“We are delighted to recommend Simon Murray Builders to any future clients. When we decided to build a new house, several friends recommended Simon as the best builder for our project.
While Simon is still involved in building, supervising and managing our house, he has concurrently worked on the reconstruction and resealing of the shared driveway and courtyard as well as managing the substantial renovations of our near neighbours, three major projects at the same time.
Our gratitude and admiration for Simon has grown over the course of the build. Simon has project managed every stage of the build from clearing the ground onwards. He has made it very easy for us with his liaising and communicating with professionals and teams of skilled workers all the way through. We have a complex house designed by an architect. It has been Simon’s task to interpret the plans to bring them to fruition. Besides being a very skilled builder, we experience Simon as an artist in his own right. He is thoughtful and creative and has improved on the designs on several occasions.
Alongside Simon’s skilled practice, Jane as the administrator for the company has been invaluable to us in managing the planning of the project. This is the first time we have been involved in building a house and we have had a lot to learn. Jane has patiently and professionally guided us through the process, always keeping us informed ahead of any tasks for us to complete. Our confidence in ourselves as clients has been because of her incredible skills to liaise and communicate as well.
We have been very happy with all the professionals and trades people who Simon and Jane have brought in. The core team of builders under Simon’s supervision are disciplined and hard workers. Our neighbour commented that she has never seen guys who work as hard as they do. Many times they have offered valuable, thoughtful input into aspects of the design, especially in relation to our living in the house. My husband has one sentence to add: “You can’t get a better builder”.
Our build is inner city with a site that has presented many challenges. It has close neighbours, a narrow road and a shared driveway. From time to time Simon has had to deal with frustrations and anger from those impacted by obstructions and noise. He has always responded with calm diplomacy and endeavoured to calm ruffled feathers. It has been an extra dimension to our project that others may not have to encounter but he has been able to diffuse potential difficulties.
It is the role of project manager to anticipate and to deal with multilple communications with sundry others. Simon does this with an efficient equanimity, holding a great deal in his mind at any one time. He has also had to manage unexpected frustrations and hold ups not of his making, yet the build has moved along steadily.
I am happy to confirm that we recommend Simon Murray Builders to any potential clients. I would say, as we do for ourselves, that you’re lucky to have them.
Susan Hawthorne & Burke Hunter 2024
“We have worked with Simon and Jane during the past seven years on multiple renovations to our old 1950’s concrete tiled stucco bungalow. Our house is now an immensely satisfying statement of old meets new, with the result being a strong testament to Simon’s skill, hard work and eye for design. Not only was Simon patient and fun to work with, but his skilled crew and experienced sub-contractors were so nice to have on site. Jane is a warm and consistent communicator from the back-office, and we had no surprises as we were always in the loop, especially important as covid lockdowns were in effect during our renovation. We relied heavily on Simon Murray Builders, and our trust was amply rewarded. We feel being a Simon Murray Builders Client is the best first decision anyone could make!”
Euan & Wendy 2020
"Simon has been a steady and reliable presence on our office renovations. His work ethic is amazing and he follows through on what he promises. Also impressive to us has been his attention to detail and his many helpful suggestions as to how to make the project a success”.
Steven and Barbara Zindel
"Simon understood from the beginning what we were wanting to achieve in our Tory street build. His ideas complemented ours and he always offered lots of options when important decisions needed to be made. Costs were always transparent and there were never any surprises. Simon and his team are a pleasure to work with and we would recommend them to anyone. We are thrilled with the build, its exactly what we wanted."
Ian Goldschmidt & Sarah Moulder
"Simon’s easy nature combined with his eye for the detail made our extension stress free. He owned any problems on site and just got on and resolved them rather than them delay the works. He come highly recommended and didn’t disappoint."
Sara Woodfield and Rhys Palmer
"We have always been impressed by Simon’s attention to detail and describe him as a craftsman builder. Often when a project is on site, opportunities arise to develop the thinking further or simply clients decide to make changes. Simon’s ability to understand the language of the design means that he is able to use his creative skills always adding to the project. We would have no hesitation in recommending him."
Richard Sellars for continuum architecture ltd www.continuumarchitecture.co.nz
"Simon's forward planning, efficiency and attention to detail is outstanding. He allowed me to participate in every decision whilst still providing a wealth of ideas and information to help me create my dream space within my budget limitations"
Dr Kate Fulton