Hiring a building contractor who is right for your house construction can change the whole experience. In this blog, I am going to talk about the 13 most important questions you should ask before hiring a building contractor. Choosing the right contractor is really important since it will affect the quality of work, budget and timeline of the project.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Systematic construction process
2. Soil testing and structural designing
3. In-house architect team
4. Cost per sq.ft
5. Detailed material specifications
6. Who will supervise the project and how do they ensure quality
7. Material safety
8. Labour insurance
9. Payment schedule
10.Time delays
11. Warranty for house construction
12. No of years experience
13. The material brand they use
The following blog will be providing information on the above mentioned topics in detail. You can also directly skip to a particular topic by clicking on it, however we recommend you to read the entire blog to know all the important questions to ask before hiring a building contractor.
Important questions to ask before hiring a building contractor
1. Systematic construction process
A good professional building contractor should follow a systematic approach. He first has to take down all your requirements and design the 2d floor plan.
Once you approve the design, he then has to design the 3d interior and 3d elevation.
Designing your home gives you a clear picture of how your house is going to look and how much space you will have in each room etc. At this point, if you want to change the design you can and it won’t cost you anything additional.
But if you are constructing your house without designing and if you want to change after construction it will cost you more than you can imagine so it is really important to design the house before starting the construction process.
2. Soil testing and structural designing
Once the design is completed and approved by the customer, building contractor should do soil testing in the plot and then structural designing has to be done.
When we look at the soil of your plot we just know what type of soil it is (red soil or clay soil) but we will not know what is the soil bearing capacity and rock base(Foundation should be laid till the rock base), What type of foundation to use. If the soil is weak pile foundation has to be laid or else we can go with footing.
Only when you do soil testing you will get to know all these details. Next step is structural design.
You will get all these details in structural drawings:
- Number of beams
- Number of columns
- Foundation depth
- Size of the foundation
- Beam and column size
- Number of rods etc.
If a building contractor constructs a house without this step he will build your house based on assumptions and he may reduce the size of the beam or columns or no of rods or he may go for normal footing instead of pile foundation to cut the construction cost. If this is done the building won’t be structurally safe.
Choose a building contractor who follows this process is really important.
3. In-house architect team
Ask the building contractor whether they have an in-house architect team or not. This is an important question to ask before hiring a building contractor. If they have an architect team it’s well and good you can tell them your requirements and get the design.
But if they don’t have an in-house architect team you have to search for an architect, design and then provide it to the building contractor to start the construction. This is a bit time-consuming. Choosing a building contractor who has an in-house architect team will save you time.
4. Cost per sq.ft
Next important question to ask a building contractor before hiring is how much they charge per sq.ft. For example, they might say Rs.1700/- per sq.ft, ask them what is included and excluded in this price.
Normally foundation, electrical, plumbing, painting, doors, windows etc. would be included in this cost and most of the building contractor charges extra for sump, septic tank and compound wall since these items will vary for each building.
5. Detailed material specifications
Ask for detailed material specifications for the per sq.ft cost they have mentioned earlier. The material specifications they provide should include the brand of the material used, type of material used etc.
They might say that they will provide teak doors for main door and flush doors for the bedroom door. You might want to have teak doors for bedroom also. Ask the building contractor if you can customize the specifications given. If yes, ask him for the price difference.
6. Who will supervise the project and how do they ensure quality
Next question you should ask the building contractor is if you hire him who will be supervising the project and at what frequency the project will be supervised? i.e., how many times he will visit the site.
Also, ask him how do they monitor the quality of construction and how they will check if the construction is going on as per the schedule.
7. Material safety
During construction, materials will be stored in a small hut near the construction site. These materials should be taken care of by the building contractor, if someone steals the material, building contractor should take full responsibility for this.
Confirm with him about these things before you proceed any further. This way you can avoid dispute after the project starts.This is an important question to ask before hiring a building contractor.
8. Labour insurance
This is one of the important questions you should ask the building contractor before the project commences. Ask the building contractor if he has taken labour insurance or not.
During construction, some accident may occur and any labour may get injured if the building contractor has labour insurance, the hospital bills will be covered by the insurance people.
If not you have to either pay the full bill or you and the building contractor have to split and pay the bill. Asking about this before hiring the contractor will help you prevent from later surprises in your house construction cost.
8. Payment schedule
The next important question you have to ask the building contractor is about the payment schedule for your project. How many stages of payment will be there from the project starting time till the end of the project and what percentage he will need for each stages of payment? This will really help you to plan your financial requirements at each stage of the project.
10. Time delays
Ask the building contractor how much time it will take to complete your project. Also, ask him how much delay is expected and what are the possible reasons for the delay.
11. Warranty for house construction
If a building contractor uses good quality material and follows good construction practices he can provide a warranty for the house construction. Ask him if he can provide a warranty for your building.
It is really important to choose a building contractor who can provide you with a warranty. With this, you can make sure they have done the construction with the best quality.
12. No of years experience
Ask the building contractor about his experience in this construction field. Also ask him about his educational background. Make sure you visit his previous projects to get an idea about the quality of construction.
You can also ask the previous customers for their feedback about the building contractor and the construction to get a clear idea.
13. The material brand they use
Many quality issues arise with this material branding at the construction site. In the specifications provided by the building contractor, they would have mentioned a brand name for a specific item and if it is not available they would have mentioned equivalent. This is where the problem arises.
They may use low quality and low-cost materials. Ask them what brand comes under that equivalent and do your research. If those brands provide good quality materials it’s well and good.
After asking all these questions make sure you make a construction agreement between you and the building contractor. This should contain all the details like floor plan, material specifications, payment stages, percentage of the payment in each stage etc., Hope this helps you!!
Instead of doing all this on your own you can contact Hire&Build we will provide you with the best building contractor in the city with structural warranty(15 years) and without any extra charges!! Isn’t it great? Call us now at 72004 72008.
Check out our video on how to choose a building contractor, 13 secrets no one will tell you!
