Question To Ask A Potential Contractor For Hire.

[jimeve]

48 minutes ago, Snowy79 said:

To be fair my contractor built mine just like the plans. 

 

Was that in Australia?

[Terry P]

Seems to me the methods and results of how you select the contractor to have building work done aren't much different to the rest of the world.

Find a builder with a decent track record by references, viewing previous projects in our case here use trade organisations (probably not relevant in the Philippines).

 

[graham59]

2 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

To be fair my contractor built mine just like the plans. 

 

Well, they said it would stay intact in a typhoon.  

[hk blues]

On 1/24/2021 at 6:13 AM, Mike J said:

Show the contractor the plans and/or pictures of the house you want built.  Ask him "Have you built houses like this quality and style?"  If the answer is anything other than "Yes" you may want to consider another contractor.  If the answer is "I can build that", the actual answer is "No", again consider another contractor.  If the contractor has built homes like this, get the address(es) and go look at them.  If possible knock on the door(s) and speak with the owners to see what they experienced during the build.  

Questions for owners of previous builds:

Any issue with quality?  Any issue with substandard materials?  Any issues with going over agreed budget?  Did contractor get required permits and inspections?  Keep in mind that Filipinos are reluctant to criticize others and expats often seem more likely to find fault than praise.  So you may have to sort the wheat from the chaff when getting answers.

 

Good advice.

As suggested in my post and by yourself, Mike, I am not so sure that talking to previous clients will be helpful in all cases - they tend to not want to criticise others and keep their ideas to themselves, especially if there is nothing in it for them.  That said, if they do say anything negative or are non-committal you can probably read a lot into that.  Looking at the work ourselves, and deciding if the quality is what we are looking for is probably best - your standard won't be mine. 

[hk blues]

17 hours ago, TerryP said:

Seems to me the methods and results of how you select the contractor to have building work done aren't much different to the rest of the world.

Find a builder with a decent track record by references, viewing previous projects in our case here use trade organisations (probably not relevant in the Philippines).

 

The big difference here, Terry, is that over promising and under delivering is more common than in the UK - I doubt a contractor here would turn down work because they thought it may be beyond them.  

[Tommy T.]

1 hour ago, hk blues said:

The big difference here, Terry, is that over promising and under delivering is more common than in the UK - I doubt a contractor here would turn down work because they thought it may be beyond them.  

Direct example of that here... The sparky for the contractor generally does good work and knows how to wire a home. However, as chronicled in my build posts, we asked him if he could install the electric opener. He said yes he could and proceeded to read the manual. We knew he had not done one before.

Well, he tried but really did not know what he was doing. It was also obvious, after a while, that he did not understand the manual. He laid the sensor magnets aside without a clue that they were essential to stopping the gate at the proper places when fully opened or fully closed. He didn't know what they were at all. So we paid the professional installer who, really, was very professional. He also installed the doorbell system with video and voice intercom. Believe me, finding the true professional made it look effortless and those two systems work flawlessly now.

I'm still learning.

[hk blues]

9 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Direct example of that here... The sparky for the contractor generally does good work and knows how to wire a home. However, as chronicled in my build posts, we asked him if he could install the electric opener. He said yes he could and proceeded to read the manual. We knew he had not done one before.

Well, he tried but really did not know what he was doing. It was also obvious, after a while, that he did not understand the manual. He laid the sensor magnets aside without a clue that they were essential to stopping the gate at the proper places when fully opened or fully closed. He didn't know what they were at all. So we paid the professional installer who, really, was very professional. He also installed the doorbell system with video and voice intercom. Believe me, finding the true professional made it look effortless and those two systems work flawlessly now.

I'm still learning.

I'm not surprised to read this.  Even the electrician did a good job as you said previously on the house electricals, he took on a task that he must have known was outside of his knowledge/experience. 

[Tommy T.]

I will add a bit more here since I am now on a roll...

The contractor employees working here were pigs. I don't mean that biologically, but in their habits. We have had several different people come here since the construction essentially ended to pick up all the mess the workers left. It's no wonder there were rats here.

Just last week, two of the boys were here re-working some bad stainless joints in the railings on the roof deck. I went up there last night for the first time since they left. The deck tiles were almost all blackened from the polishing and grinding they did up there. So they finally showed up again today and I gave them a gentle, but firm lecture that they needed to clean up right after their work. They said they were going to clean it up today anyway, but I told them that is not good enough. These two are some of the best workers, so I did not berate them, just nudged them a bit, and they seem okay with that. I know I am a bit picky, but even L was pissed that they left a mess.

So, my point - that I just belaboured to death - is that anyone hiring workers or contractors should keep an eye on them during and at the end of their work. At least here, they just toss their used materials onto an adjacent property - brushes, cans, empty sealant tubes and much more. Also, as HK or Graham alluded, they often don't have their own tools and don't respect the tools supplied to them. It just isn't the way I was brought up...

Unrelated question...

Whatever happened to the OP, russellmania? Several of us have responded to his query...so where did he go? Did we (my) comments scare him away forever?

Edited January 25, 2021 by Tommy T.

[graham59]

Quite right Tommy.

They (and I'm talking relatives here...who you'd expect might be more caring) have no respect whatever for your belongings and property.

They are accustomed to throwing everything on to the ground next to them when finished with it, and living 'in shit' themselves, as a result. 

I have already told the guys working here,  after they'd already been doing it of course,  NOT to throw  discarded small pieces of wire, nails, concrete, etc, on to our lawn !  

As usual, I'll be relieved when they've GONE. 

[Tommy T.]

5 minutes ago, graham59 said:

As usual, I'll be relieved when they've GONE. 

Amen, Brother!