How To Deal With Changes During Your Home Renovation Project

Undoubtedly there will be at least a few, if not many changes during the course of your renovation project

. Often these are due to owners' changes of mind as he sees the project materialize or due to legitimately unknown conditions which tend to crop up during most any renovation project. Be aware that there are always unknowns that nobody could have anticipated in a renovation whether it is a home renovation project or a commercial one.

With this in mind it is extremely important that you, the homeowner, never, ever give any instructions during the construction process to anyone other than the general contractor who is responsible for the overall project's completion and cost control. In addition you should ONLY give instructions to the contractor or his designated representative in writing. Here's why: If a subcontractor or other worker on the project approaches you, the homeowner, with a problem or situation which will require a change or additional work (or cost) and you verbally approve it "to keep things moving" you are asking for trouble. IF you do this you will eventually get a bill for the added work and/or materials and you will have no opportunity to argue about the amount or even whether or not the work was necessary. The workman or sub who asks you really doesn't care because he is likely getting paid hourly. He will just turn the time and costs in to his boss, eventually the boss will invoice the general contractor and it's usually too late to argue.

This sort of situation has cost homeowners a great deal of money and has been the cause of many lawsuits. The innocent act of verbally approving a change can be expensive. Typically the party asking you for an OK will not mention additional cost or time. Instead he will emphasize the necessity for a quick decision to keep him working and to complete the job. The problems inherent in this scenario are surprisingly easy to avoid but it takes a solid game plan and good self discipline to properly handle.

As a homeowner dealing with a renovation project you can absolutely count on being faced with this situation or something similar.

The bottom line here is that if a change is needed (even one which should save you money) it is extremely important that you communicate with the general contractor (the party with whom you have a written agreement) in written form. This can be a hand written memo, an email, a fax or a typed letter. Any form of communication that will result in a "paper trail" or provide documentation that can be used later as proof will suffice. In this document or memo you must describe the work agreed to be performed, acknowledge that it is a change to the original agreement and include some estimate of the additive or deductive costs anticipated. At the time this will seem like a lot of hassle but rest assured that the process will end up saving you much bigger problems and hassles later. Verbal agreements are fine but never forget that "selective amnesia" is rampant when it comes to money and construction projects.

How To Deal With Changes During Your Home Renovation Project

By: Hal Herndon

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