Keeping it Real!!

Having work for nearly two decades in the Construction Industry, one question I am constantly being asked by friends is "When you receive a quotation for work, how do you know if you are paying the right price?"
People have now become increasingly aware of "Cowboy Builders" due to various programmes within the media spotlight - which highlight the plague of "dodgy" builders within the Industry. Now whilst anything which routes out people giving our Industry a bad name is a welcome thing, this does have a detrimental effect in creating a generalisation about builders. What the programmes do not highlight is a common practice within the building industry, particularly the domestic building market of under pricing work to ensure you get the contract. This has gone on for years, but due to the very competitive nature of the current market this is unfortunately becoming ever more common. The practice works like this - several contractors bid on a job, but one or more of those contractors gives a price well under the "cost price" of carrying out the work. The estimate or quotation will be very vague on specification purposely. Once the cheapest contractor has been awarded the contract and work has commenced - they will then start to add to the cost of things - qualifying this extra cost as "it was not quoted for". What this will mean for the customer is that they may very well end up paying far more the work than they perhaps should have.  Okay, so what is the answer? Fixed price contracts - These are just what is implied in the title, the price is fixed so from a contractors point of view a great deal of time and effort will be put into the quotation to ensure that an accurate price has been provided, as omissions or miscalculations could cost the contractor dearly.
I should also point out that there is a difference between an estimate and a quotation - a big difference! An estimate is just that, an estimation of labour and materials and does not necessarily reflect the true cost. With an estimate a contractor has no incentive to provide an accurate price as they are not contractually obligated to keep within a given cost. A quotation should be more detailed and provide details of the specification on which the quotation is based - this provides for a far more accurate measure of the cost. Beware though of quotations which have little or no detail within them because it makes the quotation baseless.
So in summary try and get a contractor to offer a fixed price quotation which by its very nature should have a lot of specification and detail.
If your project is reasonably large, you might want to consider hiring a quantity surveyor - whose job it is to accurately apportion materials and labour construction projects. Although this service does come at a cost, it could potentially save you money in the long term and also help you with selecting a contractor.
So in summary, remember that any project has a real cost - so beware of any low quotations and if in doubt insist on fixed price quotations. If you are really struggling -  pay a professional to cost the project.

Keeping it Legitimate!

Thousands of homeowners have work carried out in their home every week without having the proper approvals in place for the work! When work is carried out in any domestic dwelling which could potentially effect its' structural integrity or safety - it is highly likely that this falls under the jurisdiction of your local council Building Control Department.
The job of your local Council Building Control Department is to ensure that building work carried out on new houses, commercial buildings and domestic building work complies to the industry standards, ensuring that the building is safe and fit for use. A surprising array of different work actually requires Building Regulations approval, even replacement windows require approval - If you are unsure contact your local Council Building Control Department and they will be happy to advise you.
If your work requires Building Regulations Approval then you are required to make an application which can be done in one of two ways.

1. A Building Notice - A short form which contains your details and details of your property plus a brief description of the work to be carried out. The Building Control Department should then be notified a minimum of 48 hours prior to work commencing at is advisable to speak to you Building Control Officer prior to carrying out any work to agree construction methods and specification.
2. Full Building Regulations Approval - A detailed application which contains all the details, specification and drawings of the work which will be carried out. Using this method it is advisable to have approval granted prior to work commencing.

Which ever method you choose you must pay a fee to the Building Control Department which is on a sliding scale according to the overall value of the work which you are to have carried out. It also worth noting that if you are planning to have structural work carried out then it is advisable to have a structural engineer carry out an inspection and provide structural calculation which must then be passed to building control for approval by their engineer.
Once you work has been completed and your Building Control Officer is satisfied a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate will be issued. This certificate is vital if you ever plan to sell your home as it will be sought by any purchaser's solicitor. Failure to provide the certificate could potentially lose the sale or cause extreme delays in the process.
If you are one of thousands of people who have had work carried out without the necessary Building Regulations Approval - do not despair because there is a solution. You can retrospectively apply for Building Regulations Approval although it may be necessary to carry out some investigative work to satisfy the Building Control Officer that work does comply with Building Regulations.
For more advice contact us via our website http://www.heptagonconstruction.com/

New Cure for Cold Homes!!

For many years people who own older homes have had to be content with improving windows and loft insulation to prevent heat escaping from their homes.
Newer homes have cavity walls - this is essentially two walls, one inner leaf and one outer leaf seperated by a gap which is typically between 65 - 100mm wide. This "cavity" is in modern houses filled with insulation of one description or another, but in older houses this cavity was often left empty. This allows the homeowner to have a cavity fill insulation injected into the cavity thus reducing dramatically the heat loss of a building. Unfortunately older buildings are not built with cavity walls they are usually constructed from a solid 9" brick wall. So the only way to insulate them has been to add insulation internally, which whilst improving the heat retention properties of a building, reduces the room size and involves an awful lot of work in re plastering and re finishing. But now developments in the building industry have led to a demand for insulation cladding systems which enable this insulation to be applied externally. Once the insulation has been fixed the homeowner has a number of choices as to the finish. Sprayed render finishes in an array of colours, timber cladding systems and real brick facades. With the use of the products being more widespread, manufacturers of these systems are investing more and more into improving the finishes - so it is now very likely the finished look could actually improve the aesthetics of many buildings whilst at the same time eliminating many of the problems associated with solid walls in older buildings. The picture below shows an example of where brick facings have been used to improve the aesthetics of a buildings which has severely degraded facing bricks. For details of this type of system please feel free to contact us at  Heptagon Construction

Winter Blues! Top Tips for Homeowners.

http://www.heptagonconstruction.com/

With our British Summer fading fast and winter fast approaching what should you as a homeowner be doing to prevent potential problems in your home? Well there are a number of things you can do to ensure you're not left in the cold when winter finally arrives. Heating appliances which have been little used during the warm summer months often start to develop problems when they are being worked a little harder during the cold weather. These should be serviced at least once every 12 months and you could save yourself a huge amount of aggrevation by ensuring that they are serviced now before the huge surge in demand for plumbers occurs, which it will! If you have an older property you can check your exposed pipework, especially in the loft and ensure that all your pipes are lagged with insulation. This insulation is cheap, widely available at DIY stores and very simple to install. Installing pipe lagging/insulation will help prevent pipework freezing, which can often cause burst and leaking pipes. This could save you a fortune in plumbers fees and also a huge amount of aggrevation.
More top tips coming soon!