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If It's Too Good to be True |
Roxanne Schick | 5/2/08
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“To become a contractor in the Pagosa Springs area all someone needs is a pick-up truck and a dog.”
It does not require a certain level of education, experience or knowledge of the standards required of the industry. The quality contractor has satisfied all of the requirements of being licensed but Colorado only requires two sub-contractors to be licensed –– electricians and plumbers. Therefore, most contractors are using prospective homeowners as prospective “guinea pigs” to learn how to build and many don’t have the experience of being taught how to do it right with no knowledge of the local and national building codes, so they don’t know how to build it right to begin with. They argue that everyone else is wrong without trying to find out how to do it right. Their only concern is how to do it the easiest way.
I have seen homes in this area that have more than thirty drawing, specification and building code violations and that could only come from the fact that the contractor has not bothered to obtain the education, experience or knowledge of the local and national building codes.
 Most people know the size of the home they plan to build but they, of course, would like to build this home for as reasonable a cost as possible. This sometimes means that you may want to eliminate the fee of the architect, soils engineer, structural engineer and possibly the electrical and mechanical engineer. Most of us sometimes are not very far sighted. We have thought of our home in only one term–what is the first cost? We don’t care what it may cost in the future to run this house. So what if our energy bills are $400 to $800 each month, or that the windows and doors don’t open or close or that the roof leaks and we have replaced sections of the roof for the third time. After all, we did save $2 a square foot and we believed everything the contractor told us.
That is just not how it works these days. Since you now know that some of these “less than honest” contractors have no construction experience, you should also realize that they are only looking out for their best interest, certainly not yours. When you are willing to employ design professionals, they should have the knowledge to provide you with answers to all of your questions which will insure a well built home as well as a home that should be energy efficient for many years which will result in overall savings and provide some additional perks that you had not counted on. These designs professional should be working for you, just as the quality contractors would.
The key is to find someone whom you can trust. The answer is as easy as the question. Find someone who has promised homes to clients for the next three years and put your name on his list that is if you can wait for your home to be finished in four years. Unfortunately, most of us can’t wait that long, so we need better protection.
You really need people who will work for you and it certainly starts with design professionals. You need a very “tight” set of contract drawings, specifications and general notes to spec out exactly all of the items that make up your home. You may also want a good attorney to provide you with a very “tight contract” as well as to check for written evidence of comprehensive general liability for the contractor you select. He should also be able to check the financial stability of your contractor.
If you do find a good quality contractor he will not be afraid to provide you with some degree of warranty. This could be a performance bond as provided for in commercial construction or maybe an agreed upon retainage. The most common retainage is the last five percent held by the owner until the final walk-through and acceptance of all repaired items, at which time the owner will address the one-year warranty items and retains only one-half of one percent.
The above four items are only the minimum of the areas each new homeowner should address. You would be well advised to do your homework and find only those contractors that are willing to provide names and phone numbers of people you can contact to relate their experiences. Also check with the Building Department to verify their home location and builder, as they have those records.
We also find that you will want to hold the contractor to a particular time frame and should add a penalty clause as well as an incentive clause for early completion. Both contractors and sub-contractors work on their own time frame and don’t care what yours may be. You really want a contractor you can count on or another person or company that will look out for your best interests such as a construction manager.
Remember the old saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it’s too good to be true.” A contractor who is very willing to show you the county records of homes he has built and gives you access to those home owners has nothing to hide. He does not need to embellish his accomplishments, nor does he need to promise you the world. If someone promises you the world, that is all you will ever get–– an empty promise.
It is good to get cost comparisons but less than honest contractors understand that also. They may give you a cheaper cost, but they have also bid the cheapest items they can find––not the items you may have wanted for your home––and they will cut all the corners they can to enable themselves to make the largest profit possible. |
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