In Today’s HGTV world where entire room renovations happen “While you were out” and “Restaurant Impossible” re-brands failing eateries in a weekend, the notion that construction can happen quickly is all too prevalent. These shows don’t reveal the pre-work that goes into performing these miraculous transformations and they don’t account for the incredible amount of man-power that goes…
Tag: Renovation
Construction Consensus Procurement Improvement Act
In June of 2015 the 114th Congress of the United States introduced a bill called Construction Consensus Procurement Improvement Act of 2015. The intention of this bill was to allow for the use of Design-Build contracts in gov’t construction. Recently the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs issued a report on the bill making certain…
How to avoid change orders on roof replacement.
The couple stood their in front of their home with their roof exposed and a pile of old roof tiles on the front lawn…Basically, there is no choice but to accept the change order and move on.
10 questions to ask a Contractor Reference.
Most people know that one of the best ways to qualify a contractor is to request references, but most never actually call. It might be that some think call a reference is a waste of time or possibly that you are imposing on the reference, but it is surprising how willing some folks are to…
How Owner’s influence Scope
One of the most important factors in the success of a construction project is having a quality Scope of Work. Scope of Work is the definition of what you expect your service providers to do for you. A service provider could be an Architect or a Contractor. You should have a Scope of Work for…
What you need to solicit a quote
Whether you are hiring an architect or a general contractor, in order to ensure you receive good comparable quotes, there are certain key pieces of information you must include with your solicitation. If you are missing any of these items you could find that your quotes have a wide pricing spread. This could lead you to make bad…
5 mistakes made when bidding construction projects
When people think about taking on a construction project, they immediately think that either the design or the construction phase is the most critical phase of the project. They rarely consider the procurement phase as the most important phase of work. In fact, most people don’t even think of procurement as a unique phase of work. It may be surprising to hear…
Building rules and regulations for your home construction project
Before you take on a construction project in your home or business consider what rules and regulations you want your contractors to follow. Building Rules and Regulations are similar to General Conditions in that they regulate the way the Contractor manages the work. Often Building Rules and Regulations are considered to be part of the General…
Should I hire a project manager for my home remodel?
A construction project is one of the most difficult and costly challenges anyone can undertake. With so many choices to make and so many people to manage, the entire process can be very overwhelming. Hiring a Project Manager (PM) can alleviate some of that stress. It’s best to engage the PM very early on (even…
Where do contractors hide profit?
Contractors like any other business are entitled to make profit. Unfortunately, there are instances where contractors “double dip” (charges profit on top of profit) or deliberately hide profit.