Buyer’s guide

How to compare modular builders in Queensland.

Two quotes for the same building can differ by $60,000 and both be honest. The difference is almost never the building. It is what each one left out.

The usual omissionSite costs$30,000 to $51,000 on a real Brisbane job

The question that mattersClass 1a?Habitable dwelling, or not

Ask forExclusionsIn writing, before any deposit

Check yourselfQBCCLicence of the builder of record

Why this is hard

Nobody is quoting the same thing.

Modular pricing is genuinely difficult to compare, and not because anyone is being dishonest. The industry sells four different products under similar words, at four different points of completion, and the headline number rarely says which one you are looking at.

One quote is a kit of parts delivered to your gate. Another is a finished building ex factory, sitting on a truck. A third includes the crane, the footings and the connections. A fourth includes the approvals as well. All four are legitimate. Only one of them tells you what you will pay to be standing in a finished home.

So the useful comparison is not price against price. It is scope against scope. The list below is what we would ask if we were the ones buying, and it works on any builder, including us.

The checklist

Ten questions worth asking before a deposit.

Ask	Why it matters
What building classification is it?	Class 1a is a habitable dwelling. Class 10a is not. This one answer decides whether it can be lived in legally, whether a lender will treat it as a home, and whether a valuer counts the floor area.
What is in the headline price?	Kitchen, bathroom, floor coverings, window furnishings. These are the items most often shown in the render and absent from the quote.
What is excluded?	Ask for the exclusions list, not the inclusions list. It is shorter, more honest and far more useful.
Are site costs in or out?	Soil test, survey, engineering, footings, service connections, crane, traffic control, council and certifier fees. This is where the $60,000 gap between quotes usually lives.
Is delivery quoted to my address?	An average delivery figure is a guess. Distance, access, street width and whether a pilot vehicle is needed all change it. Every 4.0m wide module needs a pilot vehicle.
Who is the builder of record?	Get the name and licence number, then check it on the QBCC register yourself. It takes two minutes.
Fixed price or estimate?	And is it tied to my address or a generic figure? A price that has never seen your block is not a price.
What are the payment stages?	And what do I own at each one? If the module is built off site, ask what happens to your money and your building if something goes wrong mid-build.
Who does the install?	In their scope or yours? Craning a module onto footings and connecting services is not a small job to be left undefined.
What happens if the site needs more work?	Rock, slope, poor access and flood levels all cost money. Ask how variations are priced before you find one.

Warning signs

Four things worth slowing down for.

A price with no site costs mentionedNot a complete number. Ask what the finished, connected figure looks like.

“Turnkey” with no inclusions listThe word means whatever the seller wants it to mean until it is written down.

No classification statedIf nobody will say Class 1a in writing, assume it is not.

A deposit before any site assessmentNobody can price your build without looking at your land first.

None of these mean a builder is dishonest. They usually mean the quote is at an earlier stage than it looks. But they are all reasons to ask one more question before money moves.

Our own answers

Where we sit on the same ten questions.

It would be poor form to publish that checklist and dodge it. Our modules are Class 1a, built to residential standards, architect-designed by Palm Hill Architects and built at our yard at Laceys Creek. Prices on this site are the complete dwelling, ex GST, and they exclude site costs. We say that everywhere because the alternative is a number that falls apart at the first site visit.

We do not quote a build without looking at the land. A Pre-Planning Report is $750 and tells you what your site allows, what the overlays say and what the site work is likely to cost, before you spend anything on design. If the answer is that your block does not suit a modular dwelling, that is a useful $750.

Full install is South East Queensland. Everywhere else in Australia is delivery, and we will say so plainly rather than quote an install we cannot stand behind. Every figure we publish for site costs comes off invoiced jobs, not estimates, which is why the cost page shows the ranges rather than a single tidy number.

Next step

Compare us on your actual block.

The only comparison that means anything is one done against your address. Send it to us and we will come back with what your council allows, the likely site costs and the model that fits.

Start a Site Check See every number

Questions

Comparing builders, answered.

Why do modular home quotes vary so much in Queensland?

Because they are rarely quoting the same thing. One price might be the module only, another might include footings and connections, and a third might be a kit of parts you assemble. The single biggest variable is whether site costs are in or out. On a real Brisbane job, approvals and consultants came to $16,700 and site works and footings ran between $30,000 and $51,000 depending on access. A quote that omits all of that will always look cheaper.

What is usually left out of a modular home price?

Site costs are the usual omission. That covers soil tests, survey, engineering, footings, service connections, the crane lift and traffic control if the street needs it, plus council and certifier fees. Delivery is often excluded or quoted as an average rather than against your address. Floor coverings, window furnishings and landscaping are the next most common exclusions. Ask for the exclusions list in writing, not the inclusions list.

What questions should I ask before paying a deposit?

Ask what building classification you are getting, because Class 1a is a habitable dwelling and Class 10a is not, and that single answer affects finance, valuation and whether the building can be lived in legally. Then ask who the builder of record is, whether the quote is fixed or an estimate, whether it is tied to your specific address, what the payment stages are, who performs the install, and who honours the warranty. Get the exclusions in writing before any money moves.

Is a much cheaper modular home quote a red flag?

Not on its own, but it is a question worth asking. Cheaper usually means something has been moved out of scope rather than done for less. The common ones are site costs, the install, the approvals, or the finish level. It can also mean a different building classification, which is the expensive kind of cheap because it shows up later at valuation. Compare the exclusions, not the headline.

How do I check a modular builder is legitimate?

Ask for the licence number of whoever will be the builder of record and check it against the Queensland Building and Construction Commission register yourself. Ask which certifier they work with. Ask to see a completed build rather than renders. Ask whether the quote is tied to your address. A builder who is comfortable with all four of those questions is usually comfortable with the rest.

Keep reading

The numbers behind the questions.

Next step

Start with the site, not the brochure.

A Site Check tells you what your land allows before you spend anything on design. Straight answer, your address, no obligation.

Start a Site Check See the range