How to properly negotiate a contract with Your Individual Home Builder

Building a home is a process that most people only do once in their lives. When purchasing an existing house, the process is swift and gives the assurance of being able to notice any flaws during visits, but when purchasing a property that does not yet exist, the process is completely different. The procedure is lengthy and needs careful attention, particularly with respect to the contract conditions agreed with your specific house builder: they must protect you against disappointment, as well as the physical and financial dangers that bad craftsmanship or early wear and tear might pose. constructional components Here are some pointers for creating a contract that will enable you to relax while you watch your future house grow.

First and foremost, sign the right type of contract

he first step is to decide which contract with your service provider will be signed. If you commit the whole construction to a single business, you will need to sign a CCMI for Individual House Construction Contract. Depending on whether or not an architect is involved with your initiatives, this contract may be interpreted with or without the supply of a plan.

If you hire other firms to work on your site, you’ll need to sign a corporate contract with each of them, outlining the scope of work and all of the terms and conditions. The CCMI is still conceivable if the structural work and water and air removal are done by a single major business.

The CCMI has the advantages of being heavily regulated, which assures that it has a withdrawal period, a bank-backed funding plan, a price, and a contractual delivery time. It also ensures that the job is completed in the event that the original service provider goes bankrupt.

The following are the other two options:

• A collection of commercial contracts with each of the service providers involved, one by one. The danger is a lack of work coordination or consistency in subsequent phases. Because the firm contract is less regulated and obligatory on the service provider, vigilance is also necessary with regard to the pledges made.

• A project management contract, which entrusts the project to a project manager, architect, or other third party to organize and supervise the work. This decision entails an extra expense in the form of follow-up costs.

Construction takes time and … so does your settlement!

Do not make the mistake of paying the builder for the different phases of the building of your home too rapidly. The procedure is highly controlled and must result in payment:

• 5% of the total amount at the signing of the contract,
• 10% when the site opens,
• 10% after completion of the foundations,
• 15% upon completion of the walls,
• 20% when the water is removed (walls and roof mounted),
• 15% on completion of the partitions and ventilation (therefore after installation of the doors and windows),
• 20% once the finishing work has been completed,
• 5% upon receipt of the work and if no faulty workmanship is detected. Otherwise, the balance will only be payable after repair.

The essential price guarantee

All of the work included in the quoted price must be included in the signed contract. Don’t be afraid to double-check that all of the labor required for the proper completion of your home is covered! Some unscrupulous builders may neglect to state that some tasks, such as painting, tiling, or cleaning the site, remains the obligation of the customer in order to make enticing pricing offers.

The contract must consequently contain a full description of services, and the entire price must be accompanied by the words “firm and final.” The sole factor that may impact this is a rise in the construction cost index, which is generated by INSEE on a regular basis to determine the average cost of new building and also acts as the foundation for rent revisions.

Ask for a delivery guarentee !

Don’t put your future house in the same basket as the 10,000 others created each year if you don’t have this important delivery assurance. Even though it adds a cost that corporations are ready to forego in order to boost their competitiveness, it shields you against setbacks that may derail your first endeavor.

Aside from the delays of several weeks, which are normal in the construction sector and may be explained, the danger is also – and above all – your builder’s bankruptcy, which can be revealed to you at any time. As a consequence, you’ll wind up with a partially finished home and no money from a bank or insurance company to finish the job.

Delays will entitle you to reimbursement if you have a guaranteed delivery, and departing the firm ensures that someone will take over at no extra expense.

As a result, we recommend that you do not sign a contract that does not contain this delivery guarantee, which must not be more than 4% of the purchase price. If this is the case, your builder’s insurance has most likely been a problem in the past, so be cautious.

Take a close look at the reception of the house

You will have just eight days to alert the builder of any flaws you find in the home. This time frame is still very small, therefore we recommend that you commit a few hours to a thorough evaluation right away.

Many elements are to be checked:

• the most visible, such as the correct installation of the tiling, the plasters and paints, the correct arrangement of the partitions;
• some more technical, such as doors and windows, radiators or the boiler;
• others, finally, more difficult to control: the roof, the chimney, the plumbing and the electrical circuits.

This will entail detecting any installation flaws (protruding tiling, a window that allows a stream of air to pass through, etc.), device operation, fault identification (painting not completed, power outlet incorrectly positioned, etc.), and noting any element that appears to differ from the agreement reached. You will only have an 8-day window to report them to the manufacturer and request repairs.

Hire a construction technician or architect to inspect the whole home for you to guarantee you have enough perspective and expertise. An issue that goes undiagnosed might cost you significantly more in the long run than the expense of a simple visit.

As long as you follow all of these measures, having your single-family house constructed by a specialist builder will be a peaceful experience. Also, believe your gut: if a salesman makes you an offer that seems too good to be true, it probably is! Before contacting a firm, check its reputation using the resources available to you, such as online reviews and word of mouth. Finally, you’ll be able to check on the internet to see whether the firm has had any problems in recent years, such as falling into receivership. Build slowly yet steadily!