Many people dream of building their own home. After all, it means you get to design it from the ground up and have every feature you could possibly want. It’s also generally a cheaper option than purchasing a pre-built one.
However, building your own home is a complicated and time-consuming project. It’s likely that you won’t be able to do it without some good, professional, help from those accustomed to civil construction work.
Of course, this decision leads to another issue, how do you choose the right person to build your home?
Experience
Perhaps one of the most important qualifications is simply experience. A builder constructing your house for you needs to be able to understand the architects drawings and build the house to a high standard. That’s why they should have plenty of experience, and why many people get help from agencies.
Reputation
It’s always worth checking out the reputation of a person or business looking to build your home. The easiest way to do this is to check with family and friends, their experiences with a specific builder can be invaluable.
You can also take a look at social media and other online forums, these will put you in contact with other people who’ve used the service you’re thinking about. You’ll get honest opinions which should help you to decide if the builder is the right one for you.
As part of this, you can also ask the builder for references, if they’re unwilling or able to supply these then walk away.
Ability To Communicate
You’re going to be spending a fair bit of time talking to your chosen builder, checking on progress, discussing changes, and even making sure the work is done properly. You have to feel, from the very first meeting, that they’ll be easy to chat to.
If they’re not then you’re going to struggle to get your point across and have the house finished in the way you wanted and imagined.
Contract
It’s essential that when you do choose a builder they draw up an official contract. This should highlight exactly what they will be doing and the cost. It’s important to be specific about the details in the contract, it can save a lot of confusion and hassle later on.
If the builder doesn’t want to create a contract then you’re going to struggle to make them do everything that they promised, because you’ll have no written proof that that’s what they agreed to.
A contract is an essential part of hiring someone to build your house.
Budget
It is important to consider your budget. There are plenty of great contractors around who will do the build for a reasonable price, you don’t need to pay top dollar to get the best work.
But, you do need to establish what your budget is and make sure the builder or business you take on knows this and will work to budget. Don’t forget when planning a build budget to allow extra for unforeseen issues, there are always some.
