During the recent stringent lockdown period, many people who may have been considering moving to up-scale in the near future had a chance to take a closer look at their homes and get a better feel for how they could be vastly improved with just a few changes or add-ons.

Office space, in particular, has become really important for many business people who now choose to spend more time working from home, but who don’t want to feel they are invading the home space and need a bit more privacy.

The important questions

If you have now decided to renovate, we would like to offer some good advice on ensuring that you will be communicating well with your builder before and during the project. This assists you to have peace of mind and any truly professional construction company is happy for you to ask these questions as your peace of mind and good communication should be important to them too.

These then are a few important questions to ask your builder when renovating… 

Cost estimation

Having assessed exactly what your renovation requirements are, your first question is to ask for an accurate cost estimation. You are entitled to this – and get an assurance from the construction company that you will be consulted first if there needs to be any change in plans or costs.

There must be a clause in the contract regarding any variation regarding price or timing – this is important to both parties, so any good professional Construction Company will include it.

Good communication

Another important question is “who will be my main point of contact, before during and after the project?” This is the first step in communication – knowing exactly who you should be communicating with is essential. Also ask, “How will I be able to contact you when I need to?”. Exchange contact information at the outset.

The other important questions regarding communication are “When will I be required to be available for you?” and “How will you communicate with me?” This too is important. If your Construction Manager generally prefers face to face (or currently mask to mask) meetings, then you need to know when you’ll need to make time for those.

Schedule of works, Assurances and Certifications

There are three very important aspects of the actual construction work that should be considered – so ask the important questions upfront.

Firstly, ask for a schedule of works, detailing the timelines of each important stage of the project. This is essential, as the timing of certain stages can be crucial. For example, if you want to choose tiles and give them to the builders you need to know exactly when to produce these so you don’t hold up any work. You also naturally want to know when construction workers will be on your property, so ensure this schedule is detailed.

Also ask, “What protection measures for my existing property are being put in place and what certificates, warranties etc. will I receive on completion?” Don’t wait until completion to ask these questions – they all should be asked up-front so if the answers are not satisfactory you can seek the assistance of more professional builders.

Use the professionals

In the case of an experienced and highly professional construction company like Davel and Lottering Construction, you will probably find that it is unnecessary to ask any of these questions, as we will cover all these areas for you in initial consultations – but it’s good for you to know in case you are still deciding on which builders to use.

Rest assured that you can do no better than Davel and Lottering as we are seasoned experts when it comes to both new builds and renovations of residential and commercial properties. Contact us for a no-obligation consultation and for all the advice you need.