Let's get to it. The
biggest complaint we hear from Contractors is being hired by an owner
builder who hasn't done any home work before starting the build process
and expects the Contractor to teach them everything.
This is one way to create tension and just a bad foot to start on.
How
do you avoid this? Get familiar with what each trade does, the basic
terminology and the building process. You will gain more respect from
your Contractors and they will be more willing to help you and answer
your questions.
For
people who expect Contractors to educate them, they will more than
likely also be taken advantage of, Contractors will be a little more
lazy on your job (like not showing up on time) or slow to call you
back. We've seen it. Don't be that guy or girl.
We scoured the "How To Build Your Own Home' market. We've looked at all the books at Barnes and Noble (no joke!) and tons of book sellers online. There sure is a lot of information to help you build your home. But we were shocked there wasn't one book that went into depth about bidding and contracting.
This is where it all happens.
Yes. If your project is bid incorrectly, that's time and money - and that's the world of construction. If you don't contract correctly, that's time and money too. If you contract incorrectly, what do you do if your subcontractor is running 2 weeks late? If you are working on a bank loan, that sub could run other subs behind so your finish date might be late. Late subs are common - how can you protect yourself and your job? Contracts aren't a mean way of doing business - most people are scared of them. Contracts are for worse case scenarios. They law rules and expectations. REMEMBER - you are hiring your subcontractors - they aren't hiring you.
NATIONAL BUILDER EXPERIENCE
We've worked for the majority of the national home builders. There is a way to bid and contract correctly. We have all that information for you in our Builder Basics eBook. It's downloadable. We also included contracts, scopes of work, pay (draw) schedules, lien release forms, a schedule you can adjust. Check out our Table of Contents.
This is the most money you'll spend on one item - get as much education as possible. Build it right the first time. This book is included in our 1Day Seminar.
Contractors who want a deposit up front. The answer is No.
Why?
A Little Shady
Contractors who want money upfront 1) either can't manage their money, 2) don't have enough work going on, 3) you could be their only job and they don't want to put up their own money for materials upfront. All of these possible answers are not your problem. It's theirs.
Once you give a Contractor, we are also referring to Subcontractors, money before they start the job or a portion of their job, then they are running the job. Not you.
The above animation is quite common. And ladies, if a Contractor likes to tell you how pretty you are or is complementing you a little too much, stay away. I'm serious. They are trying to get the job.
When you think you've found a good Contractor/Subcontractor for your job, ask for references. These references include other people they've built for, other trades they've worked with and ask for a few of their suppliers. Why suppliers? You want to see if the Contractcor/Subcontractor pay them on time.
Pay Schedules
Your Contractor/Subcontractor and you should agree to a pay schedule. Sure, you can ask your Contractor/Subcontractor what they usually do. But you are hiring them, they are not hiring you. If you need examples of pay schedules, we have them for you in our Builder Basics book. We have worked for the majority of the national home builders and they pretty much all use the same Pay Schedule for their Subcontractors. What is a pay schedule? It's also called a Draw Schedule.
For an example. The Plumber. Your Pay Schedule would be a percentage for completing the water and sewer from the street to the house. A percentage would be completing the rough plumbing. A percentage would be completing the plumbing finish. So an average of 3 Draws for a Pay Schedule or a Draw Schedule. This is agreed upon by both you and the Contractor/Subcontractor. If you are working with a Contractor, then you need to agree to every trade. Some owner builders hire a Contractor for the framing through drywall and then hire the other trades on their own. There is still saving doing this.
Be Careful
Find good Contractors and Subcontractors takes time and is a HUGE portion of the job - they can make or break your job. Make sure you find ones you communicate well with. It doesn't matter if your neighbor down the street had a good experience with one and recommends them to you. Add this company to your list and you do your own homework on them.If it doesn't feel right, then it isn't right.
Owner Builders Who Are Looking for Specific Information
There is a GREAT series of reference books by Greg Berge who is been a General Contractor for over 25 years. He has the following downloadable books:
Guide for Hiring Contractors
501 Contractor Tips
Simplified Stair Building
Simplified Stair Building with Landings
Advanced Stair Stinger Layout Methods
Simple Stair Stringer Layout
Simplified Bracket Stair Building
Simplified Tile Floor Installation
Simplified House Inspection Checklist (note to you Owner Builders - your City Inspector is not handing you an Inspection Checklist)
What is outsourcing? You can outsource day to day items that would cost you more with your time than to have someone else to do it for you. And for pretty inexpensively.
Why outsource when you are building your own home or if you are small general contractor? To save you time and money. In construction with heavy deadlines, time is money and money is time.
The design build industry is heading toward 'lean construction contracting', ie virtual construction, and we can help you do just that.
We have worked for the majority of the national home builders and custom build contractors. Our services include contracting (your contract or ours), bidding, bid evaluations, budget management, construction help, scheduling, project coordination, design change management, job walk scheduling to name a few. We can free you up so you can run your job smoother.
Owner Builders make up 15% of all the new homes build across the country every year.
Building your own home, whether you are doing it all yourself or you are by passing the General Contractor and hiring your own subs, will save you $50k+. It's a great accomplishment and it should be. After all, you are building a space where memories will be created and life for years.
We have combed the national bookstores and online retailers looking at all the 'How To' books for building your own home. Not ONE talks about bidding and contracting the job. This is the meat and potatoes. Bad accepted bid, budget is blown. Didn't contract a sub and he doesn't show up? There goes your schedule which could affect your bank loan which also means more time. Are you just handing the sub a check? Sure hope not. And what about the design changes that happen on the job - how are you going to manage them? They are going to happen. Has happened on every house we've ever built.
In construction, time is money and money is time
You can absolutely build your own house. The best way to go about it is to hire subcontractors for the big jobs. If you want to paint the interiors, for example, get your family to help. And be careful about the siblings, cousins, uncles and nephews who come out of the wood work to help - saying they'll give you a good deal. Or the "I know someone". These are all good intentions, but because they are giving you a 'good deal', 9 out of 10 times, your job will not be their priority, yes, costing you time and eventually money.
We are a group of construction employees who have worked for all the major national builders...
Lennar
John Laing Homes
Laing Luxury
Kaufman and Broad
Richmond American
Pulte
We've worked for the high end 'boutique' builders...
Brookfiled Homes
Taylor Woodrow
Laing Luxury
Christopher Homes
Plus another gentleman who has built custom legacy homes for most of his career.
Do you know what to look for in your architect's plans? Are you hiring your subs or are they hiring you? How do you qualify bids? What do you do when a sub doesn't show up on the job? Whos is paying for repairs on the job? Do you know how to schedule?
Let us send you our free "7 Giant Costly Mistakes Owner Builders Make".
We also have a downloadable EBook complete with forms (contract, scopes of work, lien releases, schedule, start notices, etc) which guides you through bidding, contracting, managing design changes and scheduling. Get more information and see our Table of Contents here.
If you are getting ready to build in the near future and would like to attend our 1 DaySeminars with this training, please let us know and we'll see if we will be in your area or close by. There is nothing like this done in the country. Click here for more information.
If you would like general information about our services, please click here.
