1. ESTABLISH YOUR OBJECTIVE

Decide exactly what you’d like to do, and make sure you’ve thought out the project as much as possible. Sit down and create a plan for how you would like the project to come together. You may even want to draw some rough sketches of what you’re thinking about doing.

This may save you time and money as your project progresses because you can more clearly direct your professionals on what you want, or you will be ready to make decisions when they present options in the future.

 

2. ESTABLISH YOUR BUDGET

This will go hand in hand with Step 1, but it is important to establish exactly how much money you have available to spend on the project. Smaller projects can be a little less strict with budget as long as you remain reasonable, but large projects should have clean budget guidelines because it will guide the entire path of the project from day one.

Everything you choose, from the size of your project to all the final finishes, will be influenced by your budget. If you have a strict budget and you choose to indulge on certain special items, you may need to cut costs on other less important aspects to ensure you don’t bust your budget.

Overall, it is important to establish your budget and stick to it throughout the project. Make sure you track your construction professionals’ costs during construction, and if the project is tracking to finish under budget, you can either keep the savings or opt for extras you didn’t think you could afford.

 

3. CHECK GOVERNING GUIDELINES

Check with your local city or government organization to review all applicable building codes and zoning laws to ensure even simple projects such as a new fence or a bathroom remodel are within guidelines. You want to ensure your new project is acceptable to local building codes so that it increases, rather than decreases, the value of your property.

Typically, non-conforming or non-permitted building projects will either need to be corrected before a property sale, or will significantly decrease the market value of your property. In addition, if you choose to complete further renovation projects after the current project is done, city inspectors and officials may require you to bring previous building projects up to code before they will approve your current project.

The local city permit office will have a copy of building codes on file, and most will even allow you to schedule a meeting to discuss your plan in person and obtain input on the correct path to take.

Remember that building and zoning codes are created for personal safety of building users and those in the vicinity, and are often created with the best interests of the community in mind, both aesthetically and financially. Therefore, it is always important to respect codes and complete projects according to all guidelines.

 

4. CHOOSE AN OWNER’S REPRESENTATIVE

Most project owners will be embarking on a construction project for only the first or second time, and unless you are a construction professional, dealing with the issues of construction is not part of your day job. Therefore, on larger and more complicated projects, you should hire an entity to represent you who manages construction projects on a daily basis as their profession. This will enable you to keep your best interests at the forefront while preventing the daily stress of managing construction from overwhelming you.

You should search for, interview and choose a lead professional who you feel comfortable with on a personal level and who can adequately manage daily construction activities without you. This owner’s representative will most likely be an Architect, General Contractor and/or a Construction Manager.

A qualified owner’s representative will resolve the daily construction issues, yet ask for and honor your input on aesthetic issues that will affect the enjoyment of your finished product.

 

5. IMPLEMENT CONTRACTS

Execute a contract that you have read and understand with clear guidelines of responsibility for not only your hired professionals, but you as well. You should have a contract in place, signed by all parties, with clear time and cost guidelines as well as remedies for resolving issues, for all professionals you hire. Never be afraid to require contracts with clear and concise details of the work to be completed, including timelines for the work’s completion.

Your professional will most likely have their own standard contract, but you can also find contract forms in publications or on the web. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is the standard bearer for all contracts related to the construction industry, and any project you have, large or small, will most likely have an AIA contract associated to it. AIA contracts and forms are typically obtained for a fee, and fee schedules and pricing is available at www.aia.org. Your construction professional may very well have an AIA contract license and if so, those contracts are ideal to use.

 

6. CREATE THE DESIGN

The most efficient way to obtain bids for work and manage the overall project is to complete design drawings, regardless of the size of the project. For smaller projects, drawings can be completed by subcontractors, or for jobs such as retaining walls and decks, your city may have standard pre-engineered drawings on file that can be used. Good design drawings allow you to clearly convey the detail and scope of what is to be built to the construction professionals putting work in place.

For anything larger than a minor renovation, it is in the owner’s best interest to have complete design drawings created by designer or licensed architect and engineer. Projects of a certain size will be required to have drawings drafted to code by licensed professional architects and engineers.

Your chosen design professional will guide you through the design process and ideally provide you with a design that will meet your needs.

 

7. SUBMIT FOR APPROVAL

All construction projects requiring building permits will need to submit drawings and project information to the local governing agency issuing building permits. This allows the agency to ensure your project is code compliant, and it will provide direction on frequency and type of construction items that need to be reviewed and approved by applicable inspectors.

Creating, submitting and obtaining these approvals for permits will typically be managed by your owner’s representative but you will be required to play a part as the owner of the project. Your owner’s representative will also manage the process of obtaining the necessary inspection approvals to keep the project moving.

 

8. CHOOSE CONTRACTORS

Once you have chosen an owner’s representative, created your design and obtained local governing agency approvals for building permits, you will need to work with your owner’s representative to build your project team of subcontractors.

The standard procedure to ensure you are obtaining fair bids for work calls for you to obtain three bid proposals from qualified subcontractors. This should provide an adequate range of pricing to enable you to not only discard any outlying pricing, but choose the best qualified subcontractor. It is important to take into consideration not just price, but scope of work included and the qualifications of the subcontractor when choosing a bidder.

 

9. ARRANGE PROGRESS PAYMENTS

The most efficient way to pay for a construction project to maintain interest of the project team and protect the project owner is through progress payments. Typically, the project team member will submit an application for payment which will cover work recently completed, or a deposit for work or materials that may be required to be paid up front. The project owner should never fully pay for work not yet completed, but rather may pay a small deposit up front, then make progress payments either weekly or monthly according to work actually put in place, and a final payment for the balance due based on all work being satisfactorily completed.

The project owner should always request invoices for billed work to enable all parties to track work completed and paid for. Depending on the local laws and regulations, project owners should typically receive a lien release stating that they have paid the required debt for constructed work and the contractor can not place a lien on the property.

 

10. OBTAIN FINAL PAPERWORK

Once a project that requires governing agency inspection and approval is complete, the project owner should receive copies of all required approvals to ensure construction has been completed acceptable to all codes and regulations. This will protect both the project owner and all contractors by conveying that work has been satisfactorily completed.

In addition, the project owner should be provided with written copies of all warrantee information on installed products and any contact information for responsible parties should the warrantees be required to be exercised.