Tag: construction (Page 10 of 12)

Average Irish Construction Costs 2011

October 18, 2011 / aoife / 8 Comments

Construction Costs in Recession Ireland and Useful Tools to Estimate Your Construction Costs are two of the most popular posts in our blog.

This time we bring you the Average Irish Construction Costs for 2011 as published by Bruce Shaw in their latest Handbook 2011. Bruce Shaw is one of Europe’s leading quantity surveying practices, they provide construction cost management, construction project management and consultancy services.

The average construction costs table is generated using Bruce Shaw’s Cost Database and sets out typical building construction costs.

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The basic hourly wage rates for Craftman and General Operatives are approximately 5% lower than 2008 rates.

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The Society of Chartered Surveyors publishes every year a guide to rebuilding costs in Ireland. This guide is intended to assist in insuring a house and the costs included are based on building rates as of March 2011.

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Check out our other articles in this series.

Do I Need a Contract for My Project?

July 22, 2011 / aoife / 1 Comment

On further investigation, the question divides into two parts:

Am I required by law to have a contract?
If not, should I have a contract anyway – or as it’s sometimes expressed: ‘can I get away without one’?

Am I required by law?

I should perhaps start by saying I always find it a little strange that anyone contemplating having expensive construction work carried out should even consider the possibility of not wanting to know precisely what the terms and conditions are. It is always a source of puzzlement that parties to jobs with a value of millions should apparently find the cost of less than £50 for some formal contract documentation to be prohibitive.

There is no overarching ‘legislative’ requirement, in the sense that a general law exists requiring all parties to have a specific type of agreement.

Should I have a contract?

The simple answer is an emphatic ‘yes’. But the truth is that you probably do anyway.

Let us look at what a contract represents. A contract typically will result when one party agrees to do something for another in return for ‘consideration’ – usually expressed in monetary form. Essentially it is simply a set of ‘conditional’ promises: “If Party A does this, then Party B will do that” and so on. The terms of that contract may be many and varied, however. They will reflect the complexity of what is being done, and the method used.

It doesn’t have to be written down, but it certainly helps if it is. If the agreement is verbal, then how do you remember what they were, but even if it’s in writing, are the words free of ambiguity, or could they be interpreted differently by someone else?

If a project ends in dispute, this is one of the first problems the person tasked with sorting it out has to resolve. If you have no record of what’s been agreed, how can you know what to do if something goes wrong?

Summary

If you buy a TV, car, garden shed, or even an existing house, you can usually go and see it and look around before deciding whether to proceed. If, however, you are buying a new building, the chances are you are buying into a concept: a design idea which has yet to be realised. To many Clients, this is a leap of faith; building is not their core business, so they may not have the technical capability to visualise what is being described to them, despite advances in computer models and 3D software.

For the uninitiated, or even the experts, this can be a difficult task. Having a contract and knowing what the terms are at least brings some certainty. So why anyone would want to attempt it without one is a mystery.

by Roland Finch
NBS Technical Author

via NBS

Looking For a Good Builder in Wexford?

March 21, 2011 / aoife / 1 Comment

If you are considering having building work done it is important to take time to make sure you choose the right builder.

Here are some tips that will help you to make the right choice and avoid problems:

1. Know what you want. Be as specific as you can. Prepare a detailed brief and, ideally, drawings that can show your intentions. If you hire an architect he/she will be able to prepare a set of tender documents that will include the full specification of the works and the tender drawings.

2. Ask for help from respected trade bodies. Contact your local builder’s organization and ask for a list of registered members. Making sure builders are a part of a respected trade organisation, means that they have passed certain membership requirements and standards.
The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) represents the Irish construction industry.

HomeBond is a guarantee scheme established in 1978 by the Construction Industry Federation and the Irish Home Builders Association, in conjunction with the Department of the Environment. Homebond provides structural defect insurance, smoke penetration and water ingress cover and cover for loss of deposits or stage payments.

3. Ask for recommendations . Get in touch with friends and family who have recently had some work done and check if they were happy with their builder.

4. Prepare a shortlist . Find at least three builders who look like they will be able to do the work you need done in a professional manner. Ask the builders for references from previous customers and check them.

5. Get at least three quotes. Invite the builders to tender for your works. Send them all your tender documents detailing the works as much as possible. When you receive the quotes make sure you compare like with like. Does the quote show attention to detail with a breakdown of the project and materials? If little attention to detail is shown, or you can’t really understand how the builder came up with a figure, this should raise concerns.

6. Agree on the work in writing. At this stage you have done all your homework and you are ready to proceed with the builder you selected. Agree on the work and document it. Use a contract. If you are working with a RIAI architect he/she will be able to advice about the best type of RIAI contract for your works. You can also download a sample contract template here.

If the builder does not want to commit to a written contract, don’t do business with them.
Having an agreement or contract in writing ensures that both parties are clear on exactly what is required, and is committed to the work.

7. Correct Insurance. Ensure that the builder’s public liability insurance is comprehensive and valid. If you are remodelling or extending your own house contact your own insurance company to check how the building works affect your own insurance policies.

8. Agree a payment plan. Make sure everything is clarified before works start, especially regarding payments and when they should be made. Never pay the full cost of the project up front and avoid paying deposits.

9. Be careful of “VAT-free” deals. Any trader wanting payment in cash is usually doing so in order to avoid paying tax, and also to avoid responsibility in the event that anything goes wrong with the work. Without a proof of payment you may not be able to claim the costs you have incurred.

If any problems arise during the building work, talk with your builder about them straight away and make sure he fully understands your instructions.

Make yourself available for the people doing the work to contact you, so that they can raise any issues that arise and avoid any costly mistakes.

A good builder will belong to a Trade Association, undergo continuous training, have public liability insurance, be happy to give you an estimate in writing and will not ask for unusual payment methods.