Two Tips to Keep in Mind if You Want to Get Your House-Building Project Off to a Great Start
If you want to ensure that your house-building project gets off to the best possible start, you may want to keep the following tips in mind.
Get a building surveyor to examine your building plans before you submit them to the local authority
At the very start of this process, you will need to submit your building plans to your local authority. Any problems that the council discover when they scrutinise your plans could make it harder for you to get your project off the ground.
If they come across an issue and inform you that they cannot approve your plans until this issue is rectified, you may find yourself in a very difficult position, particularly if you have already booked subcontractors to work on specific dates, as you may be unable to perform any construction work until you have made the changes to your plans that the council have requested (which could take quite a while, if the requested changes are complex). This could lead to you having to cancel your bookings with the subcontractors.
To minimise the chances of this happening, you should get in touch with a professional in your area that specialises in building surveying, and have them pore over your plans. A building surveyor will be able to use their expertise to identify problems with your plans that you could not.
For example, this type of professional will be very familiar with the codes of practice and building regulations that a residential property must adhere to; as such, if your current set of building plans indicate that the house you intend to build might not meet these legal stipulations, they will be able to spot these errors and help you to correct them before the council examines the plans.
This should increase the chances of the council giving their approval without requesting time-consuming changes, thus ensuring that you can begin your project on the original date. Contact a company that offers building surveying services to learn more.
Make sure the site has the facilities needed to ensure the comfort and safety of the labourers
Another step that you should take to get your project off to a great start is to ensure that the site where your house will be built has all of the facilities needed to keep your labourers both comfortable and safe throughout this process. If you don't, you may find that the speed and quality of the work that these people do declines, because they are not being provided with a functional work environment.
For example, you should make sure that you order enough portaloos and that you set up a portable cabin that the labourers can use as a canteen during their lunch breaks. The latter is particularly important if your project is due to be carried out during a period of extreme weather (such as during a heat wave or a rainstorm), as the labourers will need an indoor space that will allow them to temporarily escape from the elements when the weather conditions become too severe.
Additionally, you may want to order a large, free-standing water cooler for the site so that the labourers can access clean drinking water whenever they need it. This is especially crucial if the site is in a rural region with very few supermarkets.