How to choose the right contractor for your Project

How to choose the right contractor for your Project

Author: Charles Nehme

Publisher: Charles Nehme

Published:

Total Pages: 72

ISBN-13:

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Preface Selecting the right contractor for your project can be a daunting task, yet it is one of the most crucial steps in ensuring the success of any construction or renovation endeavor. A good contractor can bring your vision to life efficiently, while a poor choice can lead to delays, budget overruns, and subpar work. Given the significance of this decision, it is essential to approach the selection process with diligence and a clear understanding of what to look for. This guide outlines ten practical and actionable strategies to help you choose the right contractor for your project. From defining your project requirements and seeking recommendations, to verifying credentials and reviewing past work, each step is designed to provide you with the insights needed to make an informed decision. By following these guidelines, you can mitigate risks, ensure quality workmanship, and establish a productive working relationship with a contractor who meets your specific needs. Whether you are embarking on a small home renovation or a large-scale construction project, this guide aims to equip you with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate the contractor selection process with confidence and success. Audience The audience for information about selecting the right contractor for a project typically includes homeowners, property managers, and individuals involved in construction or renovation decision-making. Here's a breakdown of the audience and their specific interests and needs: Homeowners: Interest: Ensuring their home improvement projects are completed on time, within budget, and to high-quality standards. Needs: Guidance on how to choose reliable contractors, understanding contract terms, ensuring safety and compliance, and managing expectations. Property Managers: Interest: Maintaining and enhancing property value through effective maintenance and renovation projects. Needs: Strategies for selecting reputable contractors, overseeing multiple projects, adhering to legal and safety standards, and managing contractor relationships. Construction Professionals (Architects, Engineers): Interest: Collaborating with skilled contractors to execute design plans effectively. Needs: Criteria for evaluating contractor qualifications, ensuring adherence to specifications and codes, managing project timelines, and fostering communication. Real Estate Investors: Interest: Maximizing returns on investment through successful property improvements and renovations. Needs: Identifying contractors who can deliver projects on schedule and budget, assessing project feasibility, and mitigating risks associated with contractor selection. Small Business Owners: Interest: Upgrading or expanding their business facilities through construction or renovation projects. Needs: Access to reliable contractors who can meet commercial construction requirements, comply with regulations, and deliver projects that enhance business operations. Community and Nonprofit Organizations: Interest: Undertaking construction projects to improve community facilities and infrastructure. Needs: Partnering with contractors who understand community needs, comply with funding requirements, and deliver projects that benefit the public. Key Focus Areas: Contractor Selection: Criteria for evaluating qualifications, experience, and reputation. Legal and Compliance: Understanding permits, licenses, insurance, and regulatory requirements. Project Management: Strategies for overseeing projects, managing timelines, and ensuring quality and safety standards. Communication and Collaboration: Best practices for fostering productive relationships with contractors and stakeholders. Understanding the diverse needs and interests of these audiences helps tailor information and resources to effectively guide them through the contractor selection process and ensure successful project outcomes.


Markup & Profit

Markup & Profit

Author: Michael Stone

Publisher: Craftsman Book Co

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 9781572180710

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In order to succeed in a construction business you have to be able to mark up the price of your jobs to cover overhead expenses and make a decent profit. The problem is how much to mark it up. You don't want to lose jobs because you charge too much, and you don't want to work for free because you've charged too little. If you know how much to mark up you can apply it to your job costs and arrive at the right sales price for your work. This book gives you the background and the calculations necessary to easily figure the markup that is right for your business. Includes a CD-ROM with forms and checklists for your use.


What Your Contractor Can't Tell You

What Your Contractor Can't Tell You

Author: Amy Johnston

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780979983801

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A comprehensive guide to building or renovating a home provides everything homeowners need to know to get the best results, covering such topics as selecting and supervising an architect and contractor, cost estimates, budget, plan specifications, dealing with permits, and more and examining a wide range of common pitfalls and how to avoid them.


The Complete Guide to Contracting Your Home

The Complete Guide to Contracting Your Home

Author: Kent Lester

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2017-01-12

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1440346011

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Save 30% on home construction! Whether you want to take on all the responsibility of contracting your home or simply want to intelligently communicate with your homebuilder, The Complete Guide to Contracting Your Home can help you save 30% or more on the cost of home construction by teaching you the ins and outs of managing your construction project. Learn how to get your project off to a solid start. Get financial and legal details in language you can understand. Learn what to consider when selecting a lot and how to deal with suppliers, labor and subcontractors. Gain understanding of building codes and inspections so you can manage with authority, confidence, and efficiency. This extensive guide walks you through each phase of construction including preconstruction, foundations, framing, roofing, plumbing, electrical, masonry, siding, insulation, drywall, trim, painting, cabinetry, countertops, flooring, tile and landscaping. Completely revised and updated, this edition includes a new section on sustainable building as well as the most comprehensive building resources section ever compiled. You'll find schedules, order forms, control logs, contracts and checklists to help keep your project on track.


Paper Contracting

Paper Contracting

Author: William D. Mitchell

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 9781572182707

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Risk, and the headaches that go wit it, have always been a major part of any construction project -- risk of loss, negative cash flow, construction claims, regulations, excessive changes, disputes, slow pay -- sometimes you'll make money, and often you won't. But many contractors today are avoiding almost all of that risk by working under a construction management contract, where they are simply a paid consultant to the owner, running the job, but leaving him the risk. This manual is the how-to of construction management contracting. You'll learn how the process works, how to get started as a CM contractor, what the job entails, how to deal with the issues that come up, when to step back, and how to get the job completed on time and on budget. Includes a link to free downloads of CM contracts legal in each state.


Starting Your Career as a Contractor

Starting Your Career as a Contractor

Author: Claudiu Fatu

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2015-03-17

Total Pages: 181

ISBN-13: 1621534707

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This incisive, practical guide provides a thorough breakdown of the ins and outs everyone needs to know when turning contracting skills into a business. From summoning the motivation to start your own business to the intricacies of being your own boss, Claudiu Fatu artfully turns his personal experiences and those of other successful contractors into advice on every aspect of building a business. The chapters focus on: Developing a business structure, including bank accounts, tax registration, insurance, and branding Handling legal and accounting hurdles Managing employees and dealing with clients Using marketing systems to find and book work Estimating and bidding on jobs Writing contracts Creating invoices and a billing system Controlling costs, keeping records, and understanding profit margin Planning retirement and other benefits for the self-employed By teaching contractors to anticipate problems that can arise when dealing with clients, and to build a business plan that can support a contractor’s talents in the best way possible, Starting Your Career as a Contractor is the ultimate manual to getting the job done right! Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.


Make It Right

Make It Right

Author: Mike Holmes

Publisher: HarperCollins Canada

Published: 2013-08-27

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 144340599X

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More than 1 million viewers in Canada watch Mike Holmes’ television show, Holmes on Homes, every week. Thousands more see him at his personal appearances and visit his website, looking for advice on renos-gone-wrong. Mike Holmes is Canada’s most trusted contractor, a crusader with a mission to expose botched renovations--and now the author of a bestselling book that has shipped over 60,000 copies in its hardcover edition. Mike has taken his professional expertise and tell-it-like-it-is style and turned it into the guide no homeowner should be without. Make It Right walks readers through a renovation from start to finish, from the process of finding a reliable contractor to understanding the legalities of renovation. Mike explains the inner workings of a house, covers the most popular reno projects and describes the most common pitfalls. Packed with informative sidebars, checklists, diagrams and photographs, all showing what to expect from contractors and tradespeople, and how to keep every reno running on time and on budget, Make It Right is the book you need to read before you plan a renovation. Be smart. Take charge. Get it right the first time.


Residential Construction Management

Residential Construction Management

Author: Joseph A. Griffin

Publisher: J. Ross Publishing

Published: 2010-03-15

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1604270225

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Residential Construction Management will provide construction managers a concise and practical guide to managing residential construction projects. One of the fundamental reasons residential contractors fail to prosper is that they are poor managers. By presenting project management tools in their appropriate context of the project lifecycle—initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing, readers will more clearly understand the iterative nature of construction management, which is a key to successfully managing a construction project. You can't afford to be without this indispensible working tool and its step-by-step instructions, project management templates, and real-world case studies. Residential Construction Management provides construction managers a concise and practical guide to managing residential construction projects. One of the fundamental reasons residential contractors fail to prosper is that they are poor managers. By presenting project management tools in their appropriate context of the project lifecycle — initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing — you will more clearly understand the true nature of construction management, which is a key to successfully managing a construction project. You can't afford to be without this indispensible working tool and its step-by-step instructions, project management templates, and real world case studies.Key Features ¦ Walks you through the entire project management lifecycle resulting in a better understanding of the iterative processes of construction management ¦ Offers the information and real world tools needed to successfully apply to a planned or current project ¦ Shows how various knowledge areas and project management tools interact when doing a project providing you with the knowledge to create your own project plan ¦ Offers a downloadable building specification form, change order authorization form, construction schedule, sample budget, construction flowchart, a guide to working with bankers for spec home loans, and much more — available from the Web Added Value™ Download Resource Center at www.jrosspub.com