Straight answers

My land is bushfire prone. What does that mean for the build?

It means a bushfire assessment gives the site a Bushfire Attack Level, or BAL, and that rating drives real construction decisions: what the windows are made of, what a deck can be built from, whether the subfloor has to be closed in, and how every gap and vent is screened against embers.

The rating isn’t chosen. It’s calculated from the vegetation around the site, the slope and the distance between them, and it runs from BAL-LOW through to Flame Zone. The step between two categories can be worth tens of thousands of dollars, and it can sometimes be reduced by moving the house on the block. That’s a conversation to have while the plans are still drawings. The custom homes page sets out what each level changes.

Ask Cade what ratings he’s built to. He’ll tell you, and this website deliberately doesn’t print it on his behalf.

We’re close to the beach. Does that change anything?

Yes, and mostly in ways you can’t see. The closer a house is to breaking surf, the more aggressive the air around it, and that changes the grade of cladding and roofing you can use, the fixings that hold it on, and the hardware on every window, door and balustrade.

Manufacturers publish warranty exclusion zones measured in metres from the water and they differ product by product, so the roof sheet that’s fully warranted at Mullumbimby may not be warranted at South Golden Beach. The upgrade is usually a different coating and a better grade of stainless rather than a different look, and it’s far cheaper to specify once than to replace. More on building near this coast.

Do I need a development application, or can this go through as complying development?

A development application is assessed by council on its merits and takes longer. A complying development certificate is assessed against a fixed set of rules, can be issued by council or a private certifier, and is the faster of the two.

Complying development isn’t available everywhere. Bushfire-prone land at the higher levels, flood, heritage and some zonings all send a project back to a DA, and so does a design that steps outside the rules on setbacks, height or site coverage.

Which path you’re on affects the programme more than almost any other single decision, so it’s worth establishing before you commit to a design. Cade has been through both, and one client describes him handling the liaison with council from their first meeting.

How many jobs do you take on at once?

A handful. That’s deliberate and it’s the whole model rather than a stage CMD is growing out of.

The practical effect is that the person who priced your job is the person following it, and the trades on site are the same ones every time. There’s no volume arm, no project-home range and no second office, so when you ring CMD you get the builder rather than a sales office.

What do the guarantees actually cover?

Two things come with a CMD build:

• A 12-month maintenance and defect liability period, covering the first twelve months after your build is finished. Defects in the work that appear in that time are reported to Cade and put right by him.
• A 6-year structural guarantee on the structure of the building.

Both are stated before you engage CMD rather than found in a contract afterwards, so you can hold them next to the other builders you’re talking to. Ask what sits inside each one before you sign anything. It’s a fair question, it has a real answer, and it’s worth asking every builder on your list.

Can I get you involved before the plans are finished?

Yes, and it’s the most useful time to do it. Design advice is part of how CMD works rather than a separate service, and Cade will look at a finished set of working drawings, a concept from a designer, or a block you bought last month and a rough idea.

A drawing can be beautiful, compliant and still expensive to build for reasons that don’t show up on paper. Those reasons are cheap to fix while it’s still paper. There’s a fuller answer on early builder input.

What does the first conversation cost, and who do I get?

Nothing, and you get Cade. He takes the call himself on his mobile, on 0412 999 694.

You don’t need finished plans, a budget worked out to the dollar or a decision made. It’s a conversation about what you want to build and where, and about whether he’s the right builder for it. Sometimes the answer to that is no, and it’s better for everyone if it’s said early.

What size of job do you take on?

Two kinds of work and only two: new custom homes, and renovations at a scale that changes how a house works rather than how it looks. Not a repaint, and not a single bathroom on its own.

The range inside that is wider than people expect. At one end, full custom houses. At the other, CMD has converted a double garage into a self-contained living area for a client’s mother. If you’re not sure which side of the line your project falls on, ring and ask.

Can we live in the house while you renovate it?

Often, yes. It can be the right financial call and plenty of people do it, but it’s worth being honest with yourself about what it involves: the programme runs longer, some of it is loud and dusty, and there will be days without a kitchen or a bathroom.

The decision changes the sequence of the work and therefore the price, so it’s much better made at the start than halfway through. It’s one of the questions the renovation enquiry asks for exactly that reason.

Where do you build?

Byron Shire. Cade is based at Ocean Shores and builds across the shire: Ocean Shores, Brunswick Heads, South Golden Beach, New Brighton, Billinudgel, Mullumbimby, Myocum, Bangalow, Byron Bay, Suffolk Park and the hinterland behind them.

He grew up here, so he knows the councils, the ground and the weather these houses have to stand up in. If your site is just outside the shire, ring and ask rather than assuming.