July 2010
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
I have been asked to provide a commercial reference for Mr Darren Miles and his Building company Miles & Co Builders Pty Ld and I do so with great pleasure. Darren built a new home for my wife and I in 2007 and to be able provide this reference tor Darren after living in the property for three years will hopefully reassure any prospective client contemplating the use of Miles & Co Builders Pty Ltd.
Our Architect suggested we include Darren in a small group of selected builders to tender on our proposed house. The prolect was a difficult one in that we had the combined issues of working in a strictly controlled and sensitive heritage area and a very difficult site which had a significant slope and had been titled over the past.
Because we were concemed about cost ‘over-runs’ and tenderers ‘over estimating’ as a result of the site conditions we elected to control costs and negotiate a ‘cost plus’ contract rather than go to tender. We chose to deal with Darren Miles exclusively based on excellent recommendations from previous clients and past dealings with our Architect. For a ‘cost plus’ contract to work effectively both parties are required to be scrupulously honest and transparent in all discussions, our experience with Darren in this regard was wholly satisfactory.
Whilst we had major costs over estimate at the footings stage due to the site conditions we had significant savings on many other areas during construction largely due to Darren’s skills in planning and scheduling of the various stages and the management of his loyal and competent sub- trades. The end result was that the whole project came in ‘on budget’ and ‘on time’ and the House won two major H.l.A. awards in 2008.
Darren and his staff made our experience of building a new home a pleasure and we have no hesitation in recommending him to any prospective clients. We are also willing to orally support this reference at any time.
Wendy and Graeme Whitford