Our Blog

Avoid Top 10 Remodeling Mistakes Acting Contractor

November, 16 By admin

When planning your Construction Project one of the main decisions you need to make is who will manage the project. You may have engaged a Designer, and add managing the project to their contract or you may have hired a General Contractor to manage the project. A lot of people may decide to take on the project management role yourself.

Designing a building or renovation is not just about how it will look and function but also what materials are used, when they are needed, ensuring payments are made to suppliers and subcontractors, and quality assurance. If you feel you have the experience to deal with this, great. But be warned, it’s not as easy as it may sound. The 10 most common mistakes made by homeowners acting as remodeling and renovation project managers are:

• Insufficient Planning

  – Plan – Plan – Plan, This is where experience is necessary. Good planning keeps you focused on your Project, so you can manage the multi tasking that comes with Building

• Poor Materials Management

  – Running out of materials during a Project can cost a lot of time and money. Most building suppliers offer Materials Takeoffs for your Projects as a free service. Taking advantage of this can save you in the long run.

• Not Planning Sufficiently For Contingencies

  – materials can become unavailable due to a wide variety of reasons. Always leave yourself as much lead time possible to cover for those unforeseen issues.

• Poor Record Keeping

  – Always keep good records for every phase of your Project. You will be surprised how many times you will refer back to your records. When Hiring Contractors be Prepared: Due your homework prior to agreeing to any work. Check their Insurances, License, and Reputation in the area. It is very important to ALWAYS have a signed before any work starts. Keeping good records may save if something happens between you and a Sub Contractor

• Not Managing The Work Site

  – there are a number of regulations and workplace safety items that need to be covered during any building project. When trying to keep costs down it is tempting to throw caution to the wind and avoid the cost of indemnity insurance for destruction or property and for injury to those working on and visiting the site. If you do, you are a fool – and any builder or subcontractor who works on a site without ensuring these things are in place, are also foolish. Ensure that your subcontractor agreements make them responsible for safety and insurance of their area of work.

• Slack Quality Assurance

  – Use a work-check-approve-work cycle on every stage of the project. Make yourself available during every Inspection, so you can talk with the Building Inspector. He or She can assist in any issues you may have with the work. Just Ask – they will be happy to help.

• Poor Subcontractor Management

  – One benefit of using a builder as the project manager is that they have a network of trusted subcontractors. In a full home renovation, there can be 20-30 subcontractors. You need to use a well planned system for engaging, qualifying, contracting and managing your subcontractors. And remember to check and sign off their work BEFORE they leave the site and certainly before you pay them. You may like to engage an independent building consultant to manage these inspections.

• Poor Communication

  – Act professionally, it gives subcontractors more confidence that the project will be well managed. Let everyone involved with the project know what you are expecting from them in terms of deliverables and quality. Even with the most detailed plan, inevitably things will crop up that need discussion and adjustment.

• Poor Change Management Control

  – this ties in with the item above. All changes should be documented and signed off, however insignificant it may seem. Builders and subcontractors are human, they make mistakes. You need to ensure that any remedy or changes resulting from those errors is agreed, documented and charged to the appropriate party. I have been in the position where a builder made a major error which could not be undone, and meant the design had to be changed to ‘accommodate’ the error. He then tried to charge ME an additional $8000 based on the change in design.

• Not Keeping Check Of The Budget

  – Always add 20% for Overruns on any project. Doing this will keep you from running over Budget in most cases. Keep track of every change on a daily basis, so you always know where your Budget stands.

Should you have any need for a Helping Hand, Call Chandlee Construction @ 678-278-9226