We have been giving out a lot of advice about how to go about building a custom home. As you read through our posts, we often discuss hiring a custom home project manager or consultant. This is because, as I am sure you noticed, the process is very involved. For someone with no construction experience, it can become quite overwhelming. This “manager” is your eyes and ears on the project, something that has only your interests in mind and ensures the project stays on schedule and your design dream comes true.
The largest benefit of having a custom home project manager is that this person is the one taking all the phone calls from the contractors while the home is being built. If you have a full-time job and think you are going to be able to manage the build on your own, you may quickly find out that managing the build is far from something that you can do on a part-time basis. There are constantly new decisions that have to be made and made immediately or the project risks running over schedule and worse, over budget.
What Does a Custom Home Project Manager Do?
As we noted above, they are going to oversee the entire project for you. Some of the basic duties of the project manager are:
- Assisting you in the design process to get the most value for your budget
- Obtaining and managing all permits and filings for the project
- Coordinating with all parties from start to finish
- Collecting bids from contractors
- Supervising daily construction
- Working with building inspectors and contractors to ensure all local building codes are followed
- Directing inspections for finalized lending
In most cases, the project manager is going to have extensive contract knowledge. They do not need to be the best contractor to hold this position, but they should know the process and be able to spot irregularities or shortcuts that a contractor is taking to have costs on their end (and yes, far too many contractors do this).
For your part, you really just need to be open and honest about your plan and budget to help the project manager achieve the final goal of delivering your dream home to you. Even though they oversee the project daily, there will still be times when your input is needed. You will more than likely have regular recap and update meetings scheduled to keep you informed and get your input regarding the project’s progress.
If you want to learn more about how a custom home project manager can help your custom build, call us at 888-402-4180.