Meet Rick — In conversation with One Up Building and MBA’s Young Master Builder of the Year.

Matt and I love surrounding ourselves with people who do it really, really well. We like to learn and be guided by the people in our industry who work hard and work honestly to produce an exceptional end product.

We met Rick almost a year ago, got in contact over good old social media and started a conversation about what we are both all about. We knew pretty quickly that One Up Building was a company that we wanted to be working with and after a few months we had three special pools locked in.

I could talk to builders all day. I love chatting to them about what’s important to them during a build and what they value from us when we’re building their pools. But more than that, it’s good for me to be able to find the good ones and then refer them onto you guys. Because although heaps of you are building pools, there’s another bunch of you that are building brand spanking new homes (with pools we hope).

And really, there’s so much value in a great referral. Especially from someone who has worked with these guys and have found them to be just as big a legends as their current ‘Young Master Builder’ title boasts. 

So I sat down and had a chat to Rick the other day about his business, their success and got some very helpful words of advice. Enjoy!

Thanks for taking the time to have a chat today Rick, I’d love for you to start by telling me a bit about One Up Building?

One Up Building is a residential building company specialising in forever and luxury homes.  Scott and I are the directors and have been working together for over 20 years.  We started as carpenters together and found our passion in bespoke homes.

We are currently awarded as the “Young Master Builder of Year”.  It is an amazing experience being recognised by our peers and the MBA for the works we have completed.  Its given our team a sense of great achievement and provided a positive energy to our future builds and clients

You work on some very impressive builds. What do you believe are crucial elements to your project's success?

It's about communication on and off the site with the entire project team.  We like to plan our projects ahead of time and critique construction methodologies.  By doing this you can view your project delivery system and consider lateral ways to complete the brief whilst working to the clients expectations.  This process raises questions and options for your client, which you can address ahead of time.

You have to deliver on what you promise!  Construction generally throws curveballs at you; being a changed site condition, bad weather or the brief and scope is modified.  No matter what the reason you need to be invested into the project, be aware of changes, communicate and adopt promptly to keep moving forward. 

Quality and budget control is important.  The most efficient and cost effective process is getting it done right the first time! The more transparent you can be with your client about the expectations of the final finish product and pricing, the more comfortable they will be moving through the build.

And finally its all about realising your clients vision.  Understanding the design intent and being able to manage that from a buildability and cost point of view is crucial to our projects success.

What advice would you give to our clients who are building a new home along with a new pool?

In our experience new pools and home construction need to be considered together to complement one another.  Essential items such as co-ordinating the services with the house and operation of the equipment is obvious, however the main consideration is the connection to your house and how you will use it.

I have a young family and our kids are in the pool all the time.  Our house is designed around the pool so that we can entertain, use the backyard and watch the kids from all areas.  Good design and consideration of your pool connection to your house will enrich your experience

We have a few jobs on the go at the moment (thanks!) - what attracted you to Cronulla Pools?

We like to partner with building companies that provide a service and vision inline with our ethos.  It's great that both Matt and Kate  provide off and onsite management whilst keeping the quality control onsite.  Specifically, you can divide roles between the two of you so our clients can discuss what pool tile to use with Kate, while Matt is pouring concrete with the boys.

So there you have it. If you’re looking for a builder please get in touch with Rick from One Up Building (and hopefully we’ll see you onsite building the pool).