This week we introduced our new Building in Asia Forum which will be complemented by our regular Interviews with the Experts Series, where we have a chance to talk with the leaders and most experienced Building Industry Professionals in SE Asia.

For our very first interview we were fortunate enough to be able to talk with Mr Chris Clayton, Managing Director of Kensington Homes based in Bangkok Thailand.

If you have even just a passing interest in house construction and the luxury custom homes market in SE Asia then Kensington Homes would need no introduction. Kensington Homes are by all standards Thailand’s leading custom home designers and builders.

Interview: Chris Clayton Kensington Homes

BIA: Are the houses you build predominately for Foreign owners or Thai Nationals ?

Chris: We build homes for both foreigners and Thai’s. Our main customer base is foreigners married to Thai people.

We have built homes and/or are dealing with enquiries for homes for many nationalities including Thai, English, American, Australian, French, German, Dutch, Russian, Italian, Swedish, Swiss, Norwegian and so the list goes on however I would say most enquiries for custom home builds seem to come from German, English, French, Swiss, Dutch and Thai.

BIA: With the property laws in Thailand preventing foreign ownership of land, how do most of the owners of the houses you build for structure control ? It’s one thing to put a $ 25,000 USD home into your Thai partners name accepting in the worst case scenario a walk away proposition if it all goes wrong, but with some of your other beautiful homes such as the fabulous tropical dream and other high end builds I am sure there must be a different strategy at play.

( You can see some of Kensington’s beautiful homes in their Project Gallery )

Chris: We do not get involved in this aspect of property as we are a construction company not a developer. We are not selling homes but are contracted to construct them. People come to us to help them build their dream home. Land is dealt with by real estate agents and lawyers not by us. My advice to anyone is always use the services of a good professional Thai licensed lawyer. It is essential and most prudent to do so. Just as you would in your own countries.

BIA: Can you recommend a law firm specifically ?

Chris: There are many law firms in Thailand. My tip is to always do your own due diligence in choosing a law firm to use. Much is personal relationships between people. Some people get on well with one particular lawyer and some another. But always make sure they are a Thai licenced lawyer and have an office. Also have been practicing law for a number of years too. Bangkok has many as does Chiang Mai or any of the other major cities.

BIA: I am Australian where we have the Master Builders Association. Membership in that association is strictly controlled to licensed and registered quality builders and confirmation of membership provides some peace of mind for the customer when evaluating prospective suppliers – Is there are governing body of any kind in Thailand that membership to assures quality practices?

Chris: Not that I know of. Our construction team have over 20 years experience and we have qualified engineers, architects, project managers and foremen all of whom have experience in the construction industry. Some from overseas too. To get permission to build from the land office your architects drawings have to be signed off by both a licenced Thai architect and a licenced engineer. As far as our quality control we have experienced personnel oversee the construction.

BIA: Is there such a thing as reliable builders insurance in Thailand ? What happens if something goes horribly wrong on a build or someone is injured who is responsible, does the home owner have any liability or expectations ?

Chris: As part of our customer care policy, Kensington provide a contractors all risk insurance policy for all our customers homes, during the construction period. It covers us and the customer. Very good policy and takes care of most eventualities incase of problems such as injury and damage. Many people who build homes do not think of this and do not realize how much they are at risk. Many local builders have no insurance at all. We take it out in our name and the customer’s name on every house build. It is free of charge to the customer and part of our build service.

BIA: Thailand is a fascinating mix of social economic circumstances from extremely modest to ultra high end luxury, this also follows across to the construction industry. Are there real differences between the skills of the tradesman and craftsmen working at the high end of the market compared to the more affordable housing.

Chris: It comes down to their experience and knowledge in working on high end homes and the expectations of the customer which naturally filter down to the project manager. I have seen excellent work on lower end homes and bad work on high end. Good workers on medium range and excellent on high end. Kensington has a policy of making the customer happy and we do our best to achieve the best quality possible for them. We try to use experienced personnel who understand expectations. The finish is normally where problems can occur here. It comes down to the builder and their experience and their integrity. Some just leave and don’t care. Some have low levels of understanding what quality is and others do their best but it is not good enough. You have all sorts here and I would not say you can generalize regarding skill levels.

BIA: I understand that often Architects and Designers and Project Managers working in the luxury market are western trained so this is not so much a question about design skills but execution.

As a tradesman myself I spent 4 years in an apprenticeship and at trades college before I was allowed to work on my trade unsupervised. How is it possible to build houses here to this same western standard without these skills development processes in place, where does the required skills base come from to do western standard luxury builds ?

Chris: That is a difficult question to answer as what is western standards ? I have seen some terrible builds in many countries such as UK, Australia, USA. I have also seen some excellent ones. Our main construction director has over 20 years construction experience, was an apprentice and did training. So I believe he is well capable of building a home to what western people expect. What others do I am not sure.

BIA: Is there a hidden trades training or skills development system in Thailand that tradesman working on high end builds go through ?

Chris: As far as I know, the answer to this is no. But all your engineers, architects, urban planners etc are all very well qualified.

BIA: What advise can you give for owner builders that are self managing projects about managing quality ? How should they approach getting an issue fixed if they see something that is below standard given the concept of Thai face ? In the west you could approach any builder and ask questions about the quality of the work if you felt is was not appropriate is that any different in Thailand ?

Chris: Politely and peacefully.

BIA: Do you see a strengthening of encouragement from the Government towards sustainable and green building practices ? For example whilst western governments are doing everything they can to encourage the use of renewal energies include significant tax rebates there are huge import taxes on things like solar power devices here making them almost prohibitively expensive.

Chris: Thailand is doing and discussing. I think considering their economical development I believe Thailand is quite advanced in their thinking on green issues.

They are doing their best to look at new ways and with time they will make adjustments that suit their development. Every country is different and can do these things in different time frames, with considerations to economics. I think I am right in saying Thailand is actually looking to build huge solar fields and also encourage usage. Solar panel prices dropped by approximately 50% in 2009.

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), which operates the national electricity grid, now pays I believe 8 baht (25 cents) per unit of electricity supplied by solar roofs or solar farms, compared with the 3 baht for other energy sources. The Energy Ministry last year invited the private sector to invest in solar farms to meet its goal of producing 500 megawatt (MW) of solar-generated electricity by 2020. By last month, the ministry has already received applications for projects that would supply 425 MW within the next two-three years. So they are certainly doing their bit.

BIA: Do you have any other advise that you would like to give other readers about approaching a high end to luxury build project in Thailand ?

Chris: Yes use a professional, experienced builder who has a registered company, an office and can provide guarantees and insurance. Otherwise you have no come back. Make sure you have proper legal contracts provided too.

For more information on Kensington Homes you can visit their website  at ThailandBuilders.com , email at sales@ken.co.th or telephone +66 (0) 2 656 7725 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +66 (0) 2 656 7725      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

If you have any questions, follow or comments about this interview please visit or Building in Asia Forum.

Kensington Company Limited

ThailandBuilders.com

69/14 Sukhumvit Soi 4, Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110 Thailand

Tel: +66 (0) 2 656 7725

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