Pre-construction

Congratulations! You have made the decision to build a new house. Now you must decide where you want to live and purchase the perfect building lot. It has to be in a great neighborhood, close to where you work and where you want your children to attend school. Is the property served by public utilities or will you need to have a perc²⁰ test performed and a well²¹ drilled? Is their an architectural review committee that will need to approve your house plans? What are the zoning restrictions, building set-backs, future development plans for the area? Will access be a problem during construction or bad weather? Have you seen the property during a heavy rain? Be sure that you take the time to consider all of the related aspects of the property you are considering.

Next, you will need to determine exactly what you need and want in your new home. Do you want a rancher, split level, or 2-story²² house? How many bedrooms and baths do you need? Will it have an island in the kitchen, a home office, or a large family room? Homebuilding books and magazines are a great source of design ideas - not only things that you will want to incorporate, but also those that you will definitely not want to include. You can also get ideas by perusing online house plan collections, specialized plan books, and homebuilding software, which often contains hundreds of sample floor plans and elevations.

You may also want to seriously consider meeting with one or more architects or designers at this stage. While their fees will typically represent about 8 to 15% of the cost of your home, a good architect may very well be able to help you save more money than they charge for their services. After all, designing and overseeing the construction of buildings is their job. Depending upon your personal abilities and characteristics, your available time, your wants and needs, and your current circumstances, designing and building the home that you really want may very well require the knowledge and experience of a professional.

After you finally settle on a suitable design, you will need to identify all of the materials and finishes²³ that you want to go along with it. There are literally thousands of items that go into the construction of a new home and every single one of them must be specified by someone. Those that you specify clearly enough for others to understand may actually end up the way you want them. However, those that are not specifically mentioned or clearly defined will almost certainly wind up being something other than you thought they would be. So, in order to get the things that you want the way you really want them, be sure that you put everything - and I do mean EVERYTHING - in writing and in as much detail as necessary, to create clear, complete, and accurate construction plans and specifications. Besides their importance in building your new house, these documents will be needed in order to create an accurate budget. You cannot realistically expect to know how much your house will cost to build, until you know exactly what you are trying to construct.

Finally, you will need to interview contractors, search for a lender, obtain the required financing, sign contracts with the people that will help you build your dream, and apply for the permits, licenses, bonds²⁴, and zoning variances that are required in order to build in your new local jurisdiction.

During the pre-construction phase you will be making some of your most important decisions. Decisions that you may have to live with for the rest of your life, or at least the life of your mortgage.

http://www.b4ubuild.com/resources/index.shtml#pre-construction

TASKS

1. Complete the following cross-word about pre-construction projects. Compounds are written in one word according to British spelling usage. Definitions are given in Spanish.

1. Give the Spanish equivalents of the following house styles:
   1. Duplex
   2. Rancher
   3. Split-level
   4. Two-storey house
2. Is there any difference between an estimate and a budget?
3. The author recommends the novice project manager to put absolutely all quality specifications in writing. Do you agree? Now, have a look at the “I’d like a swing” cartoon included on unit 14 (page …). Can you identify the origin of the problem?
4. Describe your (ideal) neighbourhood. What setbacks and future development plans can you indentify? Why? Give reasons.
5. Imagine you are either to buy, or to build a house. What are the items you should take into account, before taking such a decision? Why?
6. For future reference, with the help of the Metric Conversion Tables site (http://www.simetric.co.uk/), compile a table with the main metrical Units of Measurement, and their equivalents according to the Imperial²⁵ and the U.S. customary units²⁶ systems.

²⁰. PERC: Property and Environment Research Center ↩

²¹. (Water) well: an artificial excavation or structure for the purpose of withdrawing water ↩

²². Story: AmEng spelling for BrEng storey, a floor or level of a building ↩

²³. Quality Specifications: The proper identification of all the materials and finishes in a pre-construction project ↩

²⁴. Bonds: Home loan applied for when planning to build a home or make major renovations. From the date of bond registration, building must start within 6 months and be completed within 1 year. After the building completion, it may be turned into a normal home mortgage. ↩

²⁵. Imperial System: ↩

²⁶. United States customary units: ↩