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A CHECKLIST ON CHOOSING THE RIGHT CONTRACTOR FOR YOUR HOUSE
Want to become a homeowner? Here’s a Checklist on Choosing the right Contractor for your House
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A client recently called me, she was very disappointed because the stories she reads on Facebook are ways on putting more homeowners into a risk of unfinished projects. Here’s what I advised her; “without a practical process do not trust what you read.”
We arranged for a meeting, to lay out our plan on helping her become a homeowner.
After our conversation, she decided to hire our firm, Lewison Builders to construct her three-bedroom bungalow in
BY LEWIS NDICHU
Ngong, Kajiado County.
A three-bedroom bungalow has an approximate size of 90-120 square meters and costs Ksh 25,000 per square meter for standard finishing.
The construction of the threebedroom bungalow, which is almost complete, will cost her between Ksh 2,250M to Ksh 3M once it is complete.
To achieve what our client has achieved, building a home, or any building for that matter, below are 6 practical tips you need to follow closely.
1. Choose your contractor carefully
This is the first step, hire the best contractor you can afford, ask him/her for references of past projects they have done. Any professional contractor will not object to you contacting past clients.
Conduct due diligence on the contractor, find out if they are registered by NCA, and if their certificates are up to date - we have had many cases of unqualified contractors.
An unqualified contractor will provide you a quotation which when it gets to put the structure on the ground, your money gets finished - just as soon as the house left the ground.
Get a contractor who has a proper skills background in construction and not just a person who may have just upgraded from being a Mason or foreman as they may lack the necessary skills to see a project through.
Wise precaution: cheap is expensive. Don’t simply go for the highest bidder nor the lowest bidder. A contractor may fulfill or destroy your dream!
2. Monitor the process
Throughout the construction process, be sure to keep an eye on every detail because it is much easier to correct a mistake when identified early. You may overlook a mistake that might take weeks or months to be corrected hence costing you more.
If, for any reason, you cannot manage to be there to monitor the progress of your project, hire a clerk of works. I have seen clients demolishing structures because of failed workmanship.
As you monitor the progress, remember to monitor the payments and progress. Both should be parallel. This will ensure transparency for the contractor.
3. Build according to your budget
Don’t build to impress your neighbors. You may become famous for owning the classiest house in the neighborhood only to be embarrassed when the creditors come for their money.
Before you start building, have a plan. Have a guide and step by step implementation strategy. On the Bill of Quantity, have another broken down plan, like foundation cost, superstructure cost,
roofing cost, plastering cost, and plumbing cost, electrical works cost, paint works cost, etc. That way, you will be in a position to calculate how long you will take.
4. Always build for resale
Build the house for resale not for you. This is because at some point you might need to sell of the house. Well, a ten-bedroom house with six bathrooms may be excellent for your family but it will stress you out when looking for a buyer. Yes, it might cost you a fortune to build it but think of the need be to resell it in the future.
5. Expect delays
You should definitely expect delays from sub-contractors depending on others to complete. Don’t stick too much on the deadline given, automatically there may be delays due to sub-contractors.
6. Study the neighborhood carefully
Before you get to start your own house, do field research from others within where you a putting up your house. It is necessary to do field research, just in case there are changes needed to be done by the contractor concerning the ground.
Most contractors do not inspect or conduct topographical analysis, which might change foundation settings, which might result to budget conflicts. For example, the ground might lack a stable foundation base, which will lead to the removal of topsoil, or the foundation might encounter rocks within the ground. Thus it’s advisable to study the ground first before you begin your construction.
7. Beacons
Lastly, another stress I have encountered is the re-positioning of beacons. Before setting up your house, re-beacon your plot effectively. Have a surveyor to re-beacon your land as it is on the deed plan if beacons are missing. I have seen border conflicts over beacons which resulted in the demolition of fully built houses.
By following the above relatively simple house construction tips you can be sure to build your home effectively with minimal risks of costs overrun.
For this and more articles follow Lewison Builders on Facebook (L ewison Builders Online Platform).
As well, Lewison Group is are here to walk you through the homeownership by providing the below finance support.
It is simple, you will raise 40% on the beginning of the construction, 20% when we will be handing over and the balance 40% you pay in monthly installments. Your 1 million can make you a homeowner, as you lipa pole pole.
For questions, consultations and comments email Lewis at lewisongroupltd@ gmail.com. Lewis is also available on call and WhatsApp 0717 944 017
www.lewisonbuilders.com
This article is provided by the Lewison Holdings. Inversk Magazine provides content from Lewison Holdings as a service to its readers but does not edit the articles it publishes. Inversk Magazine is not responsible for the content provided by Lewison Holdings
Leadership attitudes, values, beliefs and approaches to problem-solving all tend to filter into their organizations as the acceptable or normative standards of behavior. With time, these leadership behaviors become the dominant organizational culture.
The time for entrepreneurs has arrived, with so many startups blooming all around the world. However, running a business from the ground up and making it successful is even harder than starting it. That’s why there is such a small percent of startups succeeding with their goals.
What make s s ome businesses stand out from so many others? Well, when tackling projects, they follow simple project management tips for any successful small business. These include carefully planning the workflow, good project discussions tools and realizing the importance of good assessment. In this article, we take a look at these three key factors to help you lead your business to success!
1. Start with a good
Project management plan
One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when starting a business is that they try to tackle everything at once. There is a well-known idiom that can apply even to the projects you will be tackling –divide and conquer. Once you are faced with a task, try to identify specific issues. This can make even the most complicated processes easier to handle!
Afterward, you can create teams to deal with each of these tasks and allocate the resources. Create a project management plan which includes the goal of the project and its scope. Doing this will set up a workflow –which is an important first step. Once you have a strong project management structure, you will be able to tackle each incoming project as your business starts growing and developing.
The most essential thing in the project management plan is having a clear focus on the time and the resources you need
BY PETAR DJORDJEVIC
for its implementation.
Having your budget and schedule are essential –there is no project without them. Still, you need to create these separately for every project, after you have created your team. What is important is to make sure that your team knows what the priorities are, and the chronological order in which they should deal with them. The same goes for the budget –knowing exactly how much you are able to spend on each task will help your team figure out the resources on how to best finish their task.
2. Put solid communication systems in place
Having an efficient project management workflow is essential, but you also need to keep the whole machinery running. You can do this by having good communication within your business, as well as with your clients. First, everyone in your team needs to have clear access to information. This way, there will not be any confusion when it comes to handling their tasks. The easiest way to achieve this is through a cloud-based tool. Web-based tools, will enable to manage tasks, schedules and get a clear project overview at any time. With an intuitive interface, you will be able to change up things on the fly. This is extremely important in the startups’ world because flexibility allows you to adjust to the changes in your industry at any time. After you finish with a project, it is time to review it. This is also an important step in project management and can help you make your business even better in the future. First, take a look at how well you achieved the goal –whether you met it and how well everything went. Then, examine the whole process –how much time it took, the resources you used up and so on. Then, discuss with your team about the difficulties they might have had. This way, you might be able to change things up and improve your project workflow in the future. You should also pay attention to the things that went well –and model other parts of the workflow after them.
Petar Djordjevic is a Writer, Actor, Mathematician and Traveller. Hoping to one day complete his scratch off world map. He currently works as a content writer at Nifty, leading project management tool.
