In a previous article Finding contractors for your home building and renovation project we discussed how you should go about looking for the right building contractor for your home building project. In another article Read This Before Selecting Your Home Renovation and Building Contractor we discussed what you should consider when you employ a contractor. In this article I present a few simple questions you should ask potential contractors before employing them for your home building project.

• Will you prepare the plans (if this is a requirement)?
• Will you arrange council and other required approvals?
• Do you have insurance – including worker’s compensation insurance?
• Is your company registered? (Check the registration provided.)
• Do you have the required building licenses to work in this state? (Check that the license is valid and current.)
• Can I have references of previous clients?
• Will there be a full time project manager? If not how often will they be on site?
• Will I be welcome to visit the project at any time?
• Can I view other projects you've completed?
• What other projects are you currently working on?
• Do you have resources for my project?
• What work will you subcontract?
• Are there outstanding legal cases against your company?
• Do you have the capabilities and experience to do the work?

In a future article we look at what to consider and check when reviewing the contractor's price.

​This is an extract from my new book 'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses: Volume 1 Hiring Contractors, Managing Construction and Finishing Your Home' which also contains lots more valuable information to save you money and ensure that your home build or renovation project is a success. Click on the image to read a preview on Amazon. The book is available in paper or ebook form from Amazon and other online stores, or ask your local bookstore to order a copy for you. For tips on designing your new house as well as renovation ideas read Volume 2 - Finding Your Ideal Property and Designing Your Dream Home 
​© 2019 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author.

The media is filled with stories like this one in the ABC News where owners are left out of pocket and sometimes even without a home because of shoddy construction work. What a nightmare to pay $1.7 million for a new apartment that you can't live in.

Of course not every new home build or renovation project ends like this. There are many reputable builders that deliver quality building projects on time and with minimal fuss. There are many happy home owners who are satisfied with their new home.

How can you ensure that your new home building project is a success? Sometimes it's just luck. But being educated you can ensure that you choose the right builder. It's important to not be swayed by price alone. Selecting the cheapest builder often ends in a very expensive project. In a previous post 'Read this before selecting your home renovation and building contractor' I discussed important things to consider when selecting your building contractor. In a future article I'll discuss important questions to ask your contractor and their references before you employ them. 

But even the best contractors make mistakes and they should be checked. I'll discuss what to look for in a future article so bookmark this website. Indeed as in the lead story above water is the single greatest problem with new builds according to this report. 

What are your rights when there is a problem with your new home? Believe me there are always some problems so it's important to understand what your builder is responsible for fixing. Again another topic for a future article when I'll discuss building defects and warranties, what you need to know and what you should do when you uncover a defect in your new home. 

To help you navigate the construction process and avoid the traps and pitfalls when building or renovating your home read 'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses - Volume 1 Hiring Contractors, Managing Construction and Finishing Your Home' 

Northern Ireland's tiny house movement - a small move to the future?

Downsizing. De-cluttering. Alternative housing - these terms are becoming increasing well-known as people try to find and improve their perfect living space.
But how would you feel about living in a 'tiny house' on wheels?
That's what Michael Rauch, 25, and his girlfriend Alex Connolly are building on the back of a flatbed trailer in County Down.
When finished, he'll become one of a very small handful of 'tiny house' owners in Northern Ireland and part of the global tiny house movement, which has its roots in the United States in the 1990s.
Read more on this story in this BBC article.

​Thinking of buying a property and building your dream home? Don't be a victim of a poor decision. Educate yourself and know what to look for when purchasing a property. Read 'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses - Volume 2 Finding Your Ideal Property and Designing Your Dream Home'

It was supposed to be their slice of the “sweet life” but the owners of new Sydney apartments have only tasted bitterness after being locked out of their homes for a year.

The construction of the Sugarcube apartments and Honeycomb terraces in Erskineville were reportedly finished about 12 months ago but the new homes remain empty due to concerns about whether the developer Golden Rain Development properly cleaned up toxic land on the site.

It’s the fourth apartment block in Sydney to sit empty thanks to problems with construction and building.
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Buyers paid up to a $1 million for a two-bedroom apartment in the development of 109 units and 18 three-bedroom terraces, but have been prevented from moving in.
A City of Sydney spokeswoman said the developer was required to remediate the site where there was contaminated groundwater and detection of heavy metals, hydrocarbons and asbestos.
Continue Reading News.com.au

Thinking of buying a property and building your dream home? Don't be a victim of a poor decision. Educate yourself and know what to look for when purchasing a property. Read 'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses - Volume 2 Finding Your Ideal Property and Designing Your Dream Home'

Craig Fitch's apartment building is so highly flammable that residents were ordered to remove wood-chip mulch and trees because of fears any fire in the garden could quickly engulf the block.
"It's extremely dangerous," Mr Fitch said. Large parts of the complex, located in Frankston in Melbourne's south-east, is wrapped in non-compliant polystyrene, painted to look like concrete. But this isn't the only problem!
​Read more

Don't fall victim to greedy developers, poor building contractors and a lack of compliance inspections by the authorities. Before building or renovating your home get educated. You must protect your valuable new asset and your family - you must ensure that your home is safe, compliant and of good quality. You cannot rely on the authorities or building contractors alone. My new books 'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses, Volumes 1 and 2' will provide tips, advice and knowledge so that you can ensure your home isn't like one of these in this story.

​It’s getting hot in here, and by here, we mean the entire planet. Every summer seems to be warmer than the one before. Lucky for us, we have air conditioning to help keep us cool all summer long.

However, we can only expect higher energy bills with all the action our air conditioning system is going to see this summer. Then again, we can still ensure a cool summer for everyone in our home without breaking the bank. Here are some of the ways we can do that.

Get your air conditioner a tuneup before the onset of summer.
You already know that your AC system will be subjected to heavy use in the summer, so you have to get it ready for some heavy work. A tuneup will do wonders for your AC. Get a licensed, bonded, and insured air conditioning professional to do it, and you’ll have a fully-serviced AC by the time the summer gets here. You’ll also have peace of mind knowing your air conditioner will be less likely to break down in the middle of the sweltering heat.

Check and clean the filter a month later.
Because you had a tuneup performed, your air conditioner's air filter may be clean on the first day of summer. A month of continuous use, however, could mean a dirty air filter at the end of that period.

So check the air filter after a month to make sure it’s clean, and airflow is still optimal. You don’t want a dirty air filter clogging things up and causing inefficient operation and higher energy bills. And if the air filter is indeed dirty, take it out and clean it yourself since it’s easy enough to do.

Don’t let the sun shine on your AC unit.
If your air conditioner unit is exposed to the direct rays of the sun, then it’s bound to work harder—and therefore consume more power—and lead to higher energy bills. Things will be really different if only your outdoor unit is shielded from the sun. Planting trees near the unit can give it more shade. You can also opt to build an actual shade for your unit to help it regain its efficiency.

Keep your thermostat away from the sun.
Your thermostat reads the temperature in the room and signals the central air conditioner unit to continue or stop running depending on whether the temperature is cool enough or a tad too hot. If the room is sufficiently cool, but your thermostat is getting hit by direct sunlight, it will think the room is not adequately cooled and will tell the AC unit to run longer than necessary.

Aside from direct sunlight, other sources of heat that could mess with the thermostat include LED lamps, TVs, and refrigerators, so place your thermostat away from them.

Get that ceiling fan running.
If you have ceiling fans, turn them on and adjust your thermostat accordingly.  Doing this will improve the distribution of cool air in your home without setting the thermostat to freezing just so every nook and cranny of your home will feel cool.

Cook outside your house.
Cooking inside your home on a sweltering summer day can only make everything hotter indoors and your AC unit work doubly hard. To avoid the energy inefficiency that comes with that temperature, we can always cook outside on a grill or a fire pit, if you have one. But if that isn’t an option, then you might want to cook your food on a microwave oven, which doesn’t produce heat like regular ovens and stoves.

Plug your home’s gaps, cracks, and holes.
It’s such a waste of money if you just let all that cool air escape from your home through its numerous gaps, cracks, and holes. That loss also leads to higher energy bills, as the AC unit will continue running to compensate for it.

Identify where those exit points are and plug them. Improve the insulation in your windows and doors, too. If you have the budget to insulate your entire house better, then figure out its insulation requirements by having a professional do an energy audit on your home.

Conclusion
These are just some of the things you can do to keep cool this summer with the help of your AC system. Follow them to ensure that your summer will be fun, cool, and energy-efficient!

Read the full story in the Daily Mail

Devastating and expensive problems for new home owners. Don't let your new home construction turn into a disaster. Read 'An Introduction to Building and Renovating Houses - Volume 1 Hiring Contractors, Managing Construction and Finishing Your Home'. Valuable tips to ensure your home build project is a success. Learn what to look for to ensure your house is handed to you free of defects. 

3 apartment buildings in Sydney over a period of 6 months developed major structural cracks resulting in residents being evacuated - read the story
Consider the cost and the inconvenience of having to move out of your home. But also your new home is suddenly worthless. Why it's vital to select your builder and designer carefully.

Building contractors are hugely varied and range from the one-man business where the owner does almost everything themselves, through to multinational construction companies that construct building projects valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. Some contractors are specialist, only doing electrical, plumbing, carpentry or bricklaying work, while others provide a full construction package. Those that do the complete building may have all the resources and building trades in-house for your home building project, while others employ subcontractors to do many of the specialist construction trades. In fact, some building companies are more like project managers employing subcontractors for all of the construction work, and they merely manage these contractors. Some contractors specialise in particular building projects, for instance some do home renovations, others only build new houses (some contractors specialise in luxury houses, others in typical middle income houses, some construct low cost housing, others use particular materials or methods), or civil structures, apartment buildings or office buildings. Larger companies may have different divisions that specialise in different types of construction. Most contractors work in specific towns, regions or countries, with only the larger construction companies having the ability to work across a wider geographic area and across states.
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Many building projects go badly because the wrong contractor is selected, often the contractor that submitted the lowest price. 

When selecting a contractor it’s important to consider the following:
Ø  Does the contractor have the required experience to deliver the services required? Have they worked on similar building projects? There’s a difference between contractors that build low-cost houses to those that build luxury houses. A heritage restoration requires particular skills.
Ø  What services they offer? If you want the contractor to design your house or home extension then check that they have good designers who will interpret what you want and deliver a design that works. Do they offer planning services and can they help with the interior design, fixture selection and finishes (such as bathroom, kitchen, tiles, materials and colours)?
Ø  Do they have the applicable registrations for the work? Usually there’s a requirement for builders to be registered in the country or state. Check with the registration body that the registration is current, that it’s in the correct trading name of the contractor and that it’s for the trade that you’re looking for. Companies also usually have to be registered for tax purposes.
Ø  Can they produce acceptable quality? Have they produced good quality work on their previous building projects? Do they have the required skills available to produce good quality work in your home?
Ø  Do they have the resources to carry out the work? This includes; equipment, management and the tradespeople. If they don’t have the resources, can they get the resources and will they be able to manage them?
Ø  Do they have the financial means to carry out your project? Are they financially secure? If the contractor is suffering losses on other construction projects this could cause them financial stress which could mean that they can’t pay for people and materials. In extreme cases the contractor could become bankrupt partway through your home build project, leaving you facing delays and additional costs while you find another contractor to finish your house. You’ll probably also lose deposits and advances that you’ve paid them.
Ø  What other work are they currently doing? If they’re involved with other large projects they may not have the resources or the finances to successfully undertake your work.
Ø  What’s their safety record? A poor safety record is often indicative of poor management. Contractors with a poor safety record shouldn’t be used. Accidents delay building projects and they could get your house construction stopped by the authorities until the contractor rectifies safety breaches. 
Ø  Do they have a good reputation?
Ø  Have they got a previous record of being claims orientated and having legal disputes with owners? You don’t want your budget blown by extra costs!
Ø  Are they reliable and complete their building projects on time?
Ø  Do they use good subcontractors? Who will their main subcontractors be? Do these subcontractors have a good reputation?
Ø  Has there recently been a change in management?
Ø  What insurances do they have? (I'll discuss insurances in a later article.)
Past performance however isn’t always indicative of how a contractor will perform on your home construction project and I’ve on occasion had good contractors perform poorly because they were over-committed on other construction projects, which meant they had insufficient and poor quality resources for my project.

Selecting the wrong building contractor could result in a poor quality home, one that is problem filled with ongoing issues long after building is finished - even resulting in a home which is unsafe for you and your family. Selecting a contractor who is incapable of doing the work, one that doesn't have the experience, skills or equipment will result in additional stress for you and inevitably it will result in delays to the completion of your new home. It's vital to understand your contractor's capabilities and reputation, then ensure that you can work with them. Check that they understand your expectations for your new home and that they can meet your expectations.

Never select a building contractor only on price - because they are the cheapest. Inevitably you'll find that the cheapest contractor doesn't always result in a cheap project when things start going wrong.
​
​Know your contractor - they will be your partner.

​​A building contractor must be selected that can execute the type of construction work you require doing, that has the capabilities, and who operates in your region. There are often thousands of contractors (bricklayers, builders, electricians, painters, joiners, tilers, roofers, plumbers, etc), but even so it can be hard to find one willing and capable to do your building project.

• The best solution is to approach contractors you’ve previously successfully worked with on other building projects. However, it will still be necessary to check that they’re interested in carrying out the work and that they have the required resources available. Since you last worked with the contractor circumstances may have changed and they could for instance have new managers who aren’t as focused as the ones in place when they last worked for you. They may also now be committed to other building projects and have limited resources, or only the ‘B team’ is available for your construction work.
• A simple solution is to search for construction contractors on the web. By typing in the trade and the location it’s possible to obtain a selection of contractors. Visiting their websites usually provides more useful information including their contact details. Often websites provide details of previous construction projects. Sometimes though, not all the possible contractors come up in a simple search since some may not have websites and others might not be shown as operating in your location even if they are. There’s also often little indication of the size of construction work that the contractor can undertake, nor of their resources. Websites also only give examples of their satisfied customers. For example: I required a retaining wall to be replaced, but a number of contractors I approached weren’t willing to price the project. For some the project was too big, while for others the project was too small. This wasted lots of my time.
• Looking through local newspapers, or even the relevant trade publications will sometimes produce advertisements of contractors working in the area. Again it’s difficult to gauge their reliability or their capabilities.
• There’re often forums and associations in many regions, such as ‘Master Builders’ or specific trade organisations and groups. These associations should have a list of building contractors operating in the area who would be capable of undertaking your construction work. The fact that the contractor belongs to such an organisation provides some level of comfort, although often there’s no restriction or qualifications required to belong to the forum or association (other than paying a fee), and few of these organisations can punish members that don’t perform, unless they’re serial offenders.
• Driving through the area you’ll often see sign boards, vehicles or equipment with the names of contractors working in the area. Stop at these work sites and talk to the project owner, perhaps even view the contractor’s work to see their quality and professionalism.
• Often acquaintances, colleagues, businesses and neighbours may have contacts for contractors (painters, plumbers, tilers, electricians and builders) that have worked for them in the past.
• In some areas, local tradespeople and building companies can register with a central tendering (pricing) or quotation company. The central company can be contacted and the project’s requirements and location specified. Usually a number of suitable companies will respond and provide a price for the work. Sometimes these systems have a well-established website and it’s possible to review what past clients said about the work of each of the contractors. This is usually only useful for smaller projects.
• Designers, architects, quantity surveyors, project managers and engineers working on the project will always have an extensive list of suitable building contractors that they, or their colleagues, have worked with in the past.

It's important that you find the right contractor capable of doing the work you require them to carry out. I'll discuss this topic in more detail in future articles.