12 Best Things I love about Hiring a Contractor

1.  Knowing the exact cost.  Given the contractor will take care of labor & materials, has seen and thoroughly inspected the site and has a complete set of design drawings/details, they will be able to submit a quotation with the exact cost.  There will be no surprise add-ons that can hurt your budget.  

2.  All in / Overall savings.  Speaking of exact cost, I highly recommend clients to let the contractor take care of everything: labor AND materials.  There is this false notion of saving (unless you own a hardware store) money through buying the materials yourselves.  Why? For one, how many times do you need to travel to the hardware store to get these materials?  If not, how much are you paying for delivery?  Secondly, since most contractors already have a credit line or relationship with some suppliers, they get special discounts when purchasing in bulk.  So, even if they add profit to these materials, it will turn out to be the same cost as you buying retail.  Bill of materials?  Come on, this doesn't really stand for anything.  What's important is following the design and getting the desired quality and finish.  I think the bill of materials works against than for you.  What if the contractor finished all the materials and has some work left?  You can't buy 3pcs of nails, 1/4 piece of plywood or 1 meter worth of wallpaper.

3.  Miscellaneous services.  Aside from having delivery of materials as one of their unspoken scope of services.  They will also take care of the trash.  When cleaning and hauling of garbage is mentioned in a contract, please don't expect them to use the floor polisher or leave your house squeaky clean.  What this means is, they will tidy up and take out all the mess caused by the construction.  Most garbage collectors will not pick up rubble, wood, cement, and other construction materials deemed as garbage.  The contractor will take care of collecting, carrying, and disposing of these heavy items for you.  

4. Common sense and on the spot adjustments.  I think one important detail about this is that I usually work with contractors I've known and worked with for a long time.  So they basically know my style and how I think.  These are usually things that do not affect the overall look or functionality.  For example, we're making a new cabinet and an outlet I failed to see is in the way.  They will prep this outlet for relocation then ask me where we to put it instead of just covering it with the new cabinet.  Funny story...One day, I did a site visit to check ongoing works.  I was baffled at the closet because the front/doors were beige while the sides were black.  The beige was spot on the color swatch I left, but the black?!??  I spoke to the painter and he said that was on the drawing.  I looked at the drawing and saw it was the shadow cast on the side of the cabinet!!!  Hahahahaha!  I immediately scanned through all the drawings and left SPECIFIC instructions about all the paint.  Can you imagine if the painter was left  with no supervision?  All the cabinets and walls would have built-in shadows! 

5.  Coordination.  The contractor coordinates almost everything...with owner, designer, workers, suppliers, security guard, admin, etc.  This is primarily because they need full cooperation of all to be able to stick to the schedule and work efficiently.  Contractors are used to handling projects and are usually organized enough to monitor the many facets of managing construction.  All this responsibility will fall on the client's hands without a contractor.  The problem is, how many times will you build a house or renovate?  Compare this with the years of experience a contractor has.  

6.  Warranty.  Most contractors offer warranty and service for defective works within a certain amount of time after turnover.  You may call them for back jobs or adjustments.  This can either be free or charged a minimal cost depending on the cause.  Chances are, they may still have some left over paint or materials from doing your house or other projects.  This allows them to render service for free or charge just enough to pay the worker's salary for that day.  Aside from this, you are also guaranteed that they will finish the work.  Reputable contractors will never leave a project hanging or unfinished.    

7.  Freebies.  If you're lucky, you're probably getting a lot of freebies without you knowing it.  And even sometimes, if you ask nicely and behave, contractors will do some extra work without charging you...as long as it does not incur extra cost on their end.  This is best when workers finish their assigned job before the work day ends and there's left over materials that will otherwise be thrown away ;)      

8. Behind the scenes problems.  They will handle almost all construction-related problems for you.  I guess one of the hardest things is managing workers.  If you hire workers and they don't show up the following day, construction will most probably stop.  Contractors have several sets of workers so that if one is absent, they can send a different person to continue the job.  They take care of the workers' needs: transportation, food, vale, and even assisting on personal problems.  So unless you wanna be part of other people's druhmah, best to let your contractor handle this. 

9.  Sticking to the schedule.  Part of the contract is the duration of the project.  Estimated number of working days and working hours are stated here.  Clauses are sometimes included: penalty for delayed work, must allow overtime, delays caused by 3rd party, etc.  Another reason I have for recommending getting an All In or pakyaw contract is not worrying about the worker's progress and work speed.  I often tell my clients not to worry if they see a worker dilly-dallying because it won't affect the cost and we'll take care of it to make sure we finish on time.  The contractor is an expert on this because who doesn't want to finish a project and move on to the next?  Project delays cost more money.  Also, workers under contractors usually work at the right speed because they are assured of a next project or constant pay.

10. A 3rd opinion.  After finalizing the design with the designer, the contractor can sometimes chime in on implementation and construction ideas.  That is their forte, and this usually pops up when budget and other restrictions are discussed.  Where can we cut corners to save money?  What finishes can we use to meet the deadline?  Will it fit in the elevator?  Is it safe to ship?  How many people can work at the same time in such a small space?  Different contractors have different experiences, specializations and strategies.  Therefore, they have different ideas and methods.

11.  They are organized.  Good contractors are very organized.  They do proper costing, project analysis, schedules, purchasing, hiring, and overall management.  This is to assure proper implementation of the project, avoiding hiccups and delays.  Look into their list of clients and how long they've been in the business.  If a contractor does not have these qualities, they'll probably be in debt, have changed profession, or facing lawsuits.  I sometimes feel bad for clients who suffer and put up with unreliable contractors just because they have no other options or this is the only one they can afford.  In the end, they spend more...on redoing or finishing the project themselves :(  

12.  Stress-free.  Once you hire the contractor that you trust and have all these wonderful qualities and services, you are definitely in good hands and stress-free.  All you have to do is, well, nothing.  Go about your daily life, period...or maybe answer a couple of calls every now and then to confirm some things from your designer and contractor ;)