Sovereign Building Company is a young, energetic, passionate and hard working company with a dedication to the craft of building and to the art of customer service. The company has the capacity to design and construct all types of homes and accommodate all types of budgets – from concept homes, to individually designed homes to grouped dwellings, Sovereign can do it all.

Sovereign’s commitment and skill comes directly from their team. From the Directors of the company to the employees, Sovereign combines industry experience with the edge of youth, providing clients with a balance of knowledge and dedication to serving the principle of providing a job well done.

The company debuted in 2005 when brother and sister, David Savietto and Danielle Savietto-Parri, teamed up in a small home office to create a residential building company. The company’s first project was a 4×2 storey town house development in Burswood, and ended up winning four awards from the HIA, as well as a nomination for Home of the Year.

“What we wanted to do was come into the industry as a point of difference and give people the opportunity to build individually designed homes at a reasonable budget,” says David.

Since then, Sovereign has evolved in many ways. Firstly, there was the big move from a home office in Como to a substantial office in Osborne Park. With that larger office came the addition of more employees, including a Designer/Draftsperson, Prestart Consultant, Schedulers, Supervisors, Sales People and Administration Employees.

They have also introduced two concept homes – one in Iluka and one in Southern River – as well as initiated a number of radio and newspaper advertising campaigns to give their brand more recognition.

But what is the Sovereign brand? “Basically we design houses to suit people’s layout, needs and specifications, but while working within their budget,” explains David.

Sovereign Building Company will initially present a client with two versions of the concept homes, including the Deluxe Specification and the Sovereign Specification. A concept home, unlike a display home, is not meant for duplication. Instead, they are constructed to incorporate various unique ideas, and various different building materials.

“For example, our latest display in Iluka has a kitchen upstairs,” David says. “Because it has beautiful ocean views, we wanted to make the main living area upstairs.” To do that, Sovereign introduced a dumbwaiter – a small freight elevator designed to carry objects rather than people – that starts at the ground floor and opens up in the kitchen area, so residents would not have to carry their shopping up and down the stairs.

“That’s an example of using the house as a concept home to show how things can be done differently,” David says.

No house – or idea – is too big or small for Sovereign Building Company, as long as it meets the client’s needs, wants and expectations.

Quality across the board

Generally, Sovereign’s builds range from $500,000 to $2 million. They also work on less-expensive projects through their second brand, Astute Homes.

“The Sovereign brand was pushing into the upper market,” says David, recalling the origins of Astute. “We wanted to capture the clientele who were building in between $150,000 and $550,000. People would come to Sovereign with the intention to build with us, but it wouldn’t fall into their budget. Rather than turn them away, we look at doing the same build through Astute in a way that would actually meet their budget, while still providing them with a high quality product, with a high service.”

Astute Homes is run through the same office as Sovereign, and the same factors that distinguish the latter in the marketplace also distinguish the former. One of those factors is personalised service from the Directors of the company.

“In the industry, it’s unusual for the Director to be the supervisor,” says David, who tends to do both jobs. “It means the client gets to deal one-on-one with the Director of the company.”

Being a smaller, personalised company has set Sovereign apart in general. Their size has ensured that they have the control and the discipline in place to make decisions quickly, to work fast, to and deal with their clients promptly.

Another point of difference is the provision of a quality-assured building inspectors report at the completion of every house. “This is to give the clients the guarantee that it has been built in accordance with the plans and the specifications, and that we’ve maintained a high quality of workmanship throughout the process,” explains David.

“That’s something no other builders are really offering at the moment,” he adds. “We’re so confident within our products and our brand that we’re more than happy to do that.” Sovereign introduced that offer this year, and have heavily advertised it through their frequent advertising partner Mix 94.5.

Walking the walk

Sovereign Building Company became an award-winning company its first job out the gate, and has not slowed down since. As a result of their belief in client satisfaction and their drive for excellence, they have been gratified to receive numerous awards from the HIA and MBA over the years, including awards for Perth’s Best New Builder in 2011, as well as Best Customer Service and Display Home of the Year in 2010.

“You’re up against competition that has been around a long time, so when you win one of those awards it does mean you are providing a quality product,” David says. “We brand ourselves as a quality builder, so it’s nice to be able to back it up with awards. Actions speak louder than words.”

This year, Sovereign Building Company is a nominee for the prestigious Telstra Business Awards, and David’s sister Danielle is a nominee for the 2013 Telstra Businesswoman Award. Bec Bucci, Marketing Manager at Sovereign, was also a finalist for that award last year.

“At Sovereign we try to talk the talk and walk the walk,” David says. “We try to deliver past people’s expectations. We want to go above and beyond what our clientele believe they can obtain from a builder.”

Compared to the larger builders in the industry, Sovereign has a relatively small marketing budget. The awards – especially when combined with the client testimonials they collect at the end of every project – go a long way towards getting the word out about the Sovereign experience.

Moving forward, David says he would like to see that industry recognition grow. “We would like to be one of the major builders within the industry but still maintain that brand of delivering a personalised, high quality product at an affordable price.”

According to David, the vision is not to build thousands of homes a year. Instead, he would prefer that number to be somewhere between 30 to 40 for Sovereign, and around 50 for their sister brand, Astute Homes.

“The vision is to create a brand that people want to build with, that they are happy to build with, and want to talk about,” David concludes.