A Whangārei building company part of the Stonewood Homes franchise has contributed to the builder being awarded the gold award in the Reader's Digest Quality Service Awards.
Stonewood Homes Whangārei has been recognised for its commitment to quality and service, winning the Home Design and Build Services category, as voted by New Zealanders.
Stonewood Homes Whangārei Sales Manager Julie Scott said the company scored consistently high in the areas of personalisation, understanding, simplicity, satisfaction and consistency.
"After location, research [from March 2020 PureProfile Survey] shows 67.8 per cent of people rank the ability to customise a home design the second most popular consideration when selecting a builder," she said.
"Sharing the building journey with our clients is the cornerstone of our business – they are involved right from the start in the design process. People appreciate the choice we offer, from custom design through to modifying our existing architectural designs.
"Our customers get access to a proprietary online building system that enables them to view regular updates and photos of their build, providing them with a full online record of creating their home."
Scott said it was particularly gratifying to win the gold award given the past year had been challenging for new home builders.
"It's been a tough time for the building industry, with lockdowns and the associated new requirements for health and safety on building sites, as well as a shortage of materials at times," she said.
"If anything, we have raised our service levels to accommodate these factors and any uncertainty our clients may have been feeling through the building process. This was reflected in comments from survey respondents, who said Stonewood Homes was easy to deal with, provided a fast and efficient service and offered well-thought-out house designs."
The home building franchise beat many other competitors to take out the top award for outstanding customer service.
The Reader's Digest Quality Service Awards measure service quality across 35 categories, based on brand awareness and survey responses from over 2000 New Zealanders.