It’s Your Home: Why You Should Become Involved in the Building Process
The planning is finally complete, and you are ready to construct your home on the hill with a 360 degree view you bought 10 years ago as an investment.
Your next step is to hire a General Building Contractor who will oversee the entire construction project and make your dream come true. The General Building Contractor will be responsible for all the subcontractors, obtain the necessary building permits, order all the supplies, and oversee the construction of your dream home. You expect your construction will be timely and within budget; and many times that is the case. It is the exceptions that this web site will address and why you need to become involved in the building process.
Sometimes no matter how careful we research the background and credentials of a contractor, a cowboy contractor manages to slip through the process. Perhaps you are new to the area and do not know people who have built their own homes eliminating your being able to obtain their recommendations. The building boom may have caused a shortage of contractors and you find yourself in the situation of being at the contractors’ mercy. Another possibility is that you accepted a recommendation from someone who praised a particular contractor, but later found this contractor not suitable to your expectations. If you are building a manufactured home, you may have hired the dealer who often subcontracts the work out, in which case you have no control over who will actually perform the work on your home.
It’s your home. You will need to become involved the building process in order to guarantee the outcome will be what you want. You will need to learn about building inspections, construction techniques, contracts, scheduling, the signs of shoddy workmanship, and how to protect yourself from cowboy contractors. You can not leave everything to chance, for if you do, you will most likely wind up with something you do not want.