Self-Build Diary of a Private House – Part II'

Part A' Of the self-construction trilogy, I wrote about the planning stage. If you haven't read Part A, I recommend doing this now. We are now moving on to part B of the project. Preparations for construction.

We finished the previous section with a paper outlining our future home in our hands. Some people might be able to take the plan and imagine it as a house. I was not blessed with this ability. I highly recommend asking the planners to also present a 3D diagram of the finished house so that if, like me, you can't imagine the house from the plan, you'll at least have an idea of what it will look like. There is also an option, for a fee, to order a simulation of the house as it will be after construction. Such a simulation can be done at several levels. These can be individual pictures of the house's interior and exterior as you choose. It could be a video of a tour of the house, and the most exciting thing is a simulation within a phone app. With this simulation, you can truly "wander" through the non-existent house. The price for preparing such a simulation as of July 2022 is about 10,000 shekels, but I assume this price will gradually decrease. I assume there is also an option for a more detailed simulation (with furniture) and a less detailed one.

After the house design, a construction project management method must be chosen.

Three options for managing the construction project

• Self-build – You hire professionals, sign contracts with them, and make sure to pay them. You can also integrate a construction supervisor into this method who will oversee the quality of construction by the professionals.
• Prime contractor – You will conduct a tender among several contractors who received the plans and bill of quantities and select the contractor to carry out the construction. You will sign a contract with this contractor, including the price and payment terms until you receive the apartment key. In fact, this is somewhat similar to purchasing an apartment from a contractor in apartment construction, except for a bank guarantee (lending bank), which is not customary in building a single house as opposed to an apartment building.
• Project manager Also sometimes called a construction supervisor – in this method, you choose a project manager who is responsible for tendering professionals for each stage of construction (framing, electrical, plumbing, air conditioning, aluminum (windows), etc.). You pay a salary to the project manager, who is responsible for managing the execution personnel and the quality of work, and at the same time, you pay each professional according to their work.

Advantages and disadvantages of each method

Self-build

You have a house plan in hand and are starting to call various contractors to have them build each stage of the house. In my opinion, this approach is only suitable for those with construction experience who know suppliers of raw materials and contractors. If you fit this description and might even build part of the house yourself, then there’s a chance you’ll be able to reduce construction costs. In my opinion, the chances are slim, and assuming you have some knowledge but construction isn’t your profession, this is a very risky alternative—financially, in terms of work quality, and in terms of timelines. But yes, there is a chance to save about 15% that a project manager or general contractor would have cost.

Prime contractor

You have plans and a bill of quantities that detail everything that will be in your house. You contact several contractors, give them the plans, meet with them, and receive a quote for execution. At this stage, you choose the contractor that you believe is the most suitable in terms of quality versus execution. I highly recommend including personal chemistry in your considerations as well. You will be spending quite a bit of time together, even if it seems to you that your role is only to transfer money and wait for the house. I highly recommend that the designer also be a partner in choosing the contractor. The designer will also need to work with the contractor to ensure that the design is accurately executed. Furthermore, it is likely that the designer has more construction experience than you, so their opinion and impression are important. Another point worth considering is hiring a construction supervisor to act as a 'guard for the guards." Someone who is not affiliated with the contractor and ensures the quality of construction. With this method, you should have more peace of mind. Your role, so to speak, is only to pay the contractor according to the construction progress and to choose flooring, toilets, etc. Various risks, such as the rising cost of building materials, are supposed to be borne by the contractor, and to do so, they will naturally price the construction slightly higher than the other two methods from the outset. Sometimes the contractor will also link payments Construction input index. In any case, in self-build construction there is no bank accompaniment, so under no circumstances, no matter how much you fear indexation, should you make advance payments or pay for things that have not been done.

Project Manager / Construction Supervisor

In this method we have chosen, we hire a project manager who also serves as the construction supervisor. The project manager is responsible for conducting tenders or selecting, through any other method, the appropriate professionals for each stage of construction (framing, plastering, flooring, electrical, air conditioning, plumbing, etc.) and the appropriate building material suppliers for each stage (steel, concrete, aluminum windows, etc.). The project manager is paid by us based on the contract we signed with them. When they select professionals and they carry out the work, we pay them according to milestones set by the project manager. The responsibility for the quality of construction lies with the project manager, who should possess (at least) three important qualities:

1. Construction experience Or extensive knowledge in construction. For example, a former contractor, a practical engineer, or a construction engineer.
2. Good acquaintance with professionals and suppliers in the area where the house is being built.
3. Management ability.

Let's pause for a moment on the topic of management capability. The issue of management capability is not trivial at all. A deep understanding of construction processes and seizing opportunities can be invaluable, both financially and in terms of time. An average project manager will manage construction as a linear process with a fixed order of operations, resulting in a house. A good project manager will know how to seize opportunities and perform tasks concurrently, even if it sometimes appears illogical from the outside. Two examples from our home:

1. A little after they poured the top floor ceiling and before they did the interior and exterior plastering, I saw the seven air conditioner units on the skeleton roof. I asked the project manager for an explanation, and he replied: I ordered a crane truck to erect a few block platforms upstairs. There was space left on the truck. Instead of ordering a crane later specifically for the air conditioners and paying for additional transport, I combined the transports, and in general, air conditioners can be bought cheaper in winter than in summer, when we will finish construction.
2. They haven't even finished the foundation yet, and there was already a huge pile of garden soil in the yard to be spread in the garden after construction is completed (the house itself sits more or less on limestone). I again asked what the deal was, and the answer was that on another project, it was necessary to excavate and remove excellent soil. Instead of paying for removal on the second project which was further away, and then paying us for the purchase and transport of soil, a win-win combination was made between the two projects of the same manager.

How to choose a project manager? Like any professional who on one hand costs a lot of money and on the other hand has great responsibility, the choice is not simple. Those who are not involved in construction find it difficult to judge the quality of work. What you can do is ask to speak with previous clients and ask them about a few topics:

1. Were they satisfied with the communication style and construction style? Different people have different ways of communicating, and construction is a year-long project full of passions. The project manager may also find themselves acting as a marriage counselor.
2. Are they satisfied with the final product, the house?
3. Are the engineer and the architect satisfied with the construction process and the construction results?
4. Did you stay within the construction budget? If not, do you know why?

managed our construction Ronen Kolan Tel: 053-340-6115. I recommend looking into this before starting construction in the North. In the next chapter, I will write about the desired relationship in the client-planner-project manager triangle, about making decisions on construction methods, and about the start of the construction process.

Note, the term self-build was mentioned above as a form of managing the construction project itself. This might be confusing because in terms of a mortgage or taxation, it doesn't matter how you choose to build; it will still be defined as "self-build.".

Beyond Part III – Construction Methods

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