Is anyone actually building at the moment?
Not as much as any of us would like. An architect I have known for years put it to me plainly a few weeks back. A million pounds these days will not get you much of a house. When someone with a million pounds decides to hold onto it instead, that tells you where we are.
So most projects are priced, designed, and waiting. Start dates keep moving back.
Then why have I had three meetings with major developers in two weeks?
Because when nobody can build on price alone, people start looking at what else they are getting.
What those developers want is not a supplier. They want a waterproofing arm. Any job with structural waterproofing or ground gas, passed to us early, so we start the process alongside them. Gateway-style working, on jobs that are not gateway jobs.
Is this just about free design?
I need to clear something up here, because our own history keeps getting in the way.
Yes, our designs are free on orders of a certain size. But free is not the point. The point is what comes attached. A complete waterproofing proposal. Technical support through the job. Supply of the materials. Warranties behind all of it. One golden thread of technical information rather than four sets of paperwork that do not agree with each other. It lets you start earlier and it takes cost out.
What is the catch?
Here is the bit I think we can say that a manufacturer cannot.
We do not manufacture. So we have no reason to over-design a job to shift more product. If you go to someone who makes the materials, they have every incentive to sell you as much kit as the drawing will carry. We just need a design that is compliant, buildable, and something we will put our own PI behind. cannot control the climate. We can control what happens to the materials before they go on.
I am not pretending we are a charity. This business has to make money or it does not survive, and I will always put our products forward because I trust them. But trust is the thing we actually trade on.
Where do we start?
Try us. Send us a job and take a free design review. I do not think you will be disappointed.
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