Trust is extremely important in building. You’re trusting someone to rip your house apart on the promise that they will put it back together. Both parties need to be comfortable on a professional, and often on a personal level for the project to succeed.

A contract will only protect you so much, and a contractual dispute could last for years, all the while you’re severely out of pocket or without a completed house.

Trust your instincts, those red flags are probably waving for a reason.

Your contractor wants to finish your project just as much as you do, and to the standard that you want. Work with them to make that a reality. Sometimes it’s hard work, but it’s worth it.

Building often blurs the lines between professional and personal. Your contractor is running a business and your home is your most prized possession, you’re spending your life savings, it’s extremely personal to spend a long period of time in and around someone's home.

You’re signing yourself up for a medium to long term personal/professional relationship.

Be aware of this dynamic, prepare for it and you won’t be disappointed.

Nothing is inevitable except death, taxes and Extras on building projects.

That is not to say that the costs can’t be mitigated.

It’s imperative to have a plan for extras prior to the project commencing. This goes both ways.

As a client you should look for a detailed and comprehensive list of what is and is not included within your quote. Any ambiguity paves the way for extras.

This also benefits your contractor as it serves to align yours and their expectations.

Something which you may assume would be included, your contractor may never have considered.

Extras can be handled on a “cost plus” basis, or they can be quoted and agreed as they appear.

The latter can cause some delays to the project depending on the time taken to prepare a quote and make any decisions.

If you expect the project to keep moving at full steam, then be prepared to pay what it costs. It’s okay to ask for an estimate, but don’t expect that to be the final figure.

Item descriptionThe importance of planning is not something which needs to be explained. You’re about to let someone tear your home apart, albeit with the intention of putting it back together even better, and you’re not going to embark on that without a plan.

The question you need to be able to answer is, is my plan good enough? The fate of your building project is decided long before the work starts.

A good plan doesn’t have to cost very much, nor does it have to take very long, but it could save you thousands of pounds of unexpected costs and prevent months of delays.

Building is complicated, there are lots of elements to bring together to achieve your 100%. It’s important that everybody is on the same page.

The downfall of most projects is that the expectations of client and contractor are mis-aligned due to ambiguity and indecision.

Try to make all the decisions before the project starts. If there’s a decision that can’t be made preemptively then make that clear to your contractor so they can tell you when they need that decision by. If you miss that deadline you’d best be prepared for some delays. Contractors aren’t sitting around waiting for your decision, they are off earning money elsewhere.

If your plan is vague, you can expect your quotes to be vague. And a vague quote is by no means a fixed quote. An exhaustive plan will achieve better value for money and also make comparing quotes possible. 3 quotes for X, Y and Z will be far easier to compare than 3 different peoples interpretations of “a little bit of X, Y, but if the price is right maybe a bit more Y and a comparison quote for Z1, Z2 and Z3.”

Building in 2022 is expensive. You’ll need a clear idea of budget and some contingency/emergency funds if things don’t go to plan.

In older, and sometimes newer houses, there’s often unexpected remedial work due to poor workmanship when the house was built or poor upkeep. You’d be surprised what’s behind that flowery wallpaper.

Project duration, quality and cost go hand in hand;

A quick and quality project will seldom be cheap.

A quick and cheap project will seldom be good quality.

A cheap and quality project will seldom be quick.

Before engaging with any contractors, it’s a good idea to figure out where you’re willing to compromise.

Try to avoid saying you want something cheap, quick, or good quality when obtaining quotes. These are arbitrary concepts and can start you off on the wrong path.

At risk of sounding blunt; you’re either managing your own project, or you’re paying someone to manage it.

There really isn’t a productive middle ground and it’s not something you can simply strike from the costs as unnecessary.

Someone providing a price to carry out the work isn’t necessarily going to manage the project, especially if they aren’t providing a price for the entire job.

For example, you employ a bricklayer to do the brick work, and a carpenter to frame the roof. The two aren’t working together on the project, one finishes, the other starts. There’s a problem with the brickwork which restricts the carpenter from their job, or slows them down. It’s neithers fault because they didn’t have the opportunity to discuss the nuance of the project, or each other's requirements. You likely end up having to pay more for remedial work, face delays to the project, or end up with something you didn’t want.

A manager is always thinking about the finish, costs and timings , thus working to prevent this scenario from happening, and there’s a lot of points at which this type of thing can happen.

This is often why a company providing a full service will charge extra, you’re paying for all those trades, plus a manager.

Very few people have the time and wherewithal to manage their own project, if you have done, or you’re up for the task, good on you, I’ve a lot of respect for you!

— Dust
— Drafts
— No heating
— Temporary kitchen
— Temporary bathroom
— Tradesmen all over the place
— Rain coming into the house
— Tools and materials everywhere
— Mud outside
— Mud inside

If I’ve just described your idea of a good time, congratulations! You are ready to live on a building site!

However if you’re not partial to any or all of the above, you’re going to need a good plan of how/where you’re going to live.

Building projects can often be done ‘modularly’ to limit disruption, but this often draws the duration of the project out.

Sometimes the spend on temporary arrangements on a building site is more than temporary rental accommodation.

Talk to your contractor about this, come up with a plan, but if in practice the plan is no good, you’ll often have to be prepared to pay out more money to come up with something suitable.

Unless you have an endless budget, compromise is the name of the game!

Those flashy, photoshopped pintrest and instagram photos can be extremely expensive to replicate.

If you look close enough at any project you will find imperfections, but the reality is that nobody walks around a house staring at the walls, holding a spirit level on the ceiling or measuring every room to see if it’s perfectly square…

The tighter your budget, the more likely and more often you will have to compromise, where it’s at the planning stage or when you’re shopping for soft furnishings.

Be flexible, don’t cement your expectations and remain open minded. You’re going to have a lovely home for you, your family and friends to enjoy for many years to come.

“A vertical surface commonly situated at the end of a building, usually adjoining a pitched roof; its shape depends on the type of roof and parapet, although most often it is triangular; often extends from the level of the cornice up to the ridge of the roof.”

Now nobody is expecting you to be a master builder but do you know your fascias from your soffits? If I asked you to point at your window sill, would you confidently point at the correct part of the window.

Take a bit of time to get to grips with the basics of building nomenclature. You’re going to be talking about it, asked about it and expected to make decisions on that basis.

Give yourself a bit of context and don’t be offended when your contractor asks if you want him to remove your skirting.

I charge a fixed fee for design work.

I charge a 10% management fee for building works.

In short, I can guide you through the building minefield and make sure you come out un-exploded on the other side.

I am investing my time and experience in your project to secure both of our returns.

I know how much things should cost.

I know when work is being carried out correctly and when corners are being cut.

I can use my contacts for labour and materials to deliver a good value for money project, free from unnecessary expenditure.

I would be your only point of contact throughout the project, liaising with all contractors on your behalf, ensuring they are booked in when they need to be, and carrying out work as per the plan, to a good standard.

If we are let down by a contractor, I have contacts in reserve ready to step in.

I can manage payments to contractors, ensuring you have only ever paid for what you have received.

My service is transparent, I provide copies of all invoices and receipts.