The building process can be one of the most stressful times in your life. So many decision to make; so many things to think about. If you know the BIG questions to ask when you are picking the right builder or contractor to bring your vision to life, you can proceed with confidence knowing your building project will turn out just as you had planned, on-time and within your budget. And… you might even have a little fun in the process!
Whether you need a build-out for an office or industrial space, you are tackling an extensive remodeling project or building your custom dream home, choose Scholl Construction for your next construction project. You’ll be glad you selected a building partner who will deliver smooth-running results every time.
TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, it’s Peter Scholl, with Scholl Construction, with another building construction video. Today’s topic is, What questions should I ask my custom builder before I build? Renovations and building are stressful, period. In fact, according to most surveys I read, building is one of the most stressful events you’ll encounter in your entire lifetime. Why are custom building projects so stressful? A lot of it has to do with communication or lack of communication.
Very often customers don’t know questions to ask up front, and they experience a steep learning curve during the building or remodeling process. In order to avoid that, you have to make sure you’re working with a professional builder or contractor who’s been through the process many times and knows how to handle all aspects of the construction process.
A couple of key questions to ask are how will the contractor/builder integrate design and selections into the final project. All three of those are very important to a successful construction project. Also, find out what they’re track record is for being able to design a project that meets a target construction budget and that they’re actually able to complete that construction. Finally, how they can ensure that the project ends up on time, on budget, and as beautiful as imagined, and the budget allows.
Second important pre-qualifying question before having anyone do any work on your building verify they’re insured. Ask for a current copy of their insurance information. Once you have that, call their insurance agent to make sure that the coverage is current.
I’ll go through the different types of insurance that builders should carry and that we carry and just give you a brief overview. I’m not an insurance agent. I don’t know all the insurance laws, but you need to have general liability. General liability covers items like fire that the contractor may cause, if they’re torching down a roof, soldering something or whatever happens. Also, theft of material. Say you have a load of lumber delivered, and it disappears in the middle of the night or a load of copper and that disappears. That’s what the general liability policy covers. I would recommend having them carry at least a million dollars in general liability. I carry a million with a $5 million umbrella.
Next, is commercial auto. The personal policy that many contractors have on their vehicles will not cover a problem on a construction project. They could crash into the building, they could hit someone, run over somebody, or they could damage something on your property. Make sure they have commercial liability auto policy.
The biggest one that I see people skimping on is the workman’s comp and that’s because it can get very expensive. For my business, it can be up to 30 cents on the dollar. This takes care of workers if they get hurt on your property. If a guy or a gal falls down on your job, and they can’t work the rest of their career, they’re going to go after somebody to pay for the wages that they would’ve made for the rest of their career, to support themselves and their family. Quite honestly, they deserve it, if they were doing everything the right way and just had an accident. That’s what workman’s comp does for you. Don’t let anyone tell you they can opt out of it or because they work alone they don’t need worker’s comp. I’ve heard all the stories and all the excuses and they’re not true.
The other one is builder’s risk policy. Typically, my customers will supply their own builder’s risk policy, but I do offer it as an option, and I can get it for less than they can, sometimes. You may want to go through your existing insurance policy holder. Tell them what you’re doing, so they know that they’re insuring, not just the building that they were insuring, but that you’re making it better, you’re adding on value, you’re putting on an addition, you’re adding more features. What the builder’s risk policy does is it takes care of items that are damaged after the builder installs them. For example, we put in all the windows, they’re all fine, none of them are cracked and in the middle of the night some of the kids come by and throw rocks through all the windows. That’s what your builder’s risk policy’s will pick up. It’s also going to cover a fire, like from a lightning strike, or damage from a tornado, or an earthquake; natural disasters and vandalism.
Make sure that you’re asking prospective building contractors the right questions. Building can be a really fun project process. A lot of my customers and I have a ton of fun, lot of laughs during their build. Make sure that you pick the right custom home builder, so you can have a good time, too. That’s for watching. Have a good.
Whether you need a build-out for an office or industrial space, you are tackling an extensive remodeling project or building your custom dream home, choose Scholl Construction for your next construction project. You’ll be glad you selected a building partner who will deliver smooth-running results every time.