The residential general contractor’s primary responsibility in any construction project is to facilitate the general contracting of a client’s project from start to finish by orchestrating all the labor, material, and equipment.
The residential general contractor is the single point of responsibility for the construction of the house and are accountable to the owner for the execution of the design and construction documents.
From the design phase to project delivery, the residential general contractor should be conducting business in the best interest of their client and project goals.
Through various methods of collaboration and mediation, general contractors work through the conceptual design ideas with the design team addressing any issues of the house’s constructability.
They are responsible to all stakeholders for the compliance and conformity of the quality control of the building project.
Each project has its special needs and challenges that are attributed to the emotional aspects of having a personal property built or renovated.
This article will look at the unique challenges and needs of the Houston residential general contractor for the different types of new home construction, home remodeling, and historical restoration.
The Various Construction Sectors That Require Residential General Contractor
New Home Construction
There are several different ground-up delivery methods utilized by your Houston residential general contractor to integrate their services into the needs of their client.
These 3 delivery methods have various advantages and disadvantages for the client, depending on their needs.
The first is the design to bid, the traditional method of hiring an architect to prepare home plans for a residential general contractor to prepare a bid.
The second is the design-to-build method, which is the owner hiring the building contractor to prepare the design plans and facilitate the construction of the new home construction.
The last alternative is when the owner hires the residential general contractor to manage the new home construction.
Design to Bid
This is a traditional process of the owners directly hiring architects or home designers and having Houston builders bid on the plans when complete. This home delivery model has proven to not always represent the owner’s best interest.
This method of home building can lead to change orders resulting from design errors and omissions. This method can often lead to friction between the designers and building contractors over issues resulting from the owners’ disappointment in the finished product outcome.
Design to Build
The design-build method of project delivery has gained a greater amount of acceptance due to the benefits for the owners. This process involves the owner hiring the general contractor as the sole responsible party to the owner for the entire project.
The residential general contractors develop a design team by directly hiring the architect and engineers for the home’s plan design and construction documents. To learn more about this visit our design to build approach.
The design to build advantages of this process for the owner is numerous. They include that the owner maintains greater control of the design process, the owners have one person responsible for the entire process and the process allows the owner to manage the home construction budget more time effectively.
This method also allows the owner to benefit from the design value engineering efforts that result from positive design collaboration.
Project Management
The project management method of home construction provides the owner with a higher level of direct control over the entire project. It allows them to make decisions about the process, materials, and contractors that they would like to work with.
The residential general contractors represent the owner as the project manager responsible for the day-to-day construction affairs, administrative responsibilities, and cost management of the project. The owner acts as the project executive making strategic and important project decisions. To learn more about this method visit project management process.
The owner accepts the majority of the total construction cost risk in this method. This process is attractive for owners that want to remain in control of the entire process of the house construction but do not have the time or staff to execute the required on-site and off-site tasks necessary to execute the project.
In effect, the owner is carrying out the role of the builder through the efforts of the general contractor.
Major Home Renovation
When it comes to home remodeling or a home renovation, the 3 delivery methods previously discussed apply as well. Construction documents and a home design plan are required to be prepared to execute construction.
The degree of these documents can be as extensive or less depending on the scope of work for the home renovation or home remodeling project. The following home remodeling projects require a Houston builder.
Whole-Home Remodeling
There are many things to consider prior to undertaking a whole home renovation. The design process starts with a well-documented as-built drawing of the existing home. This includes mapping critical underground plumbing and essential mechanical requirements.
This document serves as a template for the balance of the home design changes. You can learn more about a whole home renovation.
Whole-home remodeling projects present some serious challenges for owners and Houston residential general contractors identifying and reserving for unseen problems that can materialize during construction.
If the proper expectations are not developed before these types of issues are discovered, they can erode the trust between building contractors and owners.
Kitchen Remodeling
Kitchen remodeling presents a unique problem for owners and building contractors because there are so many choices and decisions to be made, that it can be overwhelming to the owner if the selection process is not well-managed and organized.
Kitchen remodeling is one of the most popular remodeling projects and one of the most expensive home remodeling projects. To learn more about this visit kitchen remodeling.
After the construction budget has been agreed upon, it pays to start the selection process with the most expensive components and work yourself down in the order of expense. This priority allows you to discover a number of things early in the process of design.
First that the allowance created for each component will be sufficient.
Secondly, if you fall in love with a particular product that significantly changes the kitchen design theme, it is best to discover this earlier than later.
The kitchen remodeling contractor can facilitate the entire selection process if the owner does not have a decorator.
Bathroom Remodeling
Major bathroom renovations can be challenging because they are like an iceberg. So much of the cost associated with a total redesign is unseen by the untrained eye. When the owner elects to relocate the position of toilets, tubs, and showers, this usually means that much of the bathroom floor will require demolition and replacement for the underground waste lines.
When relocation can be redesigned to accommodate the new floor plan, the results will have less impact on the length of time and the size of the budget. Care must also be taken when not replacing plumbing fixture values and attempting to match plumbing trims to old values.
This will usually end up being more expensive than if the owner would have completely replaced them. More information on bathroom remodeling by visiting bathroom remodeling.
Home Addition
Garage Conversation
Garage conversions are a large category in the home remodeling industry. They can span the DIY paneling of the garage and furnish it with a pool table and big screen TV to add a second-floor living quarter above the garage. We will discuss the later scope.
Care should always be taken when considering modifying or expanding the envelope of the existing structure. It is always worth the effort to inspect your deed restrictions, the property survey, and the local building enforcement department for restrictive covenants that could sink your project before the Houston builder can begin.
Room Addition
Room additions are also a cottage industry and come in many project shapes and forms. We will discuss major home additions that require a higher level of design skill to blend with the house’s architectural continuity. The blending of existing space with the newly appointed space requires many variables and a much greater skill level than designing from scratch.
There are structural concerns to evaluate like matching rooflines and foundation jointing, to evaluating carefully. Existing infrastructure HVAC capacity and plumbing underground are also factors that require to be assessed. In major home additions, care should be taken to calculate the electrical loads to determine if the current service can meet the home’s new demands and read more about room additions.
Repurposing Space
Repurposing space may be the most challenging of all home renovations. It requires a deep understanding of structural framing and redistributing of loads. The architectural demands are for opening up room areas by removing walls and raising ceilings. These demands can test the best of home designers and Houston builders’ expertise.
Repurposing space can overcome an owner’s largest complaints about an existing home. It is often difficult to see the potential in a space when there are walls and windows that restrict your imagination. General contracting with competent design-build general contractors is well worth their fee for the contribution that they can make in revitalizing your space.
Historical Restoration
Historical Restoration is a very specialized art form of home renovation. There can be various degrees of historical restoration required in a project. The strictest form requires various product components to be specifically fabricated to match existing pieces. This process is time-consuming and expensive.
More common is a demand for a hybrid model of historical restoration. This is a process of restoring specific features and completely replacing severely damaged component systems and replacing them with a cost-effective substitute. If properly planned and executed the hybrid method can enhance the authenticity of historical restoration. Learn more about this technique by visiting historical restoration.
These are the home construction industry sectors that justify and require qualified and competent general contractors, custom builders, and remodeling contractors to be hired if you want the best outcome. The more complex the project, the more the need for an accredited professional general contractor.
