A great construction project first starts with great research and a budget that meets everyone’s needs. This is particularly important now in today's economy. Before you trust your hard-earned money to anyone, it's highly recommended you do your homework.
I would love to say, just go to the yellow pages or to the local house designer who built that cool house down the road and forge ahead with your building project. But that won’t create a successful building project. Instead, it will just bring you heartache and headaches. What you really need to do is your homework in order to have some knowledge on what you’re getting into and on finding the right persons to help you with your project. That also involves going to some good websites for help:
- Angie’s List is a fee-based home contractor review service.
- Guidelines to a successful construction project is a valuable information resource with links to the different aspects of construction projects.
- AIA- American Institute of Architects is another great source to find professionals. Additionally, they have many web pages and other resources to help you during your construction research stage.
- If you're interested in checking out where your contractors go to get their information and what types of organizations are out there to help them, you can find a list at DOCS (Designers, Owners, Contractors, Surety). Many professional organizations on this website have consumer pages to help you find good contractors in specific fields. They have some valuable tips on what your contractor is supposed to be doing for you, their customer. So often it’s a matter of linking and clicking your way through some not-always-simple information to find just the right link that ends up meeting your needs. DOCS also has a catalog of general contracts that contractors may use with you.
- Most importantly, DON’T forget to use your most basic of web resources such as Google.com and Yahoo.com or whatever other search engine you love to use. They can point you to a large variety of government agencies that regulate these groups and help you locate contracts and resources that keep your interests at heart.
The primary reason many home projects go slightly haywire or very wrong, is that they involve a varied work crew, in which I include any or all of the following: an architect, contractor, builder, exterior or interior designer, landscaper, or any part of a construction specialist and their crew. When something goes wrong, it’s usually the costs and the actual work needed and wanted that didn’t get spelled out clearly before anything got started. It’s amazing how quickly total costs increase, because the homeowner didn’t know to spell out the minor details right from the start in the contract. Any small detail in your eyes will always become a “Big Thing” in the eyes of any member of your work crew.
You only have one person you can blame when that happens, and that is yourself! No one else in the group is writing the checks! Sorry to sound so bold and cold, but that’s what the basics of construction is about. Any one of your crew members could walk, when they can’t be held to the contract and they know they can get more money from you. Even in this housing market, hunting for someone new will add more costs to the bid. The next guy may know you're desperate!
One of the easiest ways to stay in control is to add deadline and problem bonuses and fines in each contract. If any member of your team screws up or super-succeeds, be prepared to deduct or add $’s from or to their checks, so that they are held equally responsible for their end of the deal. It’s amazing what value a bonus can add to the quality and timeline of any project. When you’re counting and figuring out your final budget number and ready to write that contract, make sure you include incentive bonuses in that figure. Although it may make your list of wants, needs, and have-to-haves change or shorten, it will more likely result in an amazing project that you can really enjoy living with.
The research you do will help you decide what you are ready for before you get started on any new construction project. I’m a big believer in these types of sites and in doing a lot of pre-research, especially in the contracts realm. Knowing what you are getting yourself into before you start any type of project is your best defense against a bad, a good or a great project.
Look for more home building and renovating advice in the near future from DivaAnke
Note: To qualify the advice I’m giving you, please know that I received my degrees from Parsons School of Design and New School for Social Research in NYC. I also rebuilt the family home after it burned down five years ago. I’ve been there and done that when it comes to dealing with these and many more home fix-up projects.
