Choosing a builder

You have drawings in hand, a design in mind and the intent to build. It’s time to choose a qualified builder to do your work.

A qualified builder or general contractor is a professional who takes the architect’s and designer’s conceptual ideas and makes them into a built reality. They’ll have a track record of successful built projects to their name and a list of happy clients to back up their claims. An experienced builder will never start a job without first signing a contract and they’ll always carry the necessary liability insurance and workman’s compensation coverage to protect their client and themselves. Through it all, the builder will assume complete responsibility for the contracted work and will provide a full warranty for it when it’s done.

I’ll typically suggest interviewing two or three qualified builders for a project regardless of its size. A contractor may come with the best recommendations in the world but in the end they need to work well with you for it to be a smooth construction process. Sitting down with the builder and getting a feel for how they operate is a critical first step. You’re looking for someone who’s organized and professional and who’s comfortable communicating with you. A construction project is always a challenging journey and good communication skills can’t be overstated.

If you feel you can work with a builder then a fee proposal is the next step. Each builder will receive identical drawings and specifications and will return to you a fee proposal, outlining their scope of work and an estimated cost to complete it. Since it’s very rare to find a homebuilder these days willing to give a fixed price on a building project you can expect your fee proposal to be a cost estimate with an additional amount added on as a management fee. The typical contract between owner and contractor, in this most common scenario, is the CCDC-3 (Canadian Construction Documents Committee) Cost Plus Contract. What it amounts to in the end is that the estimated cost to complete the work is essentially that, just an estimate. The contractor is not legally bound to a number. I generally like to negotiate a fixed administration fee based on a percentage of the actual-cost to complete. This percentage typically runs anywhere from 10-15% of actual-cost and is a number on which you can compare builders. Talking with previous clients about budgets and cost over runs can be very informative at this stage since an initial estimate is not a legally binding bid and the builder’s track record will speak to their rigourness at this estimating stage. An inaccurate low bid might sway a decision in the wrong direction so, once again, depend upon the experienced and qualified builder to give you the most experienced and qualified bid.

Take the time needed to follow up on references and to take walk-throughs of previous projects if possible. Costs and fees are important decision making factors but aren’t the only ones. At the end of the day you should have ‘peace of mind’ at the start of your project that the builder at the helm is an experienced professional who’s going to get the job done smoothly, on time and on budget.