10 Reasonable Questions to ask a Prospective Contractor for building your house

1. Before finalizing and acquiring a contractor for building your house you need to create a list of eligible contractors that you are aware off through close friends and colleagues. Make sure the list includes minimum of 3 and a maximum of 5 contractors

2. For each shortlisted contractor, do identify the following basic attributes

            a. Years of his and his teams experience

            b. educational qualification

            c. number of similar houses he has built in the past

            d. how many people work in his team

            e. how many references he can provide for who will vouch for his work

3. Do visit one or two house sites / projects completed by each shortlisted contractor. This may mean some good amount of time but it is worth the time and money you will be investing in your house.

4. Do evaluate each contractor’s rates along with professional architect or a civil engineer to make sure the rates abide by the current market trends.

5. Prepare a matrix or a comparative chart of all your queries regarding the background, skill set and reputability of the contractor. Value each on a scale of 0 to 5 where 0 means least impressive and 5 denotes the highest value.

6. Do ask each contractor to submit their work profile along with few pictures of the past work. Collect them in form of hard copies so that it’s convenient for you to compare it with other contractors.

7. It is always a good practice to ask the contractor for all the required licenses & insurances required for practicing as a contractor in India.

8. Choose a contractor who is helpful and has an attitude of systematic work. He should have a proven record of his work with past 3 projects or more.

9. Do not select or finalize on the contractor as per the lowest fee quoted. Use all the above mentioned pointers for making a more evolved and thoughtful decision for building your dream home.

10. Finally don’t take a decision in haste or under any pressure. Evaluate and decide upon the best contractor for your house building project. Be actively involved in every stage of construction and research enough to work along with the contractor.

In case of any crucial doubt about the construction technique / procedure then do consider taking help from a professional architect or civil engineer.