1. Have a Construction Contract - Always.. Always.. Always. Never have a hand-shake contract with your builder. You are going to spend hundreds to millions of pesos or dollars for your home and you will not have a contract? No way. You should know what you are getting at the very start.
2. Never have someone act on your behalf to coordinate with your builder (Assuming you are out of the country) who is not an expert in the home construction business. Don't go in and build blind and not knowing what to do.
Lets expound on item 1 and assume you are dealing with a builder who is also your designer.
There are many of those around who will build your house and they will give you "free design". They say they have an in-house architect who will do it for them. Hhmm.. Sounds convincing. Really, nothing is absolutely free in the construction business.
For this you need the following as an end product:
The blue prints of the house
A visual sketch or perspective of the finished house (one or two views) – colored.
A Materials Specification booklet (Like what type of wood to be used and where. How thick the glass will be for the windows, how thick the aluminum window frames will be, brand of tiles, thickness of the roof.. and so many more.)
The construction contract (With the following: Cost to build the whole project, Detailed bill of materials and bill of quantities and Construction duration)
These will form part of the contract. The builder will sign each page (yes each page) and if you accept, you will also sign each page (yeas again.. each page). That’s how it is in business and home construction.
Think about it like a new car sales brochure. The image of the car is in the front, the details of the engine, brakes, suspension, leather seats, backing sensors, auto-alarm system, fog-lamps and the like are at are at the back. And to think this is not the contract yet. This is to not deceive the buyer on what they are getting and not getting and how much.
Build your home the right way. Have a contract and have an experienced professional guide you along the way. Your dream home will hopefully have happy memories while building it.
Keep on Dreaming.
Note: for all these, consult a licensed professional engineer who is knowledgeable in the home construction business and legal counsel.
Thanks for the wonderful tips. The house construction really has lots of process to accomplish.
ReplyDeleteContracts should be really asked as a proof that you have transact with a contractor. Building a house without a legal document of your agreements will only costs you lots of money and be a victim of fraud I say. Also, your physical presence might help in building your house faster. You should also be hands on in buying construction supply materials to know the real costs of the items you need.
ReplyDeleteConstruction contract is really, really important in house construction in the Philippines
ReplyDelete