Building a home
The team
every construction job has certain key functions that have to be done by someone. If no one has clear responsibility for that role, things are likely to fall through the cracks. You can learn about these functions in greater detail under Project Management before you decide how much you want to handle yourself.
Buying Land and Questions to Ask
Hiring an Architect? What You Need To Know | BuildingAdvisor:
Design: Starting with a vision (or a picture or plan in a plan book), you develop a preliminary design, and eventually a final set of blueprints that will be needed to obtain a permit and guide the construction of the home or remodel. In addition to the look and feel, size, and floor plan, the design includes technical information about electrical and mechanical systems, and structural information that ensures that your new home or addition is sturdy, and not prone to bouncy floors, sagging roofs, or cracks in the foundation.
Specifications: The design determines the shape, size of the building, the interior layout, and many of the aesthetic details such as interior and exterior trim details. The “specs” tell the building what materials to use and, in some cases, how to use them. Well-written specs will result in attractive, durable materials installed properly so that will perform well for many years. Poorly written or missing specs may result in cheap materials being installed in a less than optimal fashion.
Estimating: Once you have a plan and specifications, someone needs to estimate costs. A lender, of course, will need an accurate cost estimate. But, you will need an estimate for your own purposes as well. The estimate and the schedule, discussed below, are powerful tools for managing your project.
Estimating material costs is pretty straightforward as most contractor-oriented lumberyards will do a takeoff from the plans and bid the whole package – at least for the materials they carry. Estimating labor is a skill that takes many years to learn to do well. However, there are good estimating guides that will enable you to do a pretty good job with little or no experience. Also, if you are hiring subcontractors to do much of the work, you can use their bids to cost out portions of the job. While an architect or construction manager will often prepare a general estimate, the number that really counts is the general contractor’s contract price (unless you are your own contractor).
Scheduling: Your job schedule maps out how long each phase of the work will last as well as the order of work. Some jobs can be done at the same time – for example, carpenters can be installing drywall on the interior, while others are installing siding and roofing outdoors. However, many tasks must be performed sequentially. The framers can’t start until the foundation is completed; the interior work can’t start until the building shell is tight to the weather; the insulation can’t go in until the electrical and plumbing are roughed in; and the drywall can’t go on until the insulation is in. You get the picture. One trade not showing up, or a critical material not being delivered can really mess up your schedule. The people you’ve had to postpone may start another job and get back to your job when they can. A tight schedule is critical to getting your job done efficiently with minimal hassles.Permitting: Before you can clear trees, drill a well, install a septic system, or start building, you will need your permits in hand. The types of permits required and their costs vary greatly from one place to another. California has the distinction of being the most expensive place to build with permits that can run into the tens of thousands and impact fees that can exceed $100,000 in certain areas for a single family home. At the other end of the spectrum, some rural counties still have no building inspector and you can pretty much build what you want. Most of us are building somewhere between those two extremes, but the message is the same: find out what permits are required and get your ducks in a row to obtain the necessary ones before you proceed.
Project Management: This is a big one, covering all the tasks that get the building built as designed, on time, and on budget. This involves ordering materials, supervising and scheduling tradespeople and subcontractors, maintaining quality control, coordinating with building and mechanical inspectors, as well as the owners, designer, and everyone else who shows up on the job site. The person in charge of project management also troubleshoots problems like subs not showing up or a foundation that is out of square. He or she resolves conflicts between different trades: for example, the plumber can’t run his pipe where it should go because there is a structural beam in the way. Sometimes this role is performed by more than one person: For example, a general contractor may have more than one job going on and will use a lead carpenter or foreman to handle day-to-day job management, while he handles the big picture. On large developments, a clerk or the works or construction manager may be on the job site to oversee the construction of several homes at once.
Construction: After all this designing, planning, budgeting, permitting, and reviewing, someone has to dig holes, pour concrete, bang nails, and get the thing built. This could be some combination or yourself, friends, carpenters and subcontractors you hire. Or it may be a small building company where the owner, functioning as a the general contractor, does much of the work himself with a couple of employees and a few subcontractors. Larger building companies tend to use fewer employees and more subcontractors, who are specialists in one specific trade. There are pros and cons to each approach, which we’ll discuss later.
Tasks and Players
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posted by dave @ 4:02 PM
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