It is important to select the best building contractor when renovating or building your new home.  Once you have selected your contractor of choice, you need to make sure you build and sustain a strong working relationship throughout the lifecycle of your project.

 

A good relationship between builder and client is based on trust and excellent communications.  For the builder to have easy access in contacting you should he need to check on any unforeseen issue that arises on site.

 

Projects work best if there is a single point of contact from both parties – client and builder this avoids any confusion and conflicting instructions. Mutual respect and trust along with clear communications is a recipe for success.  To ensure a positive and successful outcome, it is important to give your builder a good brief which details your exact requirements, the outcomes you want to achieve and stick to it.

 

Problems occur if you keep changing the brief, especially if you are using other contractors and changes, once the project has started, can impact the next contractors timing, increase the duration of the project and of course costs. To reach an agreement at the start of the project on house management, including if you will be onsite during the works and agree working hours with your builder.  If you have close neighbours, they may be affected by the works, make sure you tell them in advance about the building works and if it has any impact on them.

 

John McCarthy advises “we work hard to build strong, collaborate relationships with our clients.   This is achieved by having meetings at regular intervals to provide project updates and progress is discussed with the client along with any issues or concerns from both parties to ensure excellent communications are in place.   Meetings range from in-person onsite, by telephone or Zoom.   For larger projects, we set up a WhatsApp group where it is necessary for many parties to be involved in the discussion and decision-making process”.

 

Having the necessary finance in place is also key to a successful relationship.  It is important to ensure invoices are paid on time – otherwise, trust is lost and can impact negatively on the project and cause stress to the builder as he has to pay for materials, staffing and third party personnel.

 

As part of the project hand-over, it is important for the client to prepare a ‘snagging list.’  This should include any issues you are not happy with, for example, damage to paintwork or small unfished jobs.  Builders like McCarthy Construction will have done their own snagging list and completed any items to ensure the project is completed on time to the highest standard.

 

 

If you are embarking on a new construction project and need a specialist contractor, McCarthy Construction can help – please contact us today – Click Here

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