Contractor or Direct Labour?

Katienewbuild

hi all,
just wondering in the current climate do you think there would be more savings in going with a contractor or direct labour? We are hoping to start our build soon and need to make a decision. We are in a rush to build now due to our circumstance but have been told the savings are great with direct labour???any ideas or advice greatly appreciated....


cheers
K

mfceiling

There are savings to be made but you have to ask -

Can you supervise the work
Are they insured, vat registered etc
Will they follow building guidelines
Do you have any knowledge of building costs, building guidelines etc
Can you keep a track on who is supposed to be there and at what stage


These are only a few of the questions you need to ask yourself.

archtech

The savings aren't as great as they used to be, most builders are now building at cost or a little above it. Everything comes at a price. Building direct labour takes up more of one's own time and there's a (hidden) cost to that too. Not to mention all the responsibilities which you have, health and safety, insurance, dealing with sub contractors suppliers etc. Furthermore if you have no experience in building you are relying on the subcontractors to get things right all of the time, which doesn't happen and can cost money to put right, as its often only spotted when they've been paid and left the job.

Seldom do direct labour builds go according to the building programme.

If going down the building contractor route and time is of the essence, make sure there's a liquidated damages clause in the contract.

dare2dream

Can you explain?
Thanks!!

archtech

Liquidated damages in simple terms is a figure (normally weekly) include within the contract that the contractor has to pay, should the contract duration overrun, without good reason to do so.

sydthebeat

the simplest explaination is that there is NO savings....

the difference between direct labour and contractor is that YOU earn the difference by acting as the contractor.

as has been already mentioned here, you must ensure you have adequate knowledge of building regulations, planning regulations, health and safety regs, insurances, site operations, lead-in times etc.

just remember that you will always here teh success stories of direct labour builds, but you'll hardly never hear the horror stories.

martinn123

I have to disagree with sydthebeat that there are ''no savings''.

However I agree with him that in direct labour '' you '' are the contractor.


My first house I gave to a contractor, I spent loads of time at site meetings, checking detail, and wondering what he actually did except orgainse the various trades in the correct order, run over-time, dissapear every time Ireland played a match, and cost me a fortune in rent.

Second time around I went Direct.

Yes a huge investment of my time, purchasing materials, securing quotes at each stage, actually lived on site in a mobile which was a great help.

Site meetings, meeting with Architect once a week to check works completed and plan next stages, I loved it.

Savings are huge in cash terms, even in the present climate, but costs in your time is massive.

You will find plenty of help here, good luck whatever route you choose

sydthebeat

martin, you missed my point that you EARNED the savings... thats what i meant.
and in real terms that has to be the case.

martinn123

Yes I agree.

In cash terms big savings.

In your own time, massive costs.

So I suppose if you were to Invoice for your own time, costs even, but if you have the time available, knowledge, etc. go for it.

If however the OP thinks its not a hands on project, 7 days a week, by direct labour forget it, pay for a professional.

sas

sydthebeat wrote: »

you must ensure you have adequate knowledge of building regulations, planning regulations, health and safety regs, insurances, site operations, lead-in times etc.

I fail to see why someone building direct labour is required to have more knowledge than a fair share of building contractors

sinnerboy

sas wrote: »

I fail to see why someone building direct labour is required to have more knowledge than a fair share of building contractors

Well whomever builds is supposed to . But I agree many "builders" fail to come up to the mark.

sas

sinnerboy wrote: »

Well whomever builds is supposed to . But I agree many "builders" fail to come up to the mark.

Yeah, I realise that wasn't terribly helpful but I'm in a funny humour today.

pocuana

Hi All,

I am looking at starting direct labour build in near future, just waiting on planning to come through.

Does anyone have a list of what needs to be done, in what order and timeframes etc, cant seem to find one anywhere. I have a good idea but feel I am missing something. Also how many quotes would ye recommend for each trade. Already have a few trades in mind with relations and good friends but want to make sure price is level or better than others received.

Any help gratefully appreciated.

P

BryanF

even if your going direct labour why not employ someone to do the main/overview Project Management work, ie the stuff you have mentioned there. you can do the donkey work and the chasing of trades, but if you get someone to oversee the process your bound to save the money on the inevitable (sometimes costly) mistakes made. also IF you have a good arch or arch tech who has everything detailed/spec'd it'll be easier for everyone including you.

PS watch the interfaces/ connections of trades as there are often hidden costs that a PM or archtech would be aware off.

Jimmyjoe12

currently in the middle of my own self build. I got a very good architect on board from day one and he was worth every penny so far. His brief was to design, get planning, draw up building spec and send out to tender and then supervise the build if we went with a contractor. We decided to go self build after seeing the prices the contractors were looking to charge. The Architect therefore didn't supervise the build because it was self build but only charged 3/4 of his fee which was fair enough. We were very happy with his design and all the builders who seen his plans and spec said they were very detailed and anyone could follow them. One of the best things i did was give a local Q.S. a copy of my plans and spec and get him to cost it out. Only cost me 300 euro and money well spent, help to give me an idea on prices and keep the budget under control.

My site was cleared so not much digger work etc. Got plenty of plans copied and gave them to a few local builders to price for foundations, block work and also to put the roof on, labour only as i would supply all materials myself. Got some quotes back and they were very good. Went with a local builder who gave me a very good price to put in the founds, build the house, put the roof on and plaster inside and out labour only. Very happy so far with the roof just started this week.

I am only about 5 miles from the project so call out each evening after work to keep an eye on things and see what needs done and if the wife wants any changes as we go along. Builder so far is excellent and has a good roofer that he always use now on site. I priced all materials from at least 4 different builder yards and always get the best price i think. They are all keen for business and they know they must price competatively if they want my business. So far so good and as someone else said earlier i am enjoying the whole experience. My time is taken up with phone calls and e-mails but nothing crazy so far. Because my Architect isn't overseeing the build i had to get a local Engineer to oversee the build and again so far so good and his fee is the same as the Architects 1/4 for the signing off etc and stage payments for the mortgage.

So far so good and from the tenders from builders and the QS prices i feel i am saving plenty of money hopefully as much as 30% +.





My site was already cleared so no need for much digger work etc.

pocuana

hi jimmyjoe,

where are you building. what are all the stages you sent out to get quotes on.

Thanks.

Jimmyjoe12

I am building in Donegal. Regarding getting the best prices i ring at least 4/5 building Supplier both North and South and get the best prices possible. Always a good saving between the cheapest and most expensives for each product. Got Cavity trays there a while back and they cost me 1440 euro which was 520 cheaper than anyone else quoted. Thats some saving. Take yesterday for example, my roofer needed 4 sheets of 3/4 ply board quickly so ordered them from a local supplier only down the road. They cost me 140 euro but if he told me in time i could have got them delivered today for 80 euro so no happy with him. It is the last time that will happen.