The Pre-Con Checklist

All right, so you have decided its time to start this . Are you sure you want to do this? You know, they say that outside of getting married, the most difficult thing to get right is building a custom home.

I don't know how many home owners, and potential clients that I have talked to have said,"I have heard so many bad things about building a custom home, we aren't quite sure we want to do this."

My response to them and to all of you who have the same sentiment is this, "Building a custom home is the art of bringing together a thousand different details. If you go into it without a plan you plan to fail, but if you have a plan centered around details that allow you to see the end from the beginning then you will have a good experience."

That is where we are going to start. We are going to break this home building experience down to the very core and find out what makes a successful project flow from concept to conception.

Lets get started.

Below you will find a Pre-Construction Checklist. A useful tool that I used as a general contractor to help make sure everything was in place before we started a project. I will present it in its entirety.  Then over the next few months I will break it down so that you can understand the details behind the checklist.

Now there are other details before this like where to build, house plans, and the bidding process, but I have decided to start here at the Pre-Construction Checklist, because this is where trouble can start if you are not prepared.

I. MANAGEMENT DOCUMENTS

1. Schedule
2. Contracts
3. Budget
4. Complete Architectural/Mechanical Plans
5. Specifications
6. Building Permits
7. Change Order procedures and fees
8. Back Charge procedures and fees
9. Transmittal/Submittal
10. Purchase Order 
11. Quality Control 
    
12. Daily report
13. Warranty and Service procedures 

II. ON SITE and GENERAL ITEMS

1. Home Base
2. Office Supplies
3. Information Binder
4. Communication plan
5. State Notification
6. Builders Risk Insurance Policy
7. Relationship strategies
8. Trade Contractor/Supplier selection
9. Project Goals: individual, team, financial
10. Holiday/Vacation schedule
11. Construction Meetings
12. Site Cleanliness, Protection, and Security Plans
13. Site Signage Plan
14. Long lead items
15. Project Funding
16. Manpower
17. Travel arrangements-vehicle, housing, subsistence
18. Out of town payroll
19. EEO/Affirmative Action
20. Inspections
21. Budgets and Cost Codes in place
22. Equipment mobilization
23. Supply Drop off/Pick up plan
24. Utility Sources
25. Construction waste disposal
26. Human wast disposal
27. Official land survey
28. Seasonal implications

III.  SAFETY

1. Safety Plan
2. Crisis Management Plan
3. Safety Challenges
4. Job Site Safety Meeting
5. Job Site Safety Report
6. Fire Prevention Plan
7. Emergency Evacuation Plan
8. Job Hazard Analysis
9. MSDS Book
10. Asbestos Survey copy
    
11. Special clothing requirements
12. Special training
13. First Aid Kits
14. Fire Extinguishers
15. Hospital/Instacare facilities
16. Hard Hats
17. Safety Glasses
18. Gloves
19. Noise protection
20. Dust protection
21. Rebar caps
22. Safety signage
23. Fall protection/exposed openings
24. Drinking water
25. Special hazards
26. Traffic/Pedestrian routing and protection
27. Storm/Waste Water Plan (SWPP)
28. Site/Project Dust Control (Air quality permit required)
29. Certified Equipment Operators
30. Tools and equipment needed

If you have any questions before I start breaking this down feel free to leave a comment and I will help you out.  Until next time good luck and keep swinging.

In the Beginning there was LIGHT!

In the beginning there was light!  Couldn't have said it better myself.  That simple little phrase packs such a huge punch.  You see when God decided to create the earth he didn't create candy first or Britney Spears (Although I am sure if you asked her she would think differently).....He consciously created light first.  But not just "light" as in the source of energy that helps us see in darkness, but "light" in terms of clarity, vision.  He created a clear vision, a plan of action to be followed.  

God didn't wing-it, He had a clear plan, that was followed, and out of it came the perfect creation.....the earth.

Now isn't that what you want to create as you are getting ready to build your custom home....the perfect creation?  Yes and I am going to give you the tools that you need whether you are going at it yourself or whether you are going to hire a contractor.  My guess is that you don't have the tools you need nor does your contractor (even if he says he does).  Just wait I'll show you what I mean.

So my next post will have a Pre-Construciton Checklist of things that you need to get started....so lets create that clear vision and get started on that perfect creation.

Oh and feel free to ask me questions before hand, don't wait, I've got answers to anything you need to know about managing your custom home project, or managing your general contractor.

What's in a name?

What's in a name?  Well just say Mahatma Gandhi or Paris Hilton and immediately you attach a value to that name.  

For good or ill, you have some sort of association in the deep caverns of your mind for certain names.  Take for example my sister-in-law, she refuses to eat at Panda Express because on some level of corporate management she feels as though they have been able to incorporate Panda meat into their egg drop soup. And she won't even entertain the idea of going to Shoney's Family Restaurant because apparently Shoney is a name of a horse and they have been able to put a little bit of Shoney into every bite of that delicious breakfast sausage!  

Come on don't even pretend you haven't done this! Right now I bet you could think of two or three names that conjure up crazy ideas in your mind and cause you to dispel logic and resort to some sort of QUIRKY  behavior.

That is why I chose the quirky contractor as the name for my blog.  I plan on discussing topics of interest for those who are building a home, trying to maintain their home, or are considering building a home, or general contractor who is humble enough to listen to reason.  I plan on an unconventional approach, or quirky approach as it were to the home building process.  That's right....the right way to build a home. 

You see, ever since I was in high school I have been involved with the home building process.  I started out designing homes, then got my hands dirty with remodeling and recently just quit my job as the general manager of custom homes for a local builder to pursue my MBA.  So for the past ten years I have been on every side of the fence. 

I figure now that I am out of the game for a couple years, its safe for me to vent and let it all out!

So until I get it all out of my system, I will be trying to help those of you that are still in the game or thinking about stepping to the plate, how to get it right.  At least from my point of view.  Whether you are an owner builder, hiring a contractor or you are a contractor yourself my blog posts are ment to help you from start to finish and beyond.