Tips for Choosing Construction Professionals: The Dos and Don'ts

A quantity surveyor ensures you control and estimate your construction costs while meeting legal and quality standards.
An architect is crucial when constructing a home. They essentially design, plan, and supervise the construction of your structure.
A construction project manager will plan, hire construction labor, manage timelines and milestone achievement, monitor the budget, and manage construction costs.

Building a home is a huge undertaking, and you will find that hiring the right people will make the process much easier.

Selecting construction professionals is a key step when starting a construction project. However, you may hire too many professionals, ultimately bloating your budget.

To avoid this, you must know the key professionals needed to build your home successfully.

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Which Professionals Do I Need to Hire to Build a House?

The trained professionals needed to construct a house are varied. You need to hire the appropriate team of experts for every aspect of the job, including plumbing, electric work, landscaping, etc. For best results, hiring trained professionals in each field is advisable.

The primary team for a construction project are usually architects, civil engineers, quantity surveyors, and construction project managers. What is their role:

Architect

An architect plans and designs the layout of your house. They do this by surveying the land layout and using your specifications for the house you want to construct. They are essential for developing a construction plan that is mandatory to get a construction permit.

Real estate professionals when building in Kenya

An architect can also oversee the construction of your house. They can supervise and occasionally visit the construction site to inspect the construction and ensure it goes according to plan.

Civil Engineer

A civil engineer essentially certifies the structural sanctity of your home. They are responsible for designing the skeleton of you house. They ensure that the design provided by your architect is structurally sound and meet the building code standards.

In most cases, you can get away with hiring an architect, especially if you are constructing a bungalow or a mansion. But when working on a large house with a complicated design, it is best to get the designs certified by a professional civil engineer.

Quantity Surveyor

A quantity surveyor helps to estimate construction costs at the beginning of the project. This is crucial as most construction projects spiral out of budget if costs are not monitored. Having a Bill of Quantities prepared by a quantity surveyor will enable you to keep track of your expenses.

Additionally, a quantity surveyor will give quotations for the correct material quality needed to meet regulatory standards, making it easier to pass inspection. They also provide project timelines that can help you track the progress of your project.

Construction Project Manager

A project manager helps track your project, labor, materials, and cost and meets the right standards. They essentially see the project through. They are also responsible for hiring a construction team and managing them.

In Kenya, construction project managers are usually known as foremen, and most are not professionally trained. However, hiring a professionally trained construction project manager with extensive experience is best to ensure they can keep your project within the cost and the anticipated timeline.

Are there specific certifications required for construction professionals?

Always ensure that the professionals you hire are members of a professional body. This guarantees their professional qualifications and assures you of their ethical caliber.

There are several regulatory bodies for construction professionals in Kenya. These include;

The Architectural Association of Kenya
The Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors of Kenya
The Institute of Quantity Surveyors of Kenya (IQSK)
The Engineers Board of Kenya
Kenya Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors

Tips for Choosing the Right Professionals to Build Your Home

Now that you have narrowed down the key professionals you need to complete your construction project, use these criteria for construction professionals selection.

Ask for bids from multiple professionals; this should give you an idea of their services and what they can deliver should you hire them. Then shortlist the bidders and top candidates.
Use referrals from people who have recently completed a construction project for professionals. You can also ask for referrals from other construction professionals.
Do your research using listings and certified professionals’ directories to look for professionals with the right experience and positive reviews.
Interview the professionals to review the construction professional’s credentials.
Access work portfolios to determine the types of construction projects they have handled before. This will let you know if they can handle your construction project.
Request testimonials so you can talk to their former clients and get insight into their professional conduct and experience.

Key Takeaway

Be very keen when interviewing professionals. The idea is to find individuals that can work together. Ensure the individuals you hire can work together as this is crucial towards the success of your construction project.

Look out for any warning signs and do not hire any professional who comes off as off standish or rude. This behavior will only get amplified once the ink dries and you have committed to the working partnership financially.