You gain new experiences and knowledge in everything that you do, and that’s no different for us and our clients. Every project is a learning process, be that for us or for the clients; here are some tips from previous clients for anyone looking to make some changes to their homes in the future. This is what our previous client said:
Find out what foundations you have before the ground is broken. Some previous clients didn’t know to have this checked before their project started. They later discovered that a small tree in their neighbour's garden meant that they had to have a custom designed foundation. Fortunately for them, their builder had seen the same circumstance, so they were about to get them designed beforehand and the groundworks were correct from the beginning.
Choose your builders carefully. Finding a reputable, well-organised builder will help you immensely as your project progresses; they are likely to know the local building inspector’s particular likes/dislikes, additionally, they should be able to recommend some good subcontractors. If you get the chance, go and look at some of their work. Try not to worry too much if they have no website, they should be organised enough to tell you when they will start your project and how long it will take. During the process, get involved by taking a look at where they’re at as often as you can, and if something doesn’t look quite right, talk to them about it.
Give as much detail as possible to your builder. Giving the builder as much information as you can from the beginning will help both the builder and yourself in achieving a smooth project. If you can, get it included in your contract so that all parties involved know what is expected. Try to include window sizes and finishes, the type and amount of sockets and lights that will be needed, what size and type of heating you would like, and subsequently how many radiators if applicable, whether you want the steels hidden or not, door types, sizes and finishes among many other specifications. This level of information helps the builder and helps you to clarify your expectations. Also, discuss things with your builder; they may have ideas for how to deal with certain things that arise. If you’re unsure of how to convey all of this information to builders, we can help with that in our building regulation stage.
Pay your builder's bills on time. This helps to keep the builder on your side, and also keeps the project moving forward smoothly.
Make sure all subcontractors liaise with your builders. If you use subcontractors alongside your builders, eg: Kitchen designers, make sure that they work together with your builders as per the requirements.
From a Building Tectonics point of view, these are all sensible points but where foundations are concerned, there are cases where the existing foundations are less important. Also, the design of the new foundations sometimes needs to be modified once the foundation trench has been excavated. It’s the one area that, in our view, the builder can justifiably say that his price is provisional and may have to be adjusted. Using subcontractors instead of using one main contractor to organise all the work can lead to problems about who is responsible for health and safety on the building site; remember that there are very heavy fines and even prisons for serious breaches of site safety.