My only suggestion would be to make sure to check with your county that you can serve as the GC and see if there is any additional paperwork. We had to have a notorized form to serve a owner/builder and it makes us inelligble for the state's claim process if one of our licensed subs screws something up.

Also check with your bank or mortgage holder to see if you are allowed to O/B. Most want to have you get a new GC to take over. They've been burned too many times by inexperienced O/Bs to approve a change of horse in midstream. In addition, you will probably also need to change and increase your insurance for the build, as well may need to amend the building permit. Some places require O/Bs to take an exam to be able to act as their own GC.

Don't forget to get a lien waiver from your former GC or you may end up in court arguing over his fees. You'll also want to get lien waivers from any subs who have worked on the home as well. If he hasn't paid them, then you'll need to take care of that or add that to any actionable items you may have against your GC.

If you have never done this before hire someone to guide you or to act as construction manager, or as the general contractor. This is not a good time for on the job training.

great advice as far as the leans go. As someone who has been through several new home builds and total renovations of other homes, I can tell you - the hardest part is over for you. Getting the permits, and getting the house off the ground and closed in, is really the hardest part! We have never been an Owner/builder for new construction, but have gutted houses out to the studs and have finished them. It's not that hard! This forum is awesome and you can get the help you need. It may take a few months longer, but that can also be a help in not making mistakes.

Thanks for sharing your comments. We have been approved by our mortgame holder as GC of our build. That was also a large concern for us because we didn't want to stop the work. We are in a rural area and we actually are the ones that requested and got the building permit. We are the ones carrying the builder's risk but I will check to see if anything needs to be added or increased. We have lien releases for all materials and work done on our house to date. This forum gave us the foresight to add this as a requirement in our contract. We had an inspector come out yesterday and everything done to date is ok. We interviewed two GCs today. Probably will hire one as a consultant. We also live right across the road from our property and can be there during most of the build. Please share anything else that comes to mind. One of the GCs told us, just not to be intimidated by the total picture but to break it down into workable pieces and go from there. They both have given us valuable advice including build schedules to give us an idea of the order of construction.

It sounds like you are on top of it. Obviously, the schedule and order of work is critical. Inevitably it is failure to identify the longer lead times for fabrication of material orders that delays the work and forces you to search for alternate subs and suppliers. Good luck.

trinity: best of luck to you being owner/builder! I don't know where you are in the process, but I encourage you to hire a GC consultant or supervising GC and plan to spend more time than you might imagine at the site. We are close to our build, and have a GC, yet I find myself involved in the process much more than expected. I fielded 6 decision making calls this morning and am headed to the site now. I have been at site meetings for the last 2 days, each time for over nearly 3 hours. Right now we have the following trades on site: electrician, plumber, gas contractor, stucco contractor, roofer comes and goes, security contractor, and the masonary crew building the retaining walls in the back yard. Yesterday I was there with the 3 person cabinet site measuring crew.

It takes a maestro at this point, and despite my previous experience with managing commercial builds, I am totally stressed out. When I did my commercial work I had a support staff and an in-house staff GC who was my right arm.

With this house it wasn't so bad so long as it was just the shell contractor. Now that the juggling begins (interior framing is completed and everyone has to get their stuff in the walls and ceilings) it takes more skill and coordination than I could ever provide alone.

I am not trying to scare you, just be sure that you have competent GC help for times like this.

Pamelah, I appreciate you outlining these areas for us so that we are as prepared ahead of time as we can be and with adequate advisors and help. Fortunately, I am not working now and my husband's home business is in a slow season. He spends most of his time at the site. Yesterday and today we met with the electrician so we could walk thru so he fully understood our expectations and the specs we gave him. Our past experience has been the sub-contractors not fully reviewing the specs and bidding correctly. Talking to the electrician, plumber and AC we already see some juggling. I would much rather be forewarned and take some steps to prevent or at least prepare ourselves for the chaos. Please post anything you think we should watch out for or ask for extra help on from a GC. Thanks so much.

You are welcome! I hope this thread develops with others posting about times when it is hectic and decision intensive. That way I will learn more, too :-)

I don't know what area of the country you are in and if the weather is a concern or not? The major part of our build took place during a horrific winter, record snow, etc. Some subs were delayed and when the painter came in to spray the paint dried unevenly because we had a portable furnace going. It had to ALL be redone but the painter didn't charge any extra!!
He was a loyal sub to our builder for many years.
Good Luck!

Twotogo - Thanks for relating your experience with weather delays. We are building on the bay in Texas during hurricane season so this is a real threat for us. We are rebuilding due to damage sustained to our previous home by Hurricane Ike two years ago.

trin.....make sure you get GC pricing and not consumer pricing...BIG diff!!

We are the GC on our job and it has been a great decision. These are the things that I have found to be very important! I am at the house everyday from 7:30(ish) am until everyone is settled and has all the questions answered. Typically I am through around 3pm. In the beginning I was there all day usually until the workers were leaving. If you are there then all the questions can be answered. My plumbers told me after about 2 days on my job that I would finish my house really fast because I am there. We bulldozed the house on Friday June 4th and I am about 4/6 weeks from CO. The other and most important, not my advise, but from my architect, who by the way is awesome, told me when both my mason and I missed the step down on the foundation pour and he looked at me and said I know why you keep telling me the foundation looks so high, it's because we don't have a step down. My heart sunk, but he said it's not the mistake, because you will have many, but it is what you do with the mistake. I have had a few set backs, but every mistake has turned out better than it would have been. My step down turned into an incredible vaulted ceiling in our family room. With that said, you can do this and there is nothing to be afaid of and your city inspectors are there to help you. You need to use them and if you have a question call them, they are there to help you! Good Luck, and if you need any thing just shoot me an email, mine is listed!

Thanks so much for the encouragement. My DH is at the site all day also. We are renting right across the road. Unfortunately, we are in a rural area with no codes and bulding inspectors (other than windstorm for insurance purposes) but we have hired a city inspector and an engineer and periodically call them to inspect. We have one inspection at 4:30 today and the engineer will be out again tomorrow. We can catch things that are different from the plans but have no experience in structural, plumbing or electrical codes so we really do need inspectors. I tend to get emotional i.e., missing one window opening in the living room or enclosed rather than partially open staircase but my husband takes it in stride and just says it can be fixed. And you know it does get fixed. Yesterday the kitchen island was at 42" - but it's already corrected. We do have one mistake that cannot be corrected and have to have one toilet in the master bedroom with a 10" rough in rather than 12" but I hope that works. The original plumber didn't take the 2 X 6s into consideration. We are on the bay and have a special foundation and we can't break the concrete out because it is one of the concrete beams. We also appreciate the offer to answer questions via email. Thanks so much.

There's nothing wrong with a 10" rough-in unless you want a toilet that is not available in that configuration.

Mac - Thanks for this info. I feel better knowing that 10" will work ok. I thought for some reason you needed 12" I'll be sure to look at the specs on the toilet and then check with our plumber.

Hi Trinity:
More unsolicited advice coming!

First, if you haven't done it already, read the postings at my "Mad as H_ll" thread. Big lesson learned this week!

I just finished doing something that was really time consuming that I thought you might like to consider doing it at your house. When your framing is in, and your cabinet areas are blocked/braced, you have the opportunity to add additional bracing for heavy items, or for things that you just don't want to worry about. Bracing can be done with 1 x 4 or 6, or 3/4 plywood.

At the risk of making everyone on GW think I am a certified loon, I will tell you that my list is 48 items long. I did a few more walk throughs with a tape, took some notes, and decided where I might conceivably want rock solid backing when I start to decorate, and I measured every place that I intended to hang big art, TVs, robe and coat hooks, towel hooks and bars, shelving, etc.

I am 95% sure which side of the foyer is going to hold the Bigger than Life Mirror. However, I am reinforcing both sides just in case. For Pete's Sake, it's just a little lumber! I am even toying with a suspended side board in the dining room. So, I put the needed support for it and the other Bigger than Life Mirror on both sides of the room.

I numbered each item and listed them on a spread sheet showing the material I want for the brace, the minimum size braced area (width and height) and the finished floor height at which to start the bracing. If it wasn't on center in the area, I provided measurements from another point (wall) in the room.

Next, I took a copy of the floor plan, and put the numbers on the locations that I described on the spreadsheet.

Finally, I emailed my builder, explained the document, and attached a copy. Voila. Now he knows what I want, PLUS I have a document telling me where all the secret supports are in the house.

It was worth my time. Perhaps you would benefit from it too!

Pamelah - Yes I have been reading your latest post, and related to my husband how things will go wrong but it's what we do when that happens. I know this was terrible for you, but helped us to know there is a solution to every mistake/problem.
We just came back from measuring and marking where we wanted extra bracing in the closets and utility room for extra support for shelving, rods, etc. But I hadn't thought about what you did with the whole plan. That's a great idea!
We had our first walkthru with the electrician last week and we wanted to go over things today while no one was at the site, so we could go over each room and the exterior ourselves. We have another meeting with the electrician tomorrow (before they pull the wires) and it was well worth our while to walk thru today now that he has put most of the boxes up.
Please post any items you come up with because you do seem very thorough. Thanks.