NWR PROfile
Consulting Can Save
Money, Time — and Headaches
Richard and Marie* were frustrated with the building of their dream house. What should have been a nine-month project was taking 18 months and they didn’t know how to motivate their contractor. The situation was definitely complicated. Because they were building out of town and building a log home, they had limited choices when choosing a contractor. Add to that, the contractor lived four hours from the job site, which made it more difficult to manage. They didn’t know how to get the contractor to the job site to finish the job.
Then they met the Maitrals of Maitral Construction LLC, Construction Consultants, at a tradeshow and their perspective changed. The firm does construction consulting for clients, stepping in with knowledge and experience to help their building plans move forward. After meeting with Roger and Liz Maitral and reviewing the plans and the progress that had been made, Richard and Marie left with a plan of action that put them back in the driver’s seat of their project. “They were willing to spend time helping us to understand and gave us specific actionable steps that gave us a sense of purpose and control” said Marie, a sales executive.
Construction consulting is a relatively new concept and one that is long overdue in the industry. With HGTV, Home Depot, and Lowe’s being so popular, people are getting more involved with their construction projects, some even doing the entire project themselves.
What these do-it-yourselfers need is someone to turn to who has the construction knowledge to help them.
Construction consultants are generally retired general contractors who have been working in construction for 10 or more years. A consultant can help reduce the stress of building or remodeling by removing the veil from the project. Their job is to spend the time coaching the client about what the step-by-step process is and what their options are for the different phases of the project. In the course of their work, the consultant will also teach the client about construction.
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| Tim and Anne's finished kitchen. |
Another example of how the Maitrals can help: Tim McNichol and Anne Egan wanted a new kitchen but didn’t want to pay the high price that kitchens can often run. Because Tim had worked with Roger previously, and Roger had taken the time to teach Tim about remodeling, there was no question in Tim’s mind who he would trust to coach him through his kitchen remodel.
“If you’ve got somebody good, it’s easy,” Tim, a business consultant, said. “Roger is a walking encyclopedia of construction. He never said, ‘Oh, I have to look into it.’” Tim remodeled his kitchen and saved half of what the cost would have been had he hired someone else to do it for him. And he learned a lot.
A third client had a handful of problems before calling a construction consultant. She had excessive leaking through her basement walls. She called a contractor to waterproof her basement. The contractor dug out the floor next to the walls in order to apply a sealer to stop the leaking. Unfortunately the sealer was not applied correctly and the walls continued to leak. Since her basement floor was still dug out, she called in a second contractor to fix what should have been fixed the first time.
And she called Maitral Construction. They not only attended a Construction Contractors Board (CCB) mediation representing the client but also consulted with her on her court case which resulted in her receiving a full refund from the first contractor. “The goal is to settle the case outside of court” said Roger, “but court isn’t always avoidable. Hiring a construction consultant along with a lawyer greatly increases the likelihood of winning.”
There are many ways that a construction consultant can help you. They provide information to assist you in the decision to remodel, buy new, or build your own home. They will do feasibility studies to help you determine what you can afford to do. They can defuse potential conflicts and mediate between the homeowner and the contractor. Their work can include helping you set project budgets and timelines, reviewing contractor bids, explaining the terminology, or helping choose a contractor that is the right fit for you and your project.
Construction consultants can also coach you to be your own general contractor, so you can save the money you would typically pay someone else to manage the project for you. This is referred to as being an owner-builder and is becoming much more popular in the industry.
Tips for Choosing a Construction Consultant
• Understand the consultant’s background and that it matches your situation.
• Check for additional experience they may have such as: mediation, knowledge of contracts, project management and problem solving.
• Check affiliations with local and national associations and the Oregon Construction Contractors Board (CCB).
• Must be licensed, bonded, and insured.
As always, ask for references and check them.
• Consultants can help with building materials, finish products, and “green” products. Not all products considered green are, or they can be under-sized for your project. A consultant can help with these types of choices.
• Consultants typically charge an hourly fee; or if you use the owner-builder program the fee is a percentage of the project budget. |
In today’s economy, utilizing a construction consultant can be your smartest decision in remodeling or building. These consultants are knowledgeable about the most cost-effective ways of building. Because they are unbiased, they will present you with the best options for your budget dollars.
“Many clients have champagne taste on a beer budget” said Roger Maitral. “My job is to find out what is most important to the client and give them champagne in some areas, beer in others, keeping them within their budget while still giving them what they want.”
The likelihood is that you will save more money than you spend with a construction consultant; so consider hiring one as your partner for your next home improvement project.
*To protect privacy, names have been changed for part of this article. |
