The reality of self building – how to manage your project without the guesswork

Self-building to save money is a smart move. Until it isn’t.

Some of my clients are now choosing to self-manage their builds to save on costs. I get it – the economy is tough. But ‘going it alone’ shouldn’t mean ‘guessing as you go.’ You can book me by the hour for the ‘ad-hoc’ occasional assistance stuff that keeps a project on track while on site.

Navigating self-managed construction projects with professional support

I’ve always offered two core service packages for my clients to choose from:

Basic Service Package: This is for me to look after everything until the minimum council approvals are submitted, often just Planning Permission and Building Regulations. After that, the Client takes a more active role and works with a Building Contractor to get things built. This is a cheaper service.

Advance Service Package: This is for me to continue with full project management services after Planning Permission and Building Regulations, such as obtaining estimates from Principal Contractors and helping to manage the project with a building contract on site, with the appointed Building Contractor until completion. This is a more expensive service.

Choosing the right level of oversight for self-managed construction projects is vital to ensure that the initial vision is translated into a high-quality reality.

The risks of removing the principal contractor

I think problems can sometimes occur with this approach because when a professional Principal Contractor is removed from a project, Clients are exposed to:

• Correctly interpretating designs and drawings.
• Sequencing issues, not understanding what gets built, when and by who.
• Material costs changing daily, which affects budgets, especially if the original timescales drift because they have other commitments to attend to as well.
• Not understanding where to put scaffolding, so it has to be reconfigured half way through a job.
• Not using reliable trades that can sometimes mean work needs to be done twice.

Detailed designs and drawings are essential for project success, and I like to think I help deliver with this. Success in self-managed construction projects relies on technical accuracy; even with our Basic Service Package, our designs and drawings are very clear and there should be no guesswork or making things up as they go along – everything is absolutely nailed down.

Even when Clients move towards the Basic Service Package, I am able to offer support through the build phase with ‘ad hoc’ occasional services for a few hours here and there, such as helping with:

• Programmes and timescales.
• Identifying sequencing and trade packages before work starts.
• When to place material orders.
• Regular reminders to read the drawings and specification.
• Technical questions.
• Checking setting out.
• Site inspections at key stages to check things are being built correctly before being covered over.
• Advice on what not to do.

Whatever service package our Clients choose, we are on hand to support them to make sure things are built correctly, and as they wanted in the first place.