Over the last weeks and months you've struggled to rationalize your longheld ideas into a buildable form and you're there now.
The design process has been tough, as it's inclined to be with renovations and new builds, but you're happy where you are and you're keen to start building. It's time to choose a builder to do the work.
The qualified builder or general contractor is a professional capable of transforming your drawings and written instructions into a built reality, assuming complete responsibility for the work while providing a full warranty when it's done. Your builder will have a track record of successful built projects to their name and a list of clients as reference. They'll carry the necessary liability insurance and workman's compensation coverage to protect you and themselves and they'll never start work without signing a contract first.
I would suggest interviewing two or three qualified builders for a project, regardless of its size. A contractor may come with the best recommendations in the world but, in the end, you need to work well with them for construction to proceed smoothly. Sitting down with a builder and getting a feel for how they operate is a critical first step in your selection process. You're looking for someone who's organized and professional and who's comfortable communicating with you. A construction project is always a challenging journey and good communication skills are paramount.
An interested builder will provide a fee proposal to you as a point of comparison. Each builder will receive identical drawings and specifications and return to you with a proposal outlining their scope of work and an estimated cost to complete it. Since it's very rare to find a homebuilder these days willing to commit to a fixed price on a building project you can expect your fee proposal to be a cost estimate with an additional amount added on as a management fee.
The typical contract between owner and contractor is the CCDC-3 (Canadian Construction Documents Committee) Cost Plus Contract. It's important to realize that the CCDC-3 Cost Plus contract does not hold the builder to a fixed project budget but rather stipulates that the project will cost what it costs and the builder will be remunerated through a management fee calculated as a percentage of the cost of the work done. The builder's estimated cost to complete the work is exactly that, an estimate, and the builder is not legally bound to any fixed number. A builder's management fee typically runs around 10 per cent of actual-cost and is a number on which one can compare contractors. I generally like to negotiate a fixed management fee based on a percentage of the estimated cost to complete.
Talking to a builder's past clients about budget and time overruns will give you an insight into the rigorousness of the builder at this estimating stage. On larger projects I will often recommend a client hire an independent cost consultant to work up a cost estimate on the project as an inaccurate low estimate might sway a decision in the wrong direction. Ask lots of questions, look to a builder's experience and bring on an independent consultant if necessary.
Costs and fees are important decision-making factors but aren't the only ones. Take the time needed to follow up on references and to take a walk-through of a builder's previous projects, if possible. At the end of the day you should have the peace of mind at the start of your project that the builder at the helm is an experienced professional who's going to get the job done smoothly, on budget and on time.
Kevin Vallely is a residential designer in North Vancouver. Follow along Kevin's "small house" design at cliffhangerhouse.com.
