Evolution Building Group, Home Builder Wollongong

We have just moved into our new custom built home with Evolution Building Group and we have had the best building experience for our first home. Excellent quality local builder, Jake and the team delivered us a quality home within a short period of time. Everything went to plan and the final result is beyond what we expected. We highly recommend.

We found the Evolution team to be very friendly, listened to what we wanted, kept us in the loop at all times throughout the build. Answered to all our emails and phones calls with no hesitation at all. They used good quality materials and nothing was an issue with some changes. We are very happy with our home and would recommend Evolution to family and friends.

Wouldn’t build with anyone else! We just finished building with evolution and they were amazing. From the level of inclusions and attention to detail and friendliness of staff and the owner, we are beyond happy with our home and experience.

Building compliant – Evolution Building Group
It was my first time building and I chose Evolution Building Group to build my new home as I fell in love with the Atlantis display home. I read the online reviews and they were all really positive and Sharon was an absolute pleasure to deal with.
If I was to build again I would not choose Evolution Building Group as they are quite expensive for the quality of work you receive. My house was definitely not built to the standard of their display homes and the quality of service seemed to go down after I paid my deposit to build with Evolution.
The site supervisor did his best but seemed to be under an extreme amount of pressure.
A few points to note:
• Changed design and then blamed me when requesting it be reverted to original design.
• Would not let me meet with landscaper to discuss my ideas and then tried to charge me for variation to contract after they suggested I go with another landscaper.
• Invoiced before items were completed.
• Charged for variation to driveway and Evolution did not provide to sub-contractors to action.
• Not provided with site supervisors phone number could only contact Tuesdays while he was in office - if contacted office at other times to speak with the site supervisor was advised he is very busy and will call when he can.
• Did not complete two items to plan - have raised this and still no response from office (was discussed with site supervisor and one item just couldn’t be completed and the other item was forgotten about).
• Cracks / splitting in corners in internal stairs, majority of door frames, window frames inside and out including cracks around front piers. – Evolution fixed out of “good will” by painting over the cracks. You can still see the cracks.
• Front porch light installed below front door frame – Evolution refused to move even after verbally advised onsite by owner of Evolution they will move it – he then advised via email, light has been installed as per electrical plans and it’s my fault due to the light I selected and getting security screen doors installed after settlement. I could not open my security screen door as the light was in the way.
• Vest area basin cabinet does not go all the way to the two end walls like in the Atlantis display home. Design was changed so the cabinet ends around 100mm off two end walls. This was not pointed out to me in the design phase and I did not pick it up as first time building and I trusted Evolution to deliver what I asked for. Remind you at tile selection I upgraded my tiles for the vest area and was charged for the tiles to go around the three walls like the display home but this did not happen in my home.
• Step from garage to house exposed concrete slab – Evolution do not put anything over the slab like they do in the display homes.
• Week out from Christmas was invoiced for items that were not complete and advised if I did not pay the invoice work would stop on my site.
These are just a few key items I encountered while building with Evolution Building Group, there are too many more to list.
I did sign off on everything at handover on 18 January 2021 as I only had two days to move into my new home and I could not delay the final payment. In hindsight if I had more time there would have been numerous items I would not have signed off on before I made the final payment.
This building process caused me a great deal of stress and extreme disappointment so my advice is please be very careful if you decide to build with Evolution Building Group.

We love our brand new Evolution Building Group home. It was a great experience building with Evolution. Highly recommend!

Being halfway through our first ever build, our experience with Evolution, I can happily say, is a joyous and pleasant journey. Absolute industry professionals and through our inspections, we know the supervisors they have on hand are vastly knowledgeable and experienced, explaining even intricate details. Any queries you have, the office staff do not hesitate to answer and support. The overall quality of our home is perfect and we are stoked we chose such a dedicated and impressive team, that is Evolution Building Group. Karl & Bek.

Read to the end if you want to simply save at least few thousands$$$ and save many hassles later.

Built two new houses with Evolution (2019-2022) ; key experience & lessons shared below. But right now, going through defects disputes with the builder through NSW fair trading. Case lodged, awaiting NSW fair trading response. Builder blocked photos upload here, otherwise you'll see the low quality work ~_&* but you can see one by clicking on my profile.

Disclaimer:
below includes personal opinions and facts. Facts are facts, and opinions are based on facts and circumstances. Don’t make any decisions by relying on these, but use your own judgement.

Good:
Reasonable price to start with, and reasonable/unreasonable variations to be expected later. Good with response and communication, but getting difficult when getting to handover/defects fixing stage. And good they let me know I should lodge defects claim case against the builder at NSW fair trading and at the same time advise me that I’m not possible to win if I do so.

Not good:
•Overall build quality (common base materials/inclusions) has degraded since my first build in 2019-2020 with this builder. Changed suppliers and Changed contractors, leading to changed quality. To name few, tile supplier changed to a smaller one, changed contractors, in particular the plaster/paint work (color variations exist throughout the house, tool marks etc), brickwork (some aren’t even, some with mortar not filled), and termite protection sheet edge cut is rough.

•Variations, lack of details and sometimes very unnecessary, and unreasonable; This is across my build. Strongly felt that builder tried to charge as many as possible.

•Not been advised with only backyard garden tap connected to water tank, NOT the front garden tap. I guess this costs less for builder. But you find you pay more water usage if watering garden using front garden tap.

•Buildering contract terms & conditions – there’re many special clauses this builder adds that favours builder, and some amendments on standard clauses. Tip: ask building contract before you commit anything.

•Compensation for delayed building completion time – you’ll be almost impossible to receive them due to the way the clauses are worded. If its due to material shortage/delay, labour delay/shortage, time frame like this will be excluded in your building time. I had floor tile material delayed for over a month, and time for this was excluded. Other builders do include all these and compensate for delayed handover.

•Very pushy for not being responsible for some defects fix, and need your strong “not acceptable” to get builder to acknowledge and action. Example, garage floor with paint marks and other marks. “that’s how it is” says the builder. But it’s really should be fully cleaned with no paint marks.

Tips:
•don’t pay variations unless with cleared details of what’s been charged and how its been calculated. This is advised on the NSW fair trading website under ‘building’. I did receive a couple variations without full details and calculations. With my questions and whys, some variations were cancelled and some had amount reduced. Doing this will save you thousands.

•Don't pay for concrete pump hire for your concrete piers as contractor charges same price to steel piers. I was billed for this but they cancelled it with my conversation with contractors.

•I also have one variation over $2k (hitting some not big rock for stormwater pipe laying) that I wasn’t able to verify but ‘have to’ pay; otherwise they wont give you keys. They did this at about 1-2 week before handover. All of a sudden, you need to pay for this. Otherwise, no keys, no handover, no build completion compensation. Was a phone call to pre-request this from me that hard? And they wont allow me to check with the contractors who did the work, so strongly doubt it’s just a makeup $2k variation.

•Don't release payment if any work is unsatisfied;
Stay smart, stay humble. Ask, you’ll receive. Good luck with your build!

Been looking for a home to build for well over 2 years. Being let down by countless other big name builders and being told half truths, My partner and I thought we would try a local builder. Jaison was the first team member we met and has been amazing. Answering all my questions at all hours of the day or night. He has been transparent throughout the whole process and my partner and I couldn't be happier. The contract was signed today and we are looking forward to building with Evolution.

The experience we have had with Evolution has been amazing. Since the day we walked into the showroom Jaison has been supportive and helpful in the whole process. Being First home buyers he has walked us through and has been very patient especially with all my questions.
He has definitely go above and beyond. He has never left me with any unanswered questions.
Each time we have been into the display home both Jaison and Sharon have been very welcoming. Thank you Evolution and I’m very excited for the next stage of our build.
Juan and Ely

Evolution is a great building company. Their home inclusions were by far better than any other builders we looked at. They were quick and the team are very professional and always answered our questions. Helen is the nicest person and always available to answer questions. Adam is a good professional site supervisor. Being a local builder made it easier too. Thanks everyone at Evolution.

A real strength with the team at Evolution Building Group is that they hold some very good core values that resonate through the business. They bring a level of caring and understanding to the table that made me feel like a valued customer. My customer experience was as good as I would expect from a business that is at the top of its game and who understands the need for exceptional service. Not only was the experience great, but the end result was also great. Thank you Evolution, you built me a high quality home that I am proud to live in.

Always fast to respond, a very honest and attentive business to deal with, what more could you ask for from a builder.

Evolution built our home at Arcadian Hills, and we are very happy with the outcome. Adam was a great construction supervisor and Helen and the customer facing team are very helpful. I would use them again.

We couldn’t be happier with our home built by Evolution Building Group. It was so great to find a local quality builder to build our custom design home. It is everything we planned.

From the initial meeting to the planning stages and construction of our home, the team were friendly and responsive. Our initial impressions were high and we were never let down. The entire process was effortless.

Our Project Manager Adam was professional and meticulous. We had every bit of confidence that Adam would deliver a quality product from the quality tradesmen he chose to his attention to detail.

Holding the fort and every bit helpful was Helen and the rest of the office team. They are super friendly and helpful.

We highly recommend Evolution Building Group to anyone wanting to build a quality and affordable home. We can’t thank you guys enough.

Great team and always willing to help no matter how small the task. Worked with us to turn our ideas into a reality. Thanks Again Darrin and team

Fantastic builders & run a great company. The go-to builders you can trust in Wollongong, Lake Illawarra & Shoalhaven area. They do excellent custom home designs & builds. Highly recommend if you're looking to build a new home.

We could not fault Evolution at all, best building experience for our first home. We would 100% build with them again. Everything went smoothly and to plan, communication was great, thanks Adam and team, we love our new house!

Fantastic builders & run a great company. The go-to builders you can trust in Wollongong, Lake Illawarra & Shoalhaven area. They do excellent custom home designs & builds. Highly recommend if you're looking to build a new home.