Everyone knows that anyone who is in the process of building a house is always a brick short. There are simply a million things to worry about and you have to make sure that everything is in order, because that is the place that you are going to live in, hopefully, for the rest of your life.
Now, when it comes to making sure that everything is in order, you have to know one thing: even though hired builders are professionals, there are still some things that you have to ask them in order to make sure that they have done their job right, because, if done improperly, those things can seriously harm the peaceful life that you intended to live in your home. And, without further ado, here is a list of those things.
“How’s the soil where the house will be built?”
My friend wanted to build a house and hired a professional contractor to do it for him. The contractor started right away and the house was up in no time. However, once my friend moved in, whole lot of bad things started to happen. He started seeing cracks in the walls, the backyard started to seem more and more distant with each passing day and the plants and grass seemed eager to leave his lawn.
What he did is that he went to ask the builder what was going on with the house. He got an answer that the ground had a swelling potential, which, as it showed up, created quite a problem. Builders will not mention this themselves, because, usually, it is understood that you have researched the lot that you are building on. So, before starting any building work, ask for the soil report from the builder, or check yourself with the relevant administrational bodies.
“Do you follow all the regulations and how?”
While it may seem that everything is well-regulated in the construction industry, this is, actually, not the case. While there are many regulations, there are, usually, no exams for contractors and the public construction inspectors are usually not doing their work properly and they let a lot of things ‘slide’, either figuratively or literally.
So, before agreeing that the contractor should start work on your house, make sure that they will follow all the regulations. Demand that you are explained in what ways the regulations will be followed. Also, check to see whether the contractor has all the required plans. Construction environmental management plan is one of those. If an unannounced inspection comes your way and discovers that some of the required plans are missing, the fine will fall on your shoulders, either by prolonging the construction (thus costing more money) or by getting fined yourself for hiring such a contractor.
“Do I get a guarantee that everything will be in living order?”
Most builders will offer you at least a 10-year warranty. This means that they will be obliged to service your house for free for the next ten years, should there be any structural problem which will threaten the integrity of the house. However, what most of the builders will not tell you is that these warranties are usually worthless, as they are made in such a way as to exclude most of the problems that can happen. This means that, unless the whole structure collapses on your head and you call during the whole process, numbering the structural weaknesses that caused it, your warranty will be considered invalid.
The solution to this is simple. Ask the builder whether there is a warranty and demand to see the warranty contract. This will give you time to conduct negotiations and perhaps change some of the key points in the contract. This way, you will be able to take legal action should the contractor fail to meet his warranty obligations.
It is of vital importance to get some things cleared out with the contractor before the start of any construction. Should the contractor fail to provide satisfactory answers to these questions, then you should consider changing the contractor before it is too late. Also, it will give you time to resolve the issues to your advantage, because, remember, this is the place where you will have to live for the rest of your life.