Working with your contractor shouldn’t be a difficult task if you followed the right steps in choosing one from the start. To keep everything working effectively with your contractor, you need to be proactive. Make sure you’re clear and decisive about what you want and more importantly what you don’t want. Ambiguity can cause mistakes and delays.
The surest way to keep a custom home project progressing is with steady, effective communication. Everyday something new is happening on your project, so the easiest way to keep everyone informed is to have a meeting before the work starts. Think of a meeting as two-way communication that can happen by phone, e-mail, or in person and that only lasts a few minutes. This daily update needs to address the following five basic issues:
- What is happening on the project today?
- Are we on schedule?
- Are we on budget?
- What problems or issues, if any, are occurring on the project?
- What, if anything, do you (the contractor) need from me (the owner)?
Having this regular meeting time saves panic calls and work stoppage while you’re busy earning money. If you and the contractor both e-mail, you can swap the answers to the questions the night before and agree to talk only if there are any problems.
You and your contractor need to have a pre-construction meeting to set reasonable expectations on both sides for a productive work environment. This meeting needs to remove miscommunication before it happens. It also lets everybody know what the hot spots are that can cause problems later. Use this list to figure out what you need to discuss and agree upon:
- What are acceptable communication times?
- What is reasonable contact during work hours?
- How often will we address the accounting?
- Will the property be fenced off and locked?
- What is a reasonable level of cleanliness on the site?
- Will smoking be allowed on the site?
- What potential noise restrictions may be an issue?
- What will be the working hours on the site?
- Will workers be restricted from removing shirts?
- What bathroom accommodations will be set up for the workers?
- Will workers be aware of using foul language?
Talk to the neighbors and solicit their input and approval because they’ll be impacted by some of the decisions even more than you. Also check to see if any local government restrictions apply.
If one phrase causes a contractor to wake up screaming in the middle of the night, it’s the dreaded change order. A change order is needed when you decide to do something different than you agreed upon in the plans or contract. You’re entitled to make any changes you want. However, change orders can create problems and delays not to mention added costs.
Such change orders should be kept to a minimum if at all possible. Doing so can be difficult because your house will look different as you build it. Minor change orders may not cause too much trouble, but major change orders could send you back to the planning department and cause weeks of delays.
The contractor usually isn’t willing to absorb the costs involved in change orders and may even charge a premium as spelled out in the contract. Don’t let the pace of the project lose any momentum if possible in order to keep extra costs to a minimum.
Guidelines to Working with Your Contractor
Utilize these five keys to maintain an excellent working relationship with your contractor:
- Do your homework first, and then trust the contractor to do his job.
- Detail every decision and ask every question before you start. Imagine you’re going out of town for the entire project and the contractor could only work from written instructions.
- Let the contractor know your fears before you start so he can address them.
- Ask that the contractor not start the project until he can commit to working continuously through to the end.
- Think of your contractor as being on your side, and he most likely will act like it.
If you respect these guidelines, you will see that working with your contractor will become very pleasant and also very efficient.