Planning to Build a New Home

Don't Rely on Good Luck Alone — Protect Yourself

Obtaining a New Home

How do you plan to obtain your home? Here are some of the ways:

If you are planning to hire a contractor, here are some points to remember:

Have a detailed set of plans modified to your exact requirements. Now would be the time for changes, not after a wall has been built where you want a door. If a change has to be made after that point it will cost you more money. Don.t expect any contractor or carpenter to make changes without compensation, after all it is his .Bread and Butter..
If possible, deal with a registered home builder so that you can have your home covered under the New Home Warranty Plan.
Ask for references when trying to get a builder and then check them out.
Have a written contract drawn up giving all details such as follows:
1. Starting date
2. Completion date
3. Total cost of construction
4. How the contractor will be paid:
  1. Weekly
  2. Monthly
  3. Advances when a specific portion of work has been completed.
Any and all work that is to be done for the agreed price.

When all of these details and any others that might come to mind have been worked out, have the contract signed and witnessed by both parties in the contract and ensure that both of you have a copy.
It is sometimes better to pay more to get your new home built than to pay too little and run into problems with carpenters being unable to finish the work because he had charged too low a price.
The only method of payment that we can recommend is the advance system, which is: when a prescribed portion of the work is completed, then, AND ONLY THEN, will the agreed portion of money be released to cover the labour cost.
If you are involved in building for the first time, you should get as much reading material as possible on house building and read it. CMHC has some very useful material available for distribution, one book to ask for in particular is "Canadian Wood Frame House Construction". This book has drawings and instructions on how the construction should be done. It is a very good book to have for information purposes.
One very important point to remember is, never have open ended agreements with people working for you. It only leads to trouble for you. By this we mean: have everything in writing, and do not allow purchases on account in your name on anything you don't personally authorize.
If anything special is required order it yourself and if the workman is in a hurry you might have him pick up the item for you.

These points apply to all areas of the building trades. Don't be afraid to ask questions. After all, it is your money you are spending.