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To avoid any unnecessary expenses I would go yourself the first visit.I would bring a structural engineer as opposed to an architect. .
I know a few people from different trades and with their help would be able to get the place fixed up cheaper than getting in a contractor to do the lot, though I know that it would take longer to do.
Have a look at the pdf on this link, although canadian it seems to cover alot of things to look out for: [broken link removed]
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Tie them to a contract, with start and end dates.
Excellent advice onq...but I might offer a differing view on this section.
In our observation contractors tend to charge a huge premium when they are "tied " into a contract.
For a small job like a residential refurb, a looser arrangement is often much more cost-effective on both sides.
It is important you trust your builder (based on good references) and that he clears any potential overspends with you first.
If he is well supervised (?weekly) by the architect...that should help also.
This service will cost but should save on the contract premium...in my experience.
There will be final bills for "overspends/extras" but this should not come as a surprise to the client.
It's a fair point you're making ONQ, though I hadn't planned on going to an architect really, I wouldn't have thought they were necessary if I was just getting the house refurbished and wasn't increasing the house size anywhere (which could be an option if the quote for the building work of an extension as well as the refurb is too high for me to manage).
Actually after watching Room to Improve on RTE last night it didn't really endear me to architects.
Ok Onq...I take it all back!
You're right I'm wrong!
Lock up the contract good an tight, whatever it costs.
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