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Should you consider managing the project yourself?
Pros and cons of self-management
The main reasons people decide to manage projects themselves is because they believe they can save money, or do a better job themselves.
Some people can manage a building project themselves with good results. It can be very satisfying.
On the downside, managing the project yourself is a huge commitment which will cost you time, may impact on your own work or business, and put stress on your family. And being responsible for the finished house meeting all aspects of the Building Code means that unless you know the building industry pretty well, you could compromise the resulting quality of the house.
You have to organise the inspections, the quality control, and supervise and co-ordinate the labour-only subcontractors and suppliers, keeping in close communication with the builder at these stages. If the builder or subcontractors are kept waiting, they might go off to another job and it can be difficult to get them back. The alternative is to pay them for doing nothing while you organise materials, other subcontractors, or building inspections.
You will also have responsibilities for the health and safety on the building site under the Health and Safety in Employment Act, and for all insurance issues.
In short, when you self-manage, the responsibility for everything that happens on the building site rests with you.
Kyle managed his own project, using a labour-only contract. While it went well in the end, and saved considerable costs, it was a huge time commitment which kept him constantly on the phone, or running around chasing suppliers and contractors. He felt the potential cost to his family and work was too great and next time he would use a building company.
When Roger decided to manage construction of his new home, he started right from the very beginning. He subdivided the section employing a surveyor who did most of the negotiation with the council and paperwork involved in a subdivision. He knew some delays would be inevitable given the pressure on the trades to keep up with demand in the current market. But he kept delays to a minimum by establishing good lines of communication – he made sure the main contractors knew each other and if they didn’t he introduced them. He got them to communicate with each other so that when one finished, the next in line was ready to start, but Roger kept an eye on things to make sure each knew who would be involved at the next stage.
