Launceston Home Show Survey

Zebras at work work in the carpark

The weekend of August 2/3 marked the presentation of yet another Building & Renovation Expo sponsored by HIA & GUNNS. ZEBRAaustralia applied for space at the event to provide visitors with information but we were informed that all the stalls were taken. When we received that advice we decided to commission a survey in the carpark instead and here are some of the early results.

100 groups (families and other) were surveyed over the weekend at various times of the day and there were some surprising and not so surprising results.

Early figures suggest that;
• 62% of those surveyed were considering some form of home renovation or building project before visiting the event
• 84% of those surveyed had undertaken some form of home renovation in the last 12 months
• 71% of those surveyed were DIY builders or renovators
• 43% of those surveyed were involved in the building industry in some way or had a family member involved in the building industry in some way.

There are more extrapolations yet to be done from this raw data but these early results are very interesting.

Some other early results suggest that
• Over 90% of those surveyed expected that contracts between clients and builders should be enforceable without resorting to a court, tribunal or other formal legal procedure
• Over 36% of those surveyed either directly or indirectly knew of someone who had received an unsatisfactory level of service from a builder or builder’s subcontractor.
These are very early figures but they do seem to reveal some disturbing trends.

Further work on the data to more intensely explore the trends exposed will be dependent upon funding levels available and sponsors delivering on their pledges. Nonetheless, it is clear that there is a need for much more independent research in this area. In any event watch this space!