Handy tips for choosing your ideal Builder

You may have heard horror stories about problems with builders, budgets spiraling out of control and sites left half-finished. But the reality is that the vast majority of builders are both professional and capable, and you can do a great deal to avoid bad experiences simply through the way you choose, manage and communicate with them.

Here’s why it’s worth laying the foundations for a good relationship with your builder – and how to do it well.

1. Don’t approach a builder too soon

It may seem logical if you’re thinking of having construction work done to start by approaching a builder, but don’t be too hasty. Builders are generally good at pricing once they know exactly what’s wanted, but asking for a price before you have any drawings or detailed information about the project is as good as inviting them to tell you simply what they think you want to hear.

Our advice is to appoint a builder once you have a set of drawings and a list of what will (and will not) be included. Otherwise, you may base the project on a figure that could be way off the eventual cost.

2. Consider the scope of the project

Find the right kind of building company for your project. The kind of contractor suitable for a luxury retail project has to be highly organised, usually with multiple managers, a well-organised back office, and teams that can operate around the clock and produce exceptionally high-quality work at speed. Such contractors tend to be expensive and for most people would be too much for a kitchen addition or an bathroom renovation.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are plenty of small builders who do a lot of the work themselves on-site and organise everything from a mobile phone on their hip. With such low overheads, a builder like this should be much cheaper, but the level of service, organisation and speed may not compare.

You’re looking for the most appropriate balance of low price, high quality and good organisation. You never get the best of all three, but here it’s key to decide what will be the best fit for you.

3. Aim for one point of responsibility

Rather than using one general contractor, it may seem wise to try to save money by directly engaging separate tradespeople, such as plasterers, electricians and carpenters. While it’s true that a general contractor will take a small slice of cost from the subcontractors, I would argue that this money is well-earned. Managing and coordinating the separate trades on-site takes a great deal of mettle and experience.

4. Let the builder manage the project

Views about what project management actually involves can vary, but in our opinion, the most important manager of a project is the main building contractor. It’s the builder’s responsibility to make sure that the right people in the right numbers are on-site at the right times, and that they have the necessary materials to do their work.

5. Be specific

We’ve mentioned it already, but we can’t emphasise enough how important it is to be specific. A set of drawings is a good start, but what about the structural detail – are you asking the builder to work this out? If so, make that clear or, alternatively (and, in our opinion, preferably), have the structural calculations done by an engineer before you ask for a price.

Beyond the drawings, you need to make clear exactly what the builder is being asked to include in the price. If the work involves fitting a bathroom, for example, who’s supplying the hardware, taps and tiles? If the builder is to supply them, exactly which ones? If you want to supply the

tiles yourself, who’s supplying the adhesive and grout? Unless all such things are clear, there’s potential for misunderstandings and arguments over money once the work has started.

6. Understand the importance of a building contract

A building contract is simply an agreement between a builder, who agrees to undertake a specific set of works, and a client, who agrees to pay a set amount of money. There are many forms of contract, but the one that we see most regularly used for residential projects has the drawings and schedules attached to the contract, so it’s clear what’s included and what’s not. The payment terms and so on are agreed upon upfront.

The important thing the contract does is set out the ‘what ifs’ –such as, what if the work is changed along the way? What if it takes longer than agreed? Ideally once signed and filed, the contract isn’t needed again because everything has gone smoothly. But that’s often because everyone knows it’s there in the background.

7. Consider who will do the rough-in and finish work

With a kitchen or bathroom, for example, the rough-in involves bringing the waste, plumbing and electrical services to the right places. So pipes and cables are installed in walls and under floors, and are left poking out. Typically, walls are then lined and plastered, and floors laid, before the finish work.

The finish work is where the cabinets, appliances, taps, light fixtures, tiling and so on are done, connecting up to the pipes and cables that were set in place before. It may be that you ask your builder to do both, but it’s not unusual for the finish work to be done by the person who supplied the kitchen or bathroom. This can work perfectly well as long as all parties understand in advance exactly what is (and is not) expected of them.

8. Make one comprehensive inspection list

More arguments happen at the final stage than at any other time in a project, so it’s important to be ready for the common pitfalls. When the main work is going full tilt, everyone tends to be happy, but toward the end of a project, there are typically a thousand small items to attend to, requiring an array of tradespeople, and this can be both difficult and expensive for the builder to organise.

Combine this with the fact that the client can see the finish line and usually desperately wants the home back after a long wait, and frustration often boils over.

Again, our best advice is to be really organised. Communicate clearly on expected timetables, then give the builder the space to do what’s needed. When it comes to inspection at the end – checking for works not completed, or not completed as requested, which the builder will rectify – go around with your builder and agree on one comprehensive list. Of course, additional things may come to light, but it’s also not really fair to keep coming up with ever more items over time.