What would you have done differently with your Builder / Trades?

I am keen to hear from people who have assigned a Builder / PM to build parts or all of a project for them in the past (or at present). Or dealt with Trades directly......

What are the lessons learnt?

Some examples:

How differently would you have negotiated the details of your tender to avoid things such as variations?

How would you have negotiated your timeline clauses?

How would you have supervised progress / quality of works and organised schedule of payment?

What would you have done differently to avoid small or large disputed and if they did happen how would you have handled it?

If you have dealt mainly with tradies, what did you find useful in managing them?

 

How differently would you have negotiated the details of your tender to avoid things such as variations?
Know what you want upfront and ensure you don't change your plans from what was submitted to tender. I try to get a friend with fresh eyes to run over them before I finalise. Everything you change post tender will be $$$.

How would you have negotiated your timeline clauses?
I didnt.

How would you have supervised progress / quality of works and organised schedule of payment?
I check the build at least twice a week and take lots of photos. I find it really good to sign up to dropbox or onedrive (200gb storage free atm for select users), and I store all my photos there. Most of the time the builder has been good at fixing things.

If you have dealt mainly with tradies, what did you find useful in managing them?
The tradies on my job are pretty good. They are pretty open and willing to fix things when the inevitable mistakes are made. I always treat them with respect and we work together, rather than emphasising that they work for me. It's a fine line though.

 

I would have held back 10k on final payment