience. The Guardian reported on an interesting aspect of our case and the article is available online.

1576765615

David Porter

google

We are delighted you are pleased with your finished extension, David. It has been a pleasure working with you during the Design Phase, and also overseeing the build of your project.

1581331358

5

Great planning and project management service that took a lot of the worry away for us. Great end product from the build team themselves who worked around delays caused by other suppliers.

1615800900

George Schaub-Jones

google

Dear George, Huge thanks for a wonderful review we are so happy you found the experience so overwhelmingly positive. Enjoy your space! Kind regards, Anna, Build Team

1623142549

4

Build Team provided a great intermediary service between us and the contractors. One of the main reasons we were drawn to Build Team is that they are responsible for appointing a contractor. We had previously had a few bad experiences when tendering out to and employing contractors directly so the reassurance that Build Team were going to work with a contractor they know and trust was a massive plus for us. Outsourcing the logistics of our project to Build Team also saved us a lot of time and effort and as a result we didn't have to worry about things like Planning Permission, Building Control, Thames Water, H&S etc. all sorted out very efficiently via Build Team. The contractors appointed for the job by Build Team have been great, hard working, flexible, patient and above all a really nice group of guys - we would definitely work with them again. Overall, if you are working or have kids and don't necessarily have the time to project manage a large project yourself or if you are nervous about appointing contractors yourself, then (if you can afford the extra cost) Build Team provide a great service and take a lot of the stress out of the process - would happily recommend

1533829894

Simon Johnson

google

Thank you for your valued feedback Mr Johnson. For all prospective clients, we issue an initial budget estimate to offer an idea of feasibility, although this is subject to change, particularly if the design scope changes during the design development stage. In your specific case, our initial estimate was based on a scheme of 20 sqm. Following your instruction to proceed with Design Phase, we carried out the full measured survey and undertook the detailed design consultation. Following this meeting it became apparent that your preference was for a larger scheme of c. 30 sqm. This led to a proportionate increase in the budget estimate which was notified to you in writing immediately following the survey. It is our intention to be as realistic as possible with build estimates, however costs can change as the design process develops and it is for this reason we offer a two-stage process and place no obligation to build with us. Where clients do instruct us to build for them, you are right to point out that we sub-contract the works and coordinate this with our team of project managers. We are very sorry to hear that you didnt feel more guided within the Design Phase. We pride ourselves on our design process and assign a dedicated designer to work with you during the design development period. You explored various different options during this period, including three initial options which was followed by seven amended drawing sets. We offer unlimited amendments during this period and always offer advice and guidance on your design. The Party Wall Service concluded with two consents from both of your adjoining owners (industry standard have approx. 70% of adjoining owners dissent). Consents save you time and money, and as a result, we feel this was a very positive outcome for you. We always recommend completing a Schedule of Condition for your own protection during the Build, but it is at you and your neighbours discretion as to whether you have one. We can confirm it is not company policy to suggest that a Schedule of Condition is a requirement of Building Control (which it is not) and having investigated this with the team, it is unclear to us how this misunderstanding arose. On occasion, and when asked, we might recommend third party suppliers. This is done with best endeavours and we only recommend individuals we have worked with in the past as we can vouch for their quality of service. We can confirm that when we do recommend Party Wall Surveyors we do so impartially and we do not receive a commission for these referrals. A full breakdown of our costs is available to all clients both existing and prospective and in this regard we feel that our pricing structure is fair and transparent. We are pleased that we have been able to assist your building contractor as works progressed on site and we remain available to answer any further queries that may arise. We wish you all the best with the build and please dont hesitate to get in touch with us if you feel any of your grievances remain unaddressed.

1535640281

2

A very mixed experience. We wanted to work with a company that could take care of both the design and build phases of the project. First impressions of Design/Build Team were very good; the designers we originally met with seemed knowledgeable and professional and they sent an estimate for the cost of the build very promptly. Based on the very competitive estimate and good first impressions we went ahead and chose the fast track design bundle, the most comprehensive package they offer. There was a bit of a red flag when we were told the build estimate we had been given was unrealistic and the actual cost would be at least double. This made us reconsider whether we would use them for the build as well as the design, and we started looking at online reviews, a lot of which werent very flattering. A common theme was problems during the build and it came to light they dont actually have their own contractors; they provide a quote for the work and then sub-contract it out. Based on this we decided to look elsewhere for a builder and just use Design Team for the planning stage. The design process was fairly straightforward. It took a while as we changed our minds a lot about certain things, but at the same time I dont feel we had huge amounts of help with the designs. I probably expected a bit too much and thought we would be presented with loads of ideas and options, but this didnt really happen. Having said that, our designer was very knowledgeable about building regulations and things like that, which did have some impact on decisions we made. Once the planning application was submitted it was approved first time without any questions, so that was very positive. Part of our package was help with party wall agreements; we thought it would be good to pay to take the stress out of the situation. In hindsight we actually ended up doing most of the work ourselves as both our adjoining neighbours rent out their properties and this seemed to complicate matters, so in that instance I feel like we paid for a service we didnt receive. Serving party wall notice is also actually very simple, so if we ever need to do the same in the future it is definitely something we would do ourselves. More generally, throughout the whole process there seemed to be a lot of up-selling and hidden costs. We were lead to believe we were getting a premium package, only to find out that if we wanted certain things there would be an additional charge. At times it also felt like we were being encouraged to do things that we didnt need to: an example is that we were told that we should get a schedule of condition drawn up for one of our neighbours who had consented without asking for one, their reason being that Buildings Control might take issue if there wasnt one in place. We would have had to pay Design Team for this, but when we spoke to Buildings Control they said that party wall agreements are nothing to do with them and would have no impact on them signing off on any of the work. There were also occasions when we were steered towards using third parties such as surveyors that they recommended. Instinctually it felt like they might be getting commission from these thirds parties which was there incentive for doing this, but we were assured this wasnt the case. I understand that they are a business and the aim is to make money, but they could still do this whilst being more transparent with their costs. One thing that has been great is the level of response we are getting from them now they have completed the work we paid them for. Our builder and Buildings Control have had questions about the plans, and Design Team have been very happy to answer these and help in any way they can. There are lots of negative reviews for this company online (and plenty of positive ones) and our experience was nowhere near bad as other people seem to have had, there were also some positives elements to the process, but given the experience we had, unfortunately it is not likely that we would use them again in the future.