Farms & Farm Machinery: “Now Buildings Connecting Farmers with Referral Builders”

This article was written by Lincoln Bertelli and originally published in Farms and Farm Machinery Magazine and on TradeFarmMachinery.com.au. Republished here with permission.

Now Buildings builder agent Mark Horsburgh constructed a Triple Mammoth shed in NSW. 

Perfecting a supply chain is the aspiration for any business, with experienced hands at every crucial stage helping to ensure every transaction runs smoothly.

Now Buildings has spent years developing relationships with referral builders around Australia which means they can connect farmers with somebody closest to them, while simultaneously working with builders who approach the company on behalf of an end customer.

This is a complex operation, particularly when factoring in the remote environments in which Now Buildings’ sheds exist, but experienced teams working together means customers are the ultimate winners – and this is not something which has happened by accident.

Now Buildings has existed for two decades and has prioritised quality since day one, wanting sheds that will last for the long-term in some of Australia’s harshest conditions with the support to match.

During its early years, the company developed a reputation among builders for providing good support and being easy to work with.

This meant referral builders would offer to remain ‘on call’ if the company sold another shed in their area, something which established their network and relationships.

One such example, who has been a builder agent with Now Buildings for several years, is Mark Horsburgh.

After moving back to Tullamore in central-west New South Wales, Horsburgh completed a shed for Now Buildings through his company MGH Construction Services, which began the relationship that has led to plenty of ongoing work.

Horsburgh completed his first shed with Now Buildings in 2019 and has undertaken more than 100 builds since then.

“We’ve built a great relationship with the guys there,” he says.

“The feedback that you get is great from them and if there is ever an issue it’s easy to deal with.

“My biggest selling point is they are a family-run company, not a franchise."

“There are people out there that sell sheds but don’t offer a build, but with Now Buildings, I find everyone just works so well together from the construction side through to the paperwork side of it.

“I think it makes my job simple as well.”

Working together 

From a Now Buildings perspective, the company believes having team members in specialised roles allows a higher level of expertise, while also ensuring builders such as Horsburgh know who they need to speak to for every aspect.

One example is Rowan Payne, the Agents and Builders Manager – a role that involves allocating builders but also being the first point of contact at Now Buildings when the end user has approached the builder directly about a shed.

“We send through the plans and all the information about the shed to the builder, and the builder quotes from there,” Payne says.

“We try and do as much as we can, as there are instances where customers need to know what the kit price is if they’re applying for a grant or finance – so we facilitate getting that information to the customer.” 

The experienced sales team are complemented by a dedicated Solutions Team available to address any issues.

In the rare event of damaged or missing parts, they ensure minimal downtime for both builders and customers.

Horsburgh built a shearing shed which hosted a world record.

The Solutions Team has also taken on feedback from builders, Now Buildings says, with examples including adjusting construction manuals and plans based on real-world feedback.

“We actively ask for feedback from the builders about what can we do better,” Payne says. “We’re looking to evolve, improve and grow and we have our own engineering that we’ve developed, we have that facility to make those changes and improvements.”

Horsburgh agrees that having every link in the chain working seamlessly brings benefit for him as a builder in getting the job done.

“I think the less phone calls you receive, the easier everyone’s job is,” he says.

“If everything is built to the engineering specifications, and you have people looking after different fields, the easier things roll on with the whole process.”

Top Notch

Now Buildings also specialises in building unique sheds which cater to the requirements of farmers operating in some of Australia’s most remote areas.

The company prioritises quality in every aspect of both design and construction to ensure its sheds are built to handle the long term.

Among the examples of this are using high tensile bolts and Class 4 fasteners, while also providing site-specific engineering from an independent structural engineer, heavy duty connection and footing design, and high-grade industrial strength materials.

Now Buildings can handle large sheds with ease, with Payne highlighting the ability to add extra bays to make existing sheds even larger if required.

The shearing shed is just one example of Now Buildings’ quality.

One example of this was a Triple Mammoth shed that Horsburgh built in New South Wales, which was extended to six frames side-by-side to ultimately measure 97m wide, 31.5m long and 5.4m high.

Another unique build which Horsburgh completed was a shearing shed in Morven, New South Wales.

This shed, which measures 72m wide and 21m long, was later used to break a national record for the most sheep shorn in one day.

“This was on a family farm and it was probably one of the first shearing sheds Now Buildings had done,” he says.

“There was a lot involved from the engineering side of it to designs and whatnot."

“Everything was spot on, and that comes down to working with Now Buildings again on a great project. It was a big highlight and it was pretty impressive.”

The full product range can be viewed online here. 

Now Buildings also built a shed in Queensland measuring 261m long.