In considering any major work being done on a house,
it’s best if you don’t already live there. But, most people who are considering
work to their existing house are, well, already there. Here are a few points to
remember during the construction process:
1. Consider
the contract you will have with the General Contractor. The payments should be
at regular enough intervals for him to be able to pay for the materials and
labor, but at no point should you pay the entire amount in advance. The
payments serve as an incentive to get the job done well, and if he has been
paid all before the work has begun, there is no incentive for him to begin the
work. People have been taken to the cleaners when they negect this simple rule.
2. It
is your house. You have employed professionals. You have done your homework. You
have taken every possible step to insure that the work goes as smoothly as
possible, and then the G.C.’s sub hits a gas main. Oops! Or, construction has
started and you see that a wall is not where you thought it should be. What do
you do? Well, what you shouldn’t do is assume that the professionals you have
hired are all working according to the plan, will catch the mistake, and all
will be well. Ask questions. It is possible for subs or contractors to misread
plans. It is also possible for the architect to make a mistake on the drawings.
And, cautiously enough, it is possible that you have made a mistake. Perhaps
some of the things that the Building and Safety department plan checker
required to change were mentioned to you. Perhaps they weren’t. The whole point
is that you, the home owner, need to ask. If any of the parties, in realizing
that a mistake was made, comes to that conclusion, the right thing would be for
the person to admit what they did and to take steps to remedy the situation.
3. Request
that work be limited to working hours and that dust and noise is minimized. If
you don’t want the workers to be using your toilets, you need to make sure that
the Architect has added that into the plans so that you won’t have to correct
the workers during their work. Additionally, if you do not want music blaring
throughout the day, make sure that you have communicated that to the General
Contractor.
4. Have
the right insurances. If a sub trips and falls and breaks something (an arm or
a leg), did you realize that he could sue you? If you don’t have a general
liability policy for your house during this time, prudence would require that
you take a policy out so that your risk is minimized. Does the general
contractor currently have in force the workers compensation insurance he is
required to have? As the owner, you have the ultimate responsibility for the
project.
5. If
at all possible, take a vacation or hire a responsible party to oversee the
work, or add it to the Architect’s role as an additional service. Although the
project is yours, you hired the professionals to do the things that you are not
skilled to do. If you hire the Architect to also be your Construction Manager,
you insure that the party who has been with you from the beginning is insuring
that what he has drawn actually gets built. Take advantage of the opportunity
to utilize the professional services available.
By keeping these things in mind, you will avoid at least five areas of potential headaches.
No comments:
Post a Comment