Building on family

Colin Gregg was destined to become a builder from the day he was born. He follows his father Bruce and grandfather George, continuing the family's proud tradition of master craftsmanship in South Island homes.

George Gregg founded the home building company in Christchurch in 1935. “I can remember from an early age that all I wanted to do was follow in their footsteps and become a Master Builder,” he says. “Even when I started my apprenticeship with my father, who learnt the trade from my grandfather, things were very different.

“Then, we did almost everything from roofing to spouting to kitchens. Now, one person does the batts, someone else does the gibbing, and you’ll have another contractor in stopping, someone doing the spouting and someone else doing the roofing. How we work has changed so much over the years.”

What hasn’t changed in the Gregg family however, is a passion for construction and a deep seated knowledge of the industry that has been passed down the generations for close to a century.

“I learned the secrets of building houses; those that pass the test of time,” Colin says. “Knowing how to do everything on a worksite helps you a holistically map out how an architectural home needs to be built. You're doing so much more than just managing contractors as they come in, do their part, and leave.”

Over the years the Gregg Builders team has grown, now employing 35 full-time staff working on high-end architecturally-designed homes around the South Island, including Canterbury, Queenstown, and Wanaka. Vital to the Gregg Builders approach across the generations has been relationships.

“I’m still working closely with people my father worked with, and he was the same with his grandfather,” Colin says. “The process of house building is like putting together an enormous jigsaw puzzle. There are architects, surveyors, engineers, subcontractors, suppliers and staff to manage, materials to select, deadlines to achieve, and budgets to meet. None of this comes together without our hands-on, longstanding relationships with professionals we've trusted for decades.”

A key part of the service Gregg Builders strives to provide is transparency with every build. An independent quantity surveyor provides a cost estimation from concept drawings, and then runs the financial side of the build from concept to completion.

“We also provide a complete day-to-day build programme,” Colin adds, explaining the continual engagement clients have with their project manager and architect. “For example, a client could have a look and see what day the roof goes on, or when the bathroom tiling gets put in. The programme is monitored every four weeks to ensure everything is running on schedule.”

A system based on open communication is what keeps Gregg Builders' clients coming back again and again, as they build new homes around New Zealand. Fortnightly meetings are held with all parties involved in the project, minutes are produced and distributed, and every person involved can track the progress of the build, including the homeowner. “It’s this level of service that appeals to clients,” Colin says. “We are a family business and believe in providing a professional, open service.”

If you want your next architectural home in Canterbury or elsewhere in New Zealand built by a transparent, quality-driven company, visit Gregg Builders on ArchiPro to see some of the company's award-winning projects.