Building Contractors

A building contractor is someone who you employ to build the house for you. This route is probably the easiest route to take for your project as it would be their responsibility to find the sub contractors, arrange the materials, make sure the work is done on time and keep to the required standard and Building Regulations.

If you have a good building contractor, they will give you an agreed time for the project to finish and they usually keep to that time frame.

This route is also called a turn key which means that they complete the job and hand over the key to you to move in.

So what are the disadvantages of having a building contractor?

The main one would be the cost. You must understand that the building contractor spends a lot of time project managing your build as well as being involved in the construction of the house themselves and someone has to pay for this and that is you the home owner. They also have to pay for extra insurance cover’s that are needed during the process of constructing your home and on top of it all make a profit.

What points are needed to be considered if you are choosing the building contractor route?

• Always go for a reputable contractor, preferably someone who has been recommended to you.
• Try and find out as much details about the contractor as possible.
• Ask to see their previous work and have a chat with the owners to see if they were happy with the results and the process.
• Always agree a cost before they start. Make sure that you specify in a written contract exactly the quality and specification that you require for everything. For example, colour and design of doors and windows, roof tiles, the bathroom suits, kitchen cabinets, lights and so on.
• Do remember that if you change your mind at a later stage and you wish to have a different set up to what you had originally agreed, it will cost you more as you can not expect them to do it for you free of charge. Always leave an amount in your budget for these items as you will definitely be changing things as the house is being built. It might be that you would like to have extra sockets or a better quality bathroom suit or tiles.
• And finally, make sure that they are a member of an organisation like homebond that would give you some protection against bad workmanship. Also make sure that they have the right insurance policies that covers the build and anyone present on site.