Hello everyone,
You probably can’t make this decision for me, but I still want to ask and hear your opinions. I want to emphasize that this is not about the additional costs involved with hiring a building inspector / construction expert!
We have signed a planning contract with a local general contractor and have started selecting the fittings for the kitchen and bathroom. The building permit / planning permission has been approved, and the general contractor has asked if we are ready to sign the construction contract. I have postponed this for now, as we are still waiting for the financing agreement from the bank. Our relationship with the general contractor is very good, and they are helping us in every way. The general contractor’s standard package is good and they only use quality materials. The contractor is well-known in the region, highly praised, and honestly has a reputation to uphold if mistakes occur. The contractor has its own construction team that handles the shell construction and roof work. For the remaining trades, the same local specialist companies are always hired.
So I’m wondering whether it’s really necessary for us to have a building inspector / construction expert involved. For a large homebuilding chain, I wouldn’t hesitate to hire one, but since this is a local company and they work only with local subcontractors, I have my doubts.
What do you think?
You probably can’t make this decision for me, but I still want to ask and hear your opinions. I want to emphasize that this is not about the additional costs involved with hiring a building inspector / construction expert!
We have signed a planning contract with a local general contractor and have started selecting the fittings for the kitchen and bathroom. The building permit / planning permission has been approved, and the general contractor has asked if we are ready to sign the construction contract. I have postponed this for now, as we are still waiting for the financing agreement from the bank. Our relationship with the general contractor is very good, and they are helping us in every way. The general contractor’s standard package is good and they only use quality materials. The contractor is well-known in the region, highly praised, and honestly has a reputation to uphold if mistakes occur. The contractor has its own construction team that handles the shell construction and roof work. For the remaining trades, the same local specialist companies are always hired.
So I’m wondering whether it’s really necessary for us to have a building inspector / construction expert involved. For a large homebuilding chain, I wouldn’t hesitate to hire one, but since this is a local company and they work only with local subcontractors, I have my doubts.
What do you think?
Where people work, mistakes happen. This is completely normal and nothing to worry about. Even the best and most reliable (construction) contractor can overlook something. Given the huge investment that building a house represents, in my opinion, you can never be too careful.
If your concern is the trust relationship with the general contractor (GC), just communicate openly and make it clear that this is not a measure based on distrust towards them. It’s simply important to you that any potential mistakes— which, as mentioned, can happen to anyone—are discovered as early and securely as possible.
And if they are truly a good contractor, they won’t have a problem with this...
If your concern is the trust relationship with the general contractor (GC), just communicate openly and make it clear that this is not a measure based on distrust towards them. It’s simply important to you that any potential mistakes— which, as mentioned, can happen to anyone—are discovered as early and securely as possible.
And if they are truly a good contractor, they won’t have a problem with this...
Tolentino schrieb:
What reasons speak against it?It's not about the money, and the general contractor has made it clear that it's not a problem for him. It's more that it would cause some extra stress for both me and the general contractor.
Your general contractor (GC) has already stated that they don’t see any problem with it. It is really more about minimizing issues for both you and the GC.
In our case, all the work performed by the GC’s full-time employees was done properly. The mistakes were made by the subcontractors. Even here, there was a long-term contractual relationship spanning decades between the GC and the subcontractors.
A small anecdote: our GC spent two days kneeling alongside his wife installing the floor insulation and explained that he preferred to do it himself because that way he could be sure of the quality of the work...
In our case, all the work performed by the GC’s full-time employees was done properly. The mistakes were made by the subcontractors. Even here, there was a long-term contractual relationship spanning decades between the GC and the subcontractors.
A small anecdote: our GC spent two days kneeling alongside his wife installing the floor insulation and explained that he preferred to do it himself because that way he could be sure of the quality of the work...
Our building surveyor has definitely been worth the cost. Many of the tradespeople on site said, "I know this place is being inspected." The general contractor told us that doing it right the first time and having it approved is cheaper than fixing errors later.
The general contractor was usually present during the inspections, and the two of them discussed things professionally; as laypeople, we were just amazed.
Afterwards, the house was praised by both sides, and we would never have noticed the areas that needed rework.
The general contractor was usually present during the inspections, and the two of them discussed things professionally; as laypeople, we were just amazed.
Afterwards, the house was praised by both sides, and we would never have noticed the areas that needed rework.
N
neo-sciliar30 Mar 2023 09:03I’m going to admit it: we built our house without a building savings contract. My reasons were:
- I trust the site manager. He independently identified several “issues” and had them corrected. He was also familiar with the problem areas during construction and paid close attention there – the building savings contract takes a more general approach.
- The building savings contract visits the construction site only 2 to 4 times. Since we had a prefabricated house, so much happens in the meantime that the contract holder can no longer properly inspect everything. It might be different with traditional brick-and-mortar construction, as the house is built directly on site.
- I visited the site daily and saw everything with my own eyes – for anything I didn’t understand, the tradespeople calmly explained it to me.
- I have a 5-year warranty. If something didn’t become apparent during that time, it’s not really a “defect.”
- I trust the site manager. He independently identified several “issues” and had them corrected. He was also familiar with the problem areas during construction and paid close attention there – the building savings contract takes a more general approach.
- The building savings contract visits the construction site only 2 to 4 times. Since we had a prefabricated house, so much happens in the meantime that the contract holder can no longer properly inspect everything. It might be different with traditional brick-and-mortar construction, as the house is built directly on site.
- I visited the site daily and saw everything with my own eyes – for anything I didn’t understand, the tradespeople calmly explained it to me.
- I have a 5-year warranty. If something didn’t become apparent during that time, it’s not really a “defect.”