Period renovations: Keeping on top of your project

Old house expert Marianne Suhr offers her advice on how to stay on top of things with your period renovation project, whether you're employing a main contractor or doing it all yourself.

At arm's length

• If you have a main contractor and an architect or surveyor running the job then all the management will be done for you. As you are the client, it is still recommended that you attend as many of the progress meetings as you can, if only to keep abreast of what’s going on. Remember: they are spending your money.

Going it alone

• Take time before any work starts to read up on what’s expected of you.

• Try to visit the site most days – things will move at a fast pace once work starts, and you need to understand all the issues to make quick and informed decisions.

• Hold regular progress meetings at least every month; make sure you have an agenda, and record what has been agreed in the minutes.

• If you are working to a fixed price contract, take care that any changes to the original design are written down, and ideally get them priced before they go ahead. Otherwise you risk being overcharged for the ‘extras’.

• Keep track of the finances by asking your builder to produce a monthly valuation – an invoice for works completed up to that date. Go through it in detail to check you are happy with each item, and never pay for goods that are not on site or for work that hasn’t been fully completed.

• Keep a detailed record of works by taking regular photographs and dating them. These could be crucial if there is any dispute over the final account at the end of the project.

Read more advice from Marianne on how to manage a period renovation project...

WORDS MARIANNE SUHR
Featured in the April 2011 issue of Period Living