By Neil Turner, director, Howarth Litchfield
When I work with clients one of the key decisions is finding the right builder or contractor – so often at the moment clients bemoan the lack of interest from contractors or perceived lack of interest in their project.
As an architect I feel the pain of clients with the current high cost of materials, the lack of choice on contractors and the efforts required to find the right, skilled team for your specific project.
But is this the fault of the contractors? Well, actually, it is not.
No other industry works on the low rates of return experienced by contractors. On many projects building firms achieve profits of only 2.6% (compared to a national business average of 17%). With those margins, the risks are high. Clients (rightly so) want to tie down assured costs, but how do contractors do this when their own supply chain has pricing volatility and there are huge variables in material availability, cost, supply and programme problems.
Many architects and building professionals do not know how to tender a project or seem to think that their role is to be tough on the building contractor as this will somehow deliver the best result for the client team.
In the current market, I advise to work closely with the contracting teams. We have some superb building companies in the North East – national, regional and local builders. They have real expertise, skill and programming abilities. At the present time, they are all busy, so how do you get your project to the top of their list?
My top tips for clients are broadly these:
Do your research
Speak to the contractors about a project in advance, about their skillset and if the project hits their sweet spot. Look into their backgrounds, finance and references.
Availability and finance
Get your funds agreed and show the contractor that payments are already arranged. So often projects stall when finance becomes an issue for a client.
Get your permissions in place
Having planning permission and building regulations permissions – or at least a programme showing when they will be achieved – shows organisational skills to the contractor.
Don’t put obstacles in the way
In this market, the more issues or challenges then inevitably contractors will look to other projects that are more straightforward.
Advance planning
Do not assume there are contractors sitting waiting for immediate work and certainly don’t think a gap will appear in the summer. Plan, book ahead.
Choice on contract – legal terms
There are many alternative contracts and it relies on an experienced architect to explain your options. Each comes with different approaches to pricing, risk, responsibility, management and programme implications. Choose the right one that works for you. Get it wrong – and unfortunately, it can be painful, expensive and even legal.
Be nice!
A contract is a formal relationship between a client and contractor, i.e., a two-way agreement. The better both parties work together, in advance and throughout the contract, the higher the chance of success.
I am not saying there won’t be challenges or decisions when building, but putting in place the right contractor at the right price will save a lot of trouble, angst and costs. Following the above advice is not about being soft or being a pushover.
An experienced consultant team can monitor and advise a client through a build sequence and agree extras (and savings) with the contractor so that everyone gets to the end – with what they want out of the project – ready to make use of their new building.
Neil Turner, director, Howarth Litchfield can be contacted on 0191 3849470 or email n.turner@hlpuk.com www.howarthlitchfield.com
