Important tips for new builders
Ismail Al Hammadi
01 November 2022
Not everyone who builds a house is an expert in construction!
A fact that everyone who is about to build, whether residential, commercial or industrial, must be aware of. Each project has a contract, conditions, specifications and nature of its own, and it is not possible to measure the personal experience of one or more projects on all projects.
The biggest mistake that many owners make, who are about to build houses for them, is their lack of comprehensive knowledge of the aspects of construction that guarantee them a good progress in implementing the project, and directing the best budget for construction. In terms of project delivery time and final construction cost.
Many of them are also forced to stop the construction process for another time, so today we decided to shed light on some important points in the field of construction that owners should pay attention to, to avoid faltering construction stages, and to reduce the total cost of construction as much as possible.
One of the steps that the building owner must be aware of is choosing the appropriate and reliable consultant. There is a diversity and difference in the number of engineering consultancy offices in the country in terms of classification, experience and method of work, and also varies in the fees required for the services provided.
One of the most important tasks of the “consultant” that the owner should be aware of is to develop the necessary designs in line with the owner’s functional, financial, and time requirements, and to prepare the bills of quantities and specifications for the project, to meet the owner’s wishes, and in line with the previously specified budget, in addition to: Reviewing the contractor’s bills and project payments, ensuring their conformity with reality and contracts, and approving them before sending them to the owner. Therefore, the owner, before choosing and appointing the appropriate “consultant”, must accurately determine the budget allocated for construction, the potential additional costs, and determine his needs and requirements in construction and the time period for it. .
After the stage of selecting and appointing the “consultant”, the owner must be familiar with the stages of preparing the plans and documents, know the step-by-step mechanism for selecting the appropriate contractor, and have a role in selecting and determining the materials used in construction, approving the final design of the project, and modifying what can be done. Modify it before handing over the work to the contractor, because any change after it will cost an additional budget.
Then comes the stage of selecting and appointing the contractor, whose selection must be by way of a regular bid and not by recommendation.
It is also sometimes preferable to suggest contractors by the owner, and not to leave the contractors proposed by the “consultant” only, as well as to meet with the contractor and talk to him about the project to get an idea of how he works, with a request for the company’s “profile”, a list of completed projects, and “under construction” projects. , as well as a list of the number of workers and the company’s staff to know its capabilities and ability to absorb new projects, and to supervise the selection of building materials and purchases for the project so that the owner is not surprised by an additional clause in the contractor’s contract.
There are several important steps, but these may be the most important for the owner, who must be aware of them, to avoid the "circumvention" that some practice on the owners to increase their profits, and plunge them into a cycle of debt and additional costs in the field of construction.
@ismailalhammadi
Ismail.alhammadi@alruwad.ae
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