16 Steps to Successful Project Management

With any Self Build, Project Management is a tricky subject. Should you do it yourself and run the risk of your inexperience causing delays and additional cost, or employ a Project Manager at considerable expense who will undoubtedly put a healthy mark up on every trade he uses and purchase he makes.

Timber Frame is a far simpler method of construction and generally the follow on trades enjoy working on them as access for first fix is very easy. A quick example of the differences between Timber Frame and brick and block is access for running electrical cables and pipework. With a Solo Timber Frame House the panels are 'open cell' meaning there is a very wide cavity for the cables and pipes to sit in. In the case of brick and block the cavity has to be created, meaning lots of messy and awkward cutting of the blockwork which someone has to do. In our experience the electricians and plumbers don't like this task and expect the builders to do it and the builders see it as 'not their job'.

Its often silly tasks such as this that cause delays whilst you negotiate with them or end up doing it yourself.

There is another way, and whilst not foolproof, it has worked for our own developments.

The key is splitting the different tasks into a number of worthwhile contracts and 'risk shifting' or requesting project management of those tasks. By doing this, the individual tradesperson won't add huge fees for project management.

The roof is a good example of what we mean. When we award a contract to a Roofer we ensure that they fully understand what work they are expected to undertake. In their case we normally ask them to manage:

Supply and fitting of tile batten
Supply and fitting of all tiles
Supply of sand and cement
Supply of nails
Supply and fitting of fascia and soffit
Supply and fitting of gutters
Supply and fitting of rainwater downpipes
Supply and fitting of all lead work

What we would be expected to supply are the site facilities such as scaffold at the correct heights, site toilet, power supply and health and safety provisions.

What about if you new house has some flat roof elements? Some roofers won't touch these and will subcontract that to a specialist. Ask yourself if you'd rather subcontract that yourself and avoid some mark up, pay the mark up and let someone else worry about it, or find another roofer who will do it all. Its also important to point out any porch, conservatory, garage and other outbuildings that you are expecting them to work on. Sounds obvious, but missing these aspects can and does happen!

Basically, the idea is to be able to hand over the 'mini contract' to one person and if problems occur such as late (or early) arrival of materials or non arrival of labourers then that is effectively the problem of the contractor and their job to put it right.

Don't be tempted to supply the materials yourself as this can cause lots of problems. You may well be able to buy cheaper by spending hours searching the internet, but there's a good chance you'll get the quantities wrong and end up having to run around looking for a few roof tiles or arranging a return and refund. Having said that ordering of the kitchens and bathrooms are fairly simple and your chosen supplier should ensure that nothing is missing.

On the subject of kitchens and bathrooms, don't be tempted to buy end of line or discounted ex display items. In our experience, there is always a key part missing that's either very hard to find, or costs more than the saving; ask us how we know this!

You'll no doubt have seen lots of advice suggesting that you sign a watertight contract. You can purchase JCT contracts which are renowned for being the best in the industry, but they are large documents and can scare off the smaller tradesman. Our advice however would be to keep it simple and try to stick to a simple 'two sheets of A4 contract'. the like of which can be downloaded from the internet for free.

Ask the trades you know you are going to use if they have any other tradesman friends who they would be willing to recommend. If they've worked together previously there is likely to be a far better partnership between them and a better understanding of what the other trade includes within his or her service.

The 16 basic steps are:
Note, that some trades can be combined such as floor screeding and plastering.

1) Demolition
To include hire of all machinery, muck away and preparation of the site

2) Foundations and drainage
To include basement if specified.
It's at this point you need to consider the hire of site facilities. Toilet, Scaffold, Storage facilities

3) The structural Timber Frame (A Solo House includes windows and external doors)

4) Roofing
To include battening, tiles, fascia, soffit, guttering and downpipes

5) Internal carcassing
To include battens for power points, light switches and change of direction battens for plasterboard
(Can be combined with kitchen and internal joinery contract)

6) Electrics
To include any CAT5 wiring and external lighting

7) Plumbing and fitting of sanitary ware
The supply of bathroom suites can be looked after by you

8) Home automation
Integral vacuums, air conditioning, heat recovery systems

9) Floor screed
Can be incorporated into dry line and skim contract

10) Insulating and fixing of vapour barrier
Can be incorporated into dry line and skim contract

11) Dry lining and skimming

12) Kitchen fitting
Can be incorporated into carcassing contract
The supply of the kitchen units can be looked after by you

13) Internal joinery
To include hanging internal doors, fitting skirting board, architrave, staircases and window boards
Can be incorporated into carcassing contract

14) External cladding

15) Landscaping

16) Decoration
To include internal and external painting, papering and tiling

If you take the route of using a Project Manager, note that most tradesmen who do this are joiners, as their trade encompasses many of the processes involved in building a house, giving them good all round experience.

Alternatively, you can ask Solo Timber Frame to undertake the Project Management, put your feet up and watch us do all the hard work.