February, 2006
Source: Pioneer Press
Construction Project Checklist
One day spring will indeed arrive and when it does, thousands of residential construction projects will be under way in our area. Once the construction team is assembled; the contractor, architect and designer, arm yourself with a checklist that will help keep your project running smoothly.
Money
- Discuss “extras” thoroughly since your contractor has investigated existing conditions for a fee.
- Go over pay-out requests carefully and understand what’s in and what isn’t yet.
- Keep your designer and architect on payroll. Not only will the end result likely be noticeably better but problems that arise during construction will get resolved efficiently and effectively.
- Look for any signs that your contractor has money problems.
- Pay promptly.
Time
- Be aware of how precious the contractor’s time is and be efficient in weekly meeting.
- Make sure the contractor knows how precious your time is as well. Keep meetings on track and to the point as often the entire team of professionals will be in attendance and time is important to everyone involved.
- Review the construction schedule at each meeting.
- Post the schedule on the job site.
Power
- Treat the contractor and the people who work with him well.
- Learn the names of people on the job site, call them by name, and acknowledge their work.
- Bring friends who are considering work of their own.
Management
- Use the weekly meeting to control your job.
- Either have your architect and designer available by phone or at meetings as necessary. Again, this is important in resolving issues efficiently and effectively.
- Insist all change orders are written and priced ahead of the work commencing.
- Scrutinize the updated time schedule for problems the contractor may have over looked. You can be a check for each other.
- Use the architect and designer for objective criticism during construction just as you used the contractor for objective criticism during design.
- Ask the contractor to make mock-ups of walls and counters using cardboard to assist in visualizing the finished architectural relationships if need be.
- Walk through the job site with the contractor, architect and designer after the framing is complete to check that the walls are in the best location, and again after the plumbing rough and electrical roughing is done to make sure switches, ceiling and wall sconces, etc. are in the correct locations. Each professional will have an interest in different details so it’s important to include all of them. If anything should be changed, this is the time to do it.
- Use daily phone calls to keep people on the job. Keep a log of calls and items discussed.
- Keep a log of extras and payments.
Quality
- Ask the contractor to demonstrate the quality of his work and to explain what to look for the following week.
- Ask how the same work would be performed by someone with less experience or attention to detail. Notice how this differs.
- Ask the architect to reevaluate the plan as the work progresses.
- Make and maintain a quality checklist on the job so all trades know what standard they are being judged by.