How to Find the Right Builder
You have the designs in place, and now you need to find someone to turn your plans into a finished home — but where do you start? Finding the right builder can make or break your project. Builder Andy Stevens explains how best to approach your search
Finding the right building contractor for your homebuilding or renovating project is crucial, and the relationship you have with them, combined with their experience and credentials, will help determine the overall success of the project.
No matter the size of the project – whether you’re taking on a bathroom refurbishment, large extension and remodelling scheme, or a new home – you will be investing a lot of money into it, and will therefore want to place these funds in hands you can trust.
In my experience, I have always looked at the jobs and advised customers on what they are spending — are they looking for an immediate profit or are they going to live in the property for a long time? It is important that you understand the investment element of the build; it’s certainly not wise to just throw money at it, as you could lose out. Remember too that while there are numerous builders out there to choose from, all with their own set of skills, the key is finding one whose skills are best suited to your particular project. Here are my top five tips for choosing the right one.
1. Ask Around
When you begin your search, remember that recommendations go a long way – a lot of trades rely on word of mouth – and if you can find a builder through someone you trust and whose work you can go and visit, then you can be more certain as to whether they’ll do a good job.
Speak to friends, family and neighbours who’ve recently completed building work. Go and see the quality of the work, have an unbiased conversation about how the build went and how the relationship developed. And ask questions (more on which later).
2. Go Online
Whether you’re on the look-out for a contractor or you’ve had a recommendation, go online and look at their website to see previous jobs they have done, references from previous customers, what work they cover, what certificates they offer, etc.
Another starting point is fmb.org.uk; the FMB (Federation of Master Builders) is the UK’s largest trade organisation. Here you can search for specific trades in your area, look at references and click straight through to their website. All members are strictly vetted and independently inspected. They are also checked to ensure they have the right insurances in place.
3. Check if they are Accredited
Once you have narrowed your search down to a building contractor, I would recommend researching to see if they are accredited to any federation or company. I have mentioned the FMB but also look at other companies who offer stringent checks such as CheckaTrade and the Guild of Master Craftsmen. This should give you more reassurance.
4. Prepare for Tender
When you approach a builder to tender for the job, they will want to see a written brief or tender pack in order to provide you with an estimate for the works. This can be put together by your architect or designer, or you can elect to put this information together yourself.
It should include detailed drawings, structural calculations, information about materials, timescales and the budget. It’s key to make these documents as detailed as possible so contractors can accurately price up the job.
When you receive your estimates back from each builder, if there are variations in price then it’s worth looking at exactly what is and is not included as part of their package — are the cheaper builders discounting certain aspects of the work and introducing costs later on? Have the more expensive builders priced based on a higher spec?
If you are in any doubt, ask, and make a decision based on who you feel is going to deliver the project you’re after.
5. Talk to Previous Customers
This is a great way of finding out not just about the quality of work they carry out but also other things which are important — do the builders turn up on time, are they polite, do you have regular meetings with the site manager/boss, what are their labourers and trades like, do they clear up after themselves and keep
the site tidy? You can also ask about whether the project was brought in on budget and on time, and if there were there any extras or hidden costs. I always ask potential customers to come and see the job we are on when we have left,
“Starting the work without a contract is a recipe for disaster — for both sides”
as they can ask the customer what we are like as well as see the quality of our work.
Ask your preferred contractor for a list of previous customers; they should be happy to provide details if they’re confident they’ve done a successful job. This will give you an ideal opportunity to really find out what they’re like and see examples of their work first-hand.
Once You’ve Found a Builder…
Once you have all of your quotes back and have made your decision, then you need to get a contract in place. Starting your works without a contract is a recipe for disaster — for both sides. (You can download a Joint Contracts Tribunal contract at jctltd.co.uk.) This will protect you in the event of anything going wrong, and documents everything to provide both parties with peace of mind.
You will also need to agree on payment terms – i.e whether you will be making stage payments, weekly payments, etc – and this will also be detailed in your contract. You should have a schedule of works, the full detailed price, and any information about the ‘rectification period’ (or defects liability period — whereby any defects need to be agreed and put right), too.
Before work begins on site, it will pay to have a discussion early on to agree what you, the selfbuilder/renovator, are supplying — the earlier you agree on this the better. This will give you plenty of time to plan and purchase your kitchen, flooring, paint colours, windows and tiles. Agree when these items are needed on site to ensure there will be no delays.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, keep your relationship going, and keep all avenues of communication open throughout the build, whether that be face-to-face, email, phone call or text, or all of the above. This is key to keeping everything transparent and to ensure both sides remain happy. And if the building contractor is happy, they are more than likely to crack on and could even do the odd bit of extra work for nothing!
A good relationship will ensure the job runs smoothly, that meetings progress well, work is kept up at a good pace and any unforeseens are dealt with in the most professional manner.
Unforeseens can often cause problems on a selfbuild or renovation. If you have the right relationship with your builder, this conversation is as easy as any other — the builder will tell you what has been found, what options there are to fix it and the costs involved. You discuss it in more depth and agree on an outcome and what it will cost.
I feel the earlier the builder is involved in a project, the better the relationship will develop. He or she is the expert and has generally been doing this for a number of years. They will know the best way of doing things and obviously wants the job to go well, so will also want to develop the relationship with you.
Get all the right paperwork in place before the job starts and get everything agreed. This will result in a job completed on time, on budget and to a very high finish. Both you and the builder will have formed a strong working relationship which will stand you both in good stead for the future should you need any more work doing.