Straight away, one of the most important aspects of any project is the money. If it weren’t for the money your family wouldn’t be looking to build a home, the builder wouldn’t be building your home, and the previous land-owner wouldn’t have signed the deed to you. It may seem soulless but money is how we got here and money is the first thing I am going to talk about controlling.
One of primary goals of project control is to recognize cash flow and relative productivity. This means, if you have spent half of your budget you should be at a minimum of halfway complete. Though this is not always consistent it should be a goal and it be considered achievable. If you speak with a contractor or builder who doesn’t believe this philosophy or instantly opposes it, steer clear of their services.
Controlling your money is relatively easy as your family is in complete control of the funds (unless bank financed in which case the bank will be having a say too). I am going to focus on the vary basics and if you follow these leads you will find life a decent bit easier:
- Knowing the task-at-hand – Know what your family expects from the contractor/builder
- Creating Structure – Organize and write out the tasks to be performed (or ensure the contractor does so and provides written agreement)
- Structure Verification and Initiation – Work with the contractor/builder to value each take
These tasks seem basic but, I cannot tell you enough how important they are. It is possible to add a greater scope of detail to cost management but these are the bare-bones essentials.
We’ll explore each of these in greater detail at a later time and hopefully make the information a bit more manageable.
Until that time,
J8W
