Are you considering building a new home or remodeling your existing home. Choosing a general contractor can be the most important step in the success of your project. There are a couple of ways to decide upon a contractor. You can put your project out for competitive bid or select a contractor you can trust and hire them to help you throughout the project. Finding the right contractor should be taken seriously as you will be spending a lot of time working together.
Competitive bidding can save you money. However, more often than not it leads to extras. During the competitive bidding process contractors will only price what is shown on the drawings. Unless you have done a through review of the drawings with your architect items not shown on the drawings will be left out of the proposal.
Once you have all the bids it is important to compare them very closely to ensure the contractors have covered everything in their price. Many times these proposals will not specify what is included. This makes it very difficult to compare pricing and may require additional conversations with the bidders requesting more breakdown. If you make it through this process you may have saved a few dollars but have surely spent a lot of time trying to figure it out.
The other way to find a contractor is to reach out to people you trust who have been through the construction process. Ask them what they thought of their contractor and how the process worked. If you like what you hear set up a meeting. Prior to the meeting take the time to visit the contractors website and prepare some questions and concerns you may have regarding the construction process.
While meeting with the contractor make sure you understand everything they say. Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions concerning timetables and costs. If you are confident this is someone you can trust then take the next step and hire them.
By hiring a contractor early in the process you can save both time and money using their expertise to work through the process. The sooner you bring a contractor onto your team the greater your chances of completing your project on time and within your budget.