How to Find a Good Home Builder?

Once a home begins to take shape through blueprints and models, it’s time to find a good home builder.

The choice of construction company can determine the project completion time, the cost of the home, and, of course, the quality of the home’s structural elements and finishes. This is the company that will build the house where we will live a significant part of our lives.

For this reason, we felt it was important to write a post on how to find a good home builder.

Who Should Find a Good Home Builder?

Of course, if we know a trusted person among our friends or family, there will be no better option than to follow their recommendation if they are satisfied with a particular construction company.

If, on the other hand, we have no references, the best option is to consult with a professional, such as the home’s architect, who will have already worked with builders and will know professionals in the sector.

In some cases, we have no references for local builders or trusted builders. In this situation, it will be important to filter available companies based on technical and economic solvency criteria, which we will discuss later.

In this regard, it is good to be clear about what we will value when looking for a good home builder, so that we can make a decision knowing all the factors that can determine the success of a project.

Factors to Consider When Finding a Good Home Builder

1- Local Presence

It is usually beneficial to look for a local builder close to where the house will be built.

If the company is within a 50 km radius of the plot, transport costs for both personnel and machinery and materials will be reduced, thereby lowering the ecological footprint of the construction itself.

A local builder also knows the local material suppliers from whom they will likely get bulk purchase discounts, as well as machinery providers if they do not own equipment like excavators or concrete mixers.

Likewise, it is important that the personnel working on the site live relatively close to avoid additional travel costs and to ensure that the site manager (builder) regularly visits the workplace, not only to evaluate progress with our architect but also to ensure the good performance and safety of the work team.

2- Experience and Technical Solvency

The builder’s technical solvency must be verified by the architect.

In general, if the architect does not know them from a previous project – if they haven’t worked together – it is good for the architect to perform some basic checks.

1 Visit to previous projects

Visit a current or completed project by the construction company.

A site visit allows us to evaluate how the builder works and if they are meticulous with details and finishes.

Furthermore, the visit will give the architect an idea of the company’s workload and activity. A builder with no ongoing projects should concern us, as they might not have an active company capable of undertaking a residential construction project.

2 Technical project evaluation meeting

It will be necessary to organize a meeting at the office with the builder to review the project plans together.

Generally, in a technical meeting about the construction plans, the architect will be able to see if the builder understands what we are discussing and if they are familiar with the systems that have been chosen for use.

In this meeting, it is good to assess whether the builder values options for cost and time reduction in tasks such as material procurement, site organization, and execution. This can give us an idea of the builder’s prior experience and their technical comprehension ability, as well as their initiative to get involved in the project and adjust costs.

3 Potential problems or legal proceedings with previous clients

Another check to perform when looking for a good home builder is to ensure that the company has not had legal problems in previous projects.

In this case, the best approach is to establish a trusting dialogue with the builder and discuss any issues that arose in previous projects.

4 Price

The price offered by the construction company is important, whether it is above or below the average.

The best approach is a good balance in the quality-price relationship. We might not choose the company offering the cheapest construction, but rather the one with the most commitment to timelines and deadlines.

To find a good home builder, it is important to conduct a price comparison based on very detailed measurements. This way, we can see what each potential construction company offers and negotiate with them based on a comparison of the different companies.

Home measurements are a document that quantifies the items of materials and work that will need to be carried out. That is, the definition of each of the construction systems and materials that will be needed to build our house, defined by units, cubic meters, square meters, linear meters, or kg.

Its importance lies primarily in the precise definition of the final construction price.

If the measurements are precise and describe all elements in detail, the price offered by the construction company will be more accurate, and we will avoid later budget surprises due to lack of foresight.

5 Time

Construction companies will offer a timeframe to complete the work, and it is advisable to ensure that it is met. The company needs to have sufficient staff and the capacity to hire more personnel if agreed-upon deadlines are not met.

It is important to assess the company’s commitment and establish financial penalties in case of delays beyond the contractually agreed deadlines.

For example, if we are living in a rental apartment during the construction of the house, the contract with the construction company can stipulate that in case of a delay in the work on our new house, the construction company will be responsible for paying the monthly rent until the work is completed.

Signing a Turnkey Contract or an Open-Price Contract

When signing an agreement with a construction company, we can enter into two types of agreements: a turnkey contract or an open-price contract.

A turnkey contract is an agreement where a fixed price for the total cost of the work is set. It should be noted that in these cases, the price is usually estimated upwards because the construction company wants to have a certain margin for unforeseen events. On the other hand, an open-price contract requires an extremely defined budget from the builder, which is achieved with a highly qualified architectural team that carries out detailed measurements based on a rigorous technical project that includes absolutely all the details of the work without any omissions. Any project omission will be considered an extra.

So, which is the best option?

Although a turnkey contract assures us that there will be no budget deviations once the work begins, the best option from our point of view is to define the measurements in detail with all exact specifications and quantities and obtain an open-price budget that is precisely defined, ensuring no deviations. This way, we will pay the fair price for the work.

Again, remember that to carry out this option with full guarantees, we must have an architectural team we trust, which will ensure that the technical project is defined in detail. At Slow Studio, we always work on measurements and construction solutions in detail, so we know the exact number of bricks that will need to be laid and can achieve a much more adjusted price that will not deviate from the initial budget. In all our projects, we achieve deviations of less than 1%, and these are usually based on modifications approved by the client.

Of course, if the client requests a turnkey price, we also provide it, but we advocate for saving costs for the client through rigorous work and the definition of details before the start of construction.

Hiring one builder or several for a house

As a general rule, only one builder is hired to carry out a project. This greatly streamlines procedures and the construction itself, in addition to simplifying the entire process. However, there are occasions when two construction companies can be hired.

Having more than one company working on a project implies that coordination between both companies and with the architect must be very good, and communication will be key to successfully building the house.

Hiring more than one builder usually occurs when the structure of the house is made of wood, while the foundations must be made of concrete. Not all construction companies have the knowledge and resources to build with different systems, and in cases like this, it may be necessary to resort to more than one builder.

How to select a builder from several options?

At Slow Studio, we carry out this process on behalf of the client, as our project-after-project experience allows us to evaluate the different options.

In general, we like to work through a tender process, similar to public administration but privately.

To do this, we will select three builders whom we will put through our internal validation process for financial, technical, and legal solvency.

Once we verify the solvency of three companies that interest us, either due to their proximity to the site, because they are known from previous projects, or because they come from the client’s recommendation, we will conduct a builder tender which, as we mentioned, functions similarly to a public tender but privately.

What we do is send the measurements, which detail each of the elements and materials of the project, as well as the detailed project plans, to the selected companies so they can provide us with concrete budget and time data.

In this step, it is very important that the measurements are very thorough and that the plans are detailed and well-drawn. Everything must be foreseen and calculated so that the companies’ proposals are realistic and adjusted to the construction of the house, with no possibility of deviations due to omissions.

This will allow us to receive three bids based on the same measurement table, enabling us to compare and obtain the best quality-price ratio.