NHBRC registered · Own certified electrician
Construction Contractors in Cape Town – Get a Free Quote in 48 Hours
Without handing a big deposit, without the price growing halfway through, and without a builder who stops answering his phone in month three.
You see every item of work with a price next to it before you pay us anything.
You pay after each stage is finished and you have walked around it.
You get photos and a short update every Friday.
We usually answer within a few minutes.
Smith Build works across the Northern Suburbs, the Southern Suburbs, the Cape Flats and the South Peninsula. Our own registered electrician handles the electrical work, so your certificate comes from us.
You pay after each stage is finished.
Registered and certified.
NHBRC registeredHome Builders Registration Council · No. 4000007346
Registered electricianInstallation Electrician · Cert. 21075
Recent jobs
Have a look at some of the work we have done around Cape Town.
What we build
These are the jobs we do, from the plans to the last certificate.
You get one team and one number to call for all of it. Nobody hands your job to a stranger halfway through.
Building a new home from scratch
- Empty plot cleared and foundations dug
- Slab, brickwork and roof
- Plumbing and electrics put in from new
- Plaster, floors, kitchen and bathrooms
- NHBRC enrolled and handed over to you
Adding space to your home
- Extensions
- Second storeys
- Granny flats and flatlets
- Garage conversions
- Enclosed patios and braai rooms
- Decks
Making the house work properly
- Full renovations
- Kitchens
- Bathrooms
- Open plan conversions
- New floors and ceilings
Keeping the weather out
- Roof repairs and re roofing
- Waterproofing
- Gutters
- Rising damp
- Leaks that came back after somebody else fixed them
Power, water and safety
- Electrical work with your certificate
- Plumbing
- Solar and inverter installs
- Boundary walls
- Palisade and gates
- Paving
The paperwork
- Plans drawn and submitted
- Council approval managed for you
- Right through to your occupation certificate
How we work
Your money always stays one step behind the work.
No big deposit, no paying up front for something that does not exist yet. Here is the whole arrangement, on every job we take.
We only take a small deposit at the start, and it pays for the first materials on your job.
After that you pay one stage at a time, once you have seen it, approved it, and only then does the next stage start.
Every Friday you get photos and a few lines on what got done and what happens next week.
The same team is at your house from the first day to the last, because we do not subcontract your job out.
At the end you get one file with everything in it: approved plans, occupation certificate, electrical and plumbing certificates, guarantees, paint codes and material lists.
- Step 01We finish a stage
- Step 02You inspect it
- Step 03You pay that stage
Your free quote
Get a free quote in under 48 hours.
Here is exactly what happens when you message us.
- We come to your house at a time that suits you and we look at the actual job. No guessing over the phone.
- In under 48 hours your quote lands in your inbox. Every item of work, in normal words, with a number next to it.
- If your budget will not stretch to everything you had in mind, we tell you what it will cover before you have spent a cent.
- The document is yours. Take it to another builder and compare it if you want to. We would rather you felt sure.
How to spot a builder who finishes
Hiring a builder feels like a gamble. It does not have to be.
Why do builders disappear halfway through a job?
Almost all of them were already broke on the day they quoted you. He quotes low to beat the other two prices, then spends your deposit finishing the job he underquoted for somebody else last year. When the next customer's deposit comes in late, yours is the house he stops coming to.
Why do good references not protect me?
A reference is a photograph of a builder on a good day. It tells you about a house he finished last year, when the money was still moving, and the same goes for the reviews, the truck and the job he drives you past. None of it tells you what is in his bank account this month, which is the thing that decides whether he is still on your site in September.
Is there one question that tells me if a builder is solvent?
Ask every builder thisCan you start my job on a small deposit, and can I pay for each stage after I have seen it finished?
A builder who needs your deposit cannot afford to say yes to that. One with money behind him agrees without thinking about it, because carrying your job for a few weeks costs him nothing. It is a test you can run this afternoon, on us and on anybody else quoting you.
What if a builder refuses to start on a small deposit?
Then he is telling you he has no money of his own, and the reason he gives you is not the point. It will be materials, or company policy, or that everyone works this way.
A yes
He can carry your job for a few weeks, so waiting to be paid costs him nothing.
A no
He is funding your job out of your own money, and out of the next customer's.
Our work
Jobs we have finished around Cape Town.
A few of the jobs we have completed, with a note on what each one was. We can send more on WhatsApp.
Patio extension
Kitchen renovation
Bathroom renovation
Granny flat
Stacking doors and pergola
Paving
House extension
Tiled patio and new doors
Open-plan living area
Questions people ask us
Questions people ask us
How much will my job cost?
We cannot answer that honestly from a phone call, and anybody who does is guessing. We come out, look at the real job, and send you the full written price within two working days. It costs you nothing and you get to keep it.
What if you find something once you open up the wall?
Old houses hide things and it happens. Nothing extra gets done and nothing extra gets charged until we have shown you what we found and you have said yes to it in writing.
How do I know you will not disappear like the last guy?
Ask us how we want to be paid, and read How to spot a builder who finishes again. A builder who can wait to be paid is a builder who can afford to stay on your job.
Are you registered, and does that even matter?
It matters more than most people know. A builder who is not registered is not legally allowed to be paid for the work at all, and our courts have already settled that. Our numbers are at the bottom of this page and you are welcome to check them.
Do you build new houses from scratch?
Yes, and it is the work we like most. We take a job from an empty plot right through to the day you get your keys: foundations, brickwork, roof, plumbing, electrics and every finish inside. We are registered with the NHBRC, which is the council that covers new homes, and our number is at the bottom of this page.
Does the NHBRC cover my renovation?
No, and almost nobody is told this. The NHBRC covers new homes only. Your kitchen, your extension, your roof and your bathroom sit outside it completely. That is exactly why we put our guarantee in writing and give you every certificate in one file at the end.
Do I need plans for what I want to do?
Often yes, and it catches people out. Enclosing a patio needs approval. Changing your boundary wall needs approval. Tell us what you have in mind and we will tell you straight away, then handle the submission for you if you want.
How long does council take?
Around three months in Cape Town, and no builder can speed that up. We submit it, we chase it, and we keep you posted so you are not the one phoning them.
How long will my job take?
We put a completion date in your contract before we start. Weather moves things sometimes and you will hear about it on the Friday it happens, not two weeks later.
What happens to my house over the December holidays?
The whole trade closes for about a month right in the middle of storm season. Before we break up we make your site watertight, we tell you in writing exactly what state it is in, and we give you a number that somebody actually answers.
Who fixes the snags at the end?
We do, and we do not ask for the final payment until that list is empty.
What if the damp comes back?
We find where the water is getting in before we touch the wall. Sealing the inside of a wet wall makes it worse, which is why people pay twice for the same damp patch. Fix the source and it stays fixed.
Do you work in my area?
We work across greater Cape Town. Message us your suburb and we will tell you straight away, and send you photos of a job we have done near you.
Get in touch
Send us a message and find out what your job actually costs.
We reply within 24 hours, we get back asap, usually within a few minutes.