How To Find a Local
Builder
For most building works
especially to your own home, finding a good local builder
is a high priority.
The views & opinions
offered by the author are intended as a ‘guide’ to assist a
prospective client in selecting their builder. The views may
not be concise & may even conflict with other
recommendations. The client is therefore recommended to seek as
many alternative views as possible before selecting a
builder.
There is no guaranteed way of
selecting a suitable builder that will ensure that your scheme
is built on time, to spec. & on budget. Even the most tried
& tested methods can result in tears for either the
building owner or builder themselves for all sorts of reasons
including personality conflicts.
However, there are a few
precautions & procedures you can adopt to ensure that the
risk of wrongful selection is kept to a minimum. These are as
follows:-
1. -
RECOMMENDATION
Ask around. Consult family
& friends of their previous building experiences &
whether they would recommend their own builder for any future
work that you or they themselves may be considering.
2. - AGENTS
CONTACTS
Planning & Building
Design Agents usually have numerous contacts within the
building profession. However, Agents do not like to promote any
one particular Builder for ethical & codes of conduct
reasons so you may be given a list a ‘known builders’ for you
to either consult yourselves or use as part of the tendering
process.
3. -
REFERENCES
Any respectable builder will
be able to provide you with at least 3 references of previous
work which should be very recent & within the last year.
Take up those references & take time to research the
builders history.
4. - TRADE ASSOCIATIONS
& WARRANTY SCHEMES
Some builders belong to trade
associations such as NHBC, FMB etc. Remember that most trade
associations are primarily to look after the builders interest
as any revenue they collect is from the builders themselves.
However, some offer warranty schemes should failures occur
either in the work completed or the ruining of the builders
finances etc.
These warranty schemes are
not free & are often insurance backed with a premium based
upon a percentage of the contract price. They can significantly
add to the cost of a building project & you should consider
its relevance & value to your own particular situation.
Some of these builders have higher operating overheads such as
dedicated offices, yards & full time employees which is
often reflected in their tender prices so they are often
discounted by the building owner seeking the lowest possible
price.
However, there is an aspect
called ‘best value’ where often the cheapest quote does not
guarantee best value so please think twice before accepting the
lowest price from an unwarranted builder. Remember that
employing a trade associated builder in still no guarantee of
quality but it does reduce the risks.
Many builders are commonly
termed ‘jobbing builders’ working from home & employ
sub-contract labour as & when required. These builders
often do not belong to any trade bodies & therefore unable
to offer warranties or back up administration
services.
However, it is predominantly
these types of builders that complete extension works due to
their lower overheads & margins. These builders should not
be overlooked or categorized as unworthy as many have excellent
trade skills, managerial assets & are happy just going from
job to job.
However, regretfully most
builders associated with the ‘cowboy’ element can come from
this arena & you must do your homework first. Employing a
builder for work completed ‘cash in hand’ may be very tempting
but you are at risk of falling into the usual traps &
encouraging this ‘tarnishing’ element upon other very
respectful jobbing builders.
5. - LIMITED OR UNLIMITED
BUILDERS
Most builders operate under
the limited company status & it must be remembered that
their financial responsibility to the building owner is very
limited although most people seem to respect the Ltd. status
far more than unlimited Builders. Builders that are unlimited
may have additional assets at risk & therefore could offer
the extra bonus to yourselves in the event of contractual
breakdown or defects.
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