If you’re planning to renovate within the next year, take some time to plan ahead. Preparing drawings, arranging financing and selecting a contractor are challenging enough, but have you thought about what happens when an army of tradespeople take over your home? To avoid a nervous breakdown, arrange a preconstruction meeting before work begins.

A preconstruction meeting brings everyone together for a meeting of the minds. Besides the owner and general contractor, the meeting should be attended by the head carpenter and a senior person from each subtrade. If you engaged an architect for the design, ask him or her to chair the meeting. Acting as an informed, neutral party, the architect can review the scope of work and offer suggestions to sort out differences of opinion.

Think of the preconstruction meeting as a reality check. Where will the building materials be stored? How will demolished materials be disposed of? How long must you do without water, power and phone? Ask the contractor to outline his plan of attack. What part of the house will be torn up first? How many tradespeople will be on site? What are the working hours? Setting the ground rules up front is much easier than after work begins.

The construction schedule is always a point of contention. Usually, the owner and contractor have differing agendas regarding the completion date, e.g. the contractor may be finishing up other projects, while the owner may need everything done before going away on holidays. Try to reach agreement on a reasonable timetable, rather than demand completion by a certain date. Sometimes, delays are completely beyond the contractor’s control, e.g. weather, shipping schedules, labor shutdowns, or unknown site conditions. Allow some flexibility for unforeseen problems.

One thing to insist on though, is that the contractor dedicate himself to the job until total completion. Sometimes, contractors play hopscotch between two or three jobs, which creates unnecessary downtime. Even if the job takes longer than initially expected, at least you’ll know the contractor did his best to work steadily without interruption.

Ensure the payment arrangements are spelled out in detail. On small jobs, contractors are usually willing to wait until everything is completed before asking for payment. On larger jobs, over a month’s duration, monthly progress payments are the norm. If the project is financed, bank policy may dictate when advances are made to the contractor.

Discuss the change order procedure – it’s an area ripe for dispute. Make all changes subject to the architect’s recommendation and the owner’s approval. When extras are claimed, insist on invoices from the subcontractors or suppliers for verification. Establish the general contractor’s markup rates on top of these invoices for overhead and profit.

At the end of the meeting, everyone should know where they stand. If not, reconsider signing the contract. Make sure the contractor you hire is willing to listen. Yet, give him a chance to air his concerns and come to a mutual understanding of each other’s expectations.

Hopefully, you and your contractor will become friends before he moves in. To keep the rapport going, arrange regular weekly meetings – with coffee and donuts, of course – to discuss progress, problems and changes. If your blood pressure goes through the roof, don’t take pills, just keep thinking how great things will look when it’s finished!

PRECONSTRUCTION MEETING AGENDA

1. Construction Schedule
2. Payment procedures: progress, final, change orders
3. Holdbacks for deficiencies and 10% as per the Construction Lien Act
4. Working hours and working days
5. Utility shutdowns: power, phone, cable, gas, water – 24 hours notice
6. Safety and security
7. Delivery times, material storage and disposal
8. Permits and inspections required by the municipality
9. Liability insurance for personal injury and property damage
10. Salvaged items – owner has first right of refusal
11. Emergencies – phone and pager numbers
12. Noise and dust control, daily clean-up
13. Phone and bathroom for contractor’s use
14. Warranties