7 Rules to Follow Before you Build your New House
1. Line up Your Design Team
Before you start building your new house is vital to line up your design team. We recommend you to ensure that your Design Team professionals are members of bodies such as CIOB & RIBA.
Also, your design team should include an Architect, a Civil Engineer, an Electrical Engineer, a Mechanical Engineer and a Quantity Surveyor.
Firstly, your Architect will design you new home while your Civil Engineer will ensure its structural integrity. Secondly, your Electrical and Mechanical Engineers are required to deal with the electromagnetical design aspects of your new house (e.g. electrical connections and palming). Finally, your Quantity Surveyor is the key player ensuring that your budget is identified and secured during the design and construction stage.
2. Know your Budget
Before you start building your new home, its vital to know your budget in order to determine whether you can afford to build your new house. Your budget should include your house's design and construction costs, tax benefits and funds for the down payments.
However, don't forget the hidden expenses. You will live to your new home for more than 60 years, so be sure that you budget is developed by considering your future utility bills and future maintenance costs.
Nevertheless, your Quantity Surveyor should assist you for developing an accurate budget while ensuring that your house living costs are kept at minimum.
3. Think Green
Thinking green may slightly increase your Construction costs. However, your Quantity Surveyor can make cost saving from other materials by contacting Value Engineering studies. Also, the slightly increase on you Construction Costs will be reflected to your future utility bills and make your house over all house Cost (Construction Costs pulse Living Costs) reduce dramatically.
4. Calculate your risks
Once you've determined you can afford to build your new house is time to identify any potential risks that my affect your budget. Such risks may include potential design changes during the construction phase. Such changes may dramatically affect your budget.
Nevertheless, your Quantity Surveyor can estimate the cost of such risks and ensure that your budget is secured.
5. Ensure your Finance
Once you've identified and mitigated your risks and determined you can afford to build, is time to plan your spending and arrange your financing. It is importance to bear in mind that Contractors are usually receive 10% of the construction cost in front. However, once the Construction phase began you will be libel for interim payment to the Contractor in accordance with the work done to date.
Nevertheless, your Quantity Surveyor will be in a position to develop your future cash flow in order to know what you should pay and when, so you can arrange your finance accordingly.
6. Check the reputation of your Contractors
There are numerous Contractor within the market. However, its vital to do some research and select the most reliable Contractors.
We recommend you to ensure that you select Contractors which are members of the Council for Registration and Control of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors. Also, its a good idea to take some opinions and recommendations from other close relatives or friends which may have some experience with some Contractors.
However, your Quantity Surveyors can investigate the Contractors' financials backgrounds as well as their previous experience and recommencement to you the most suitable Contractors.
7. Evaluate your Tenders
Once you select your Contractors it is important to ask them to Tender four your house. At this point is vital to bear in mind that the lowest Tender is not always the best option. For example, some Contractors may give a low Tender for taking the build but their price make it impossible to do so and this may lead to major problems (e.g. low quality, disputes, Contractor become insolvent etc).
We recommend you to make some research and ensure that the Contractor can build you House on the price of the Tender.
Nevertheless, your Quantity Surveyor will be in a position to critical evaluate the Tenders and recommencement the most safe Contractor.