There will always be something you don't anticipate, that's the nature of the beast. Have you had a chance to go to a current job your contractor is working on and see how they do business? This will give you a sense of the crew, work ethic and how respectful they are of a client's property. I was able to go to 2 jobs my contractor was working on and it helped me make my decision. You will be able to see things that you won't want to happen at your job site and then you can put that into the contract. Are you gong to be living on site? How extensive is the work being done? Do you have children? Will you or someone else be on the site during the day or just the contractor? We are living on site (which is no picnic - don't even get me started about the dust...). The crew built me a temporary wall between the work area and where we are living. It has been great - In addition to insulating the wall they also stapled plastic sheeting to keep out dust and debris. You would never know there is construction on the other side of the wall if you didn't hear all the activity. The only problem with dust and mess is in the basement below the construction area (which is where my temporary kitchen is located). They have taken up the sub-floor and gravity being gravity, things come down from above. Now that they are done with the electrical and pipes in the area below the construction we have stapled plastic sheeting to the joists and this has greatly reduced the amount of debris falling into the basement. So ask about what they are planning to do to reduce the impact on your family and the construction mess going into the non-construction areas of your home. Do you have a personal umbrella policy to protect you if someone gets hurt and you are sued? I had 3 bids for my project. I researched and made sure that each company was properly licensed and registered in my state and local jurisdiction to do the work I was going to hire them to do. I also checked to see if the companies had any complaints with the BBB, the state or the county. I also checked if the company and/or the principals were or had ever been sued, declared bankruptcy, had any criminal charges, DWI's, not been paying alimony or child support. Regarding some of the items on your list: The guys doing my renovation use a radio and I like it (we seem to have the same taste in music... there is nothing more entertaining than hearing them sing while they work... I think it helps the productivity of the crew, so even if they listened to something I didn't care for, I wouldn't have a problem). If having a radio playing is going to bother you there is no way you are going to survive a renovation/remodel. My contractor included a porta-john in the contract. My crew has been here every day - except for one day when we had bad weather and the schools were closed (the foreman called and apologized that they would not be able to make it b/c the roads were impassable). We have a "dump trailer" parked in our driveway that they fill and then take to the dump and return. This reduces piles of debris laying around. They clean up as much as they can. Please remember that renovation/construction is not a clean process. Don't expect them to neatly stack their supplies and store lumber in ascending or descending order of size.... If my crew decided not to wear shirts, I could sell tickets and recoup what I am paying on this renovation in no time...... ;). Below are things I would add to the list (I haven't looked at the other threads, so if I am covering old ground.....): Who will be in charge of the crew - get their cell phone number. There could be an emergency in the evening or the weekend and you will want to be able to get hold of someone. How many job sites will this person be running at the time of your renovation? How do they expect to get paid? I pay my contractor in 1/12's depending on targets met outlined in the contract (i.e. framing completed, drywall up, etc.). Ask them (in order to get a better estimate of the actual cost of the job) if they need to poke a few holes in walls, look under floors, go in the attic, look at old plans of the house. I did not think of doing this and though it would have helped with some of the unexpected items, most of them were not known until we opened ceilings, floors and walls. Are they insured/bonded? How much coverage do they carry? Will you have the same crew every day or will new guys be cycling in and out (I have the same crew every day with additional as needed)? Does your contractor conduct background checks and drug testing on his crew? What about the subs? Will subs be allowed on the property WITHOUT supervision by the contractor or his crew? How will change orders/change of scope be handled? When there are questions/issues and more than one solution have them check with you before going forward (what they think would work best might not work for you).. You don't want them to say, "well that's what I thought you would want...." How will they get in and out if you are not home (I have a lock box - provided by the contractor - on one of the doors with a key in it - the lock was provided by the contractor (for a new door) and he will replace the lock when he is done)? How do they feel about you providing your own fixtures, etc. (my contractor has no problem with me doing this as long as I get things here when he needs them and I make sure to order what he needs (I check with him before ordering))? I am sure I have missed some things. Good luck!

You're thinking that subs have a single job, complete it, and then move on to the next. In reality, it's much more fluid than that. A contractor will have multiple jobs in progress all at the same time. He will try to not have them all be in the same stage at the same time so that his employees can move smoothly between their responsibilities. But delays are a completely normal part of the construction process. Client A's job is scheduled to last approximately 2 weeks, but because of weather delays the yard couldn't be dug for the new drain, and the special order sink from Bulgaria is on backorder and will take another 6 weeks to even show up in customs. And he;s working on three other rough in plumbing jobs and a final plumbing install, all with their own issues that negatively impact his scheduling.And then his brother in law has an emergency hot water tank replacement with a big leak to help clean up. And you want him to show up on time for your job too. So he does the best to make everyone happy that he can, but someone isn't going to have their job worked on that day. He has the best intentions, but he's a plumber, not a PR guy with a master;s in communication. You job gets put on the back burner until his brother in law;s home is finished, and since the weather has changed, he's got to get that trench in the yard for his other customer before the three days of rain set in. Then, he shows up at your house late that day and does manage to get the job started. He says he'll be back in the morning to work on it again, but again, previous committments or emergency work take precedent and he doesn't manage to make it to your home that day. A top notch guy would call and let his customers know of the scheduling change, but again, he's a tradesman, not a orator. What I'm saying is that a job is a moving target, and yours is only one of many. You will have delays in your job that will impact your subs as well as your subs having issues that impact your job. That's part of being the GC. You have to deal with down time, rescheduling, and poor communication. It's like a square dance with constantly changing dancers. And it's unrealistic to expect them to all perform perfectly in time with the music and for the musicians to never get tired and need to take a break. And the other "secret" in acting as your own GC is that you are the low man on the totem pole when it comes to subs and any jobs that they might do on your project. You're a one off client. No repeat business. Other projects have GCs that they have worked for before and have loyalty to and whom your sub will prioritize over your work. And other GCs provide the opportunity to become one of their regular subs if they impress them. So, your job may take twice as long as if the sub was working for a licensed contractor. And, it may also cost you a bit more as well because of a lack of a past relationship and no volume work. To be a GC, you really have to have patience, and a capacity to make down tme as productive as you can from other trades. And you'll have to take the initiative to do the communicating. Start an email list for all of your contractors with a "state of the union" progress report so that everyone is one the same page. That doesn't mean you won't hae delays, but hopefully, the communication will help to diminish them.

^ That still puts it on the owner to release the money, solely at their discretion. So the owner can refuse to pay for any little trivial reason at all. Like one stud that starts to warp slightly after the rain, or what have you. Or the owner could be out of contact for some emergency, or on the verge of divorce, or squished in an accident on the freeway-- anything can happen. If I were working on that framing crew, under those circumstances, I'd be worried about getting stiffed. Remember these are often pretty undercapitalized businesses, and workers who don't have much, if any, savings. For some, if they don't get paid, they have trouble making the truck payment, rent, or child support. That's a major reason why they work multiple jobs at once, since a schedule can get shifted or entirely derailed for a myriad of reasons. At any rate, a good contract spreads the risk among all the parties, so no one bears too much or too little risk. In this case, someone needs to spell out not only the pay schedule, but what "completed" means, in detail. This part, especially, gives me the heebie jeebies, as it is so very vague and subject to individual interpretation: "The contract doesn't specify how the percentage of work completed will be calculated. This SEEMS okay - I think that we can both tell much how work is completed versus how much is left, but is it okay?" A lawyer is going to approach this issue using boilerplate "trigger words" that have a wealth of case law and precedent behind them, such as "substantially complete," and "in a workmanlike manner." If you really want to dive into this topic, read the AIA boilerplate contract docs as a backgrounder, it will give you a decent understanding of the big issues. But do hire a lawyer. And make sure you have a plan in case you die during the job, not just life insurance, but someone knowledgeable who can jump in and write checks without too much delay.

Scope of work - who is providing what. For whatever GC is providing there should be detailed plans. Attachment of plans and you can incorporate them. The plans should spell out everything in detail Obviously the total costs broken down into specific line items. If certain items are allowances, these should state so and also specify what that covers. For example, my electrical and plumbing are allowances because they can't tell what horrors might lurk when the demo. My electrical allowance doesn't cover the new panel box I will need because that wasn't apparent when they did the initial walk through and examination of my condo. Payment progress schedule Release of mechanics liens Workman's comp and liability insurance with you as additional insured. Liability should be $1 million Copy of license and insurance policies If GC is hiring subs for electrical and plumbing, these should also be licensed and insured ETA - And many GC's who are excellent and reputable don't have the same kind of extensive contract with reams of boiler plate that a large corporation would have. I tried to put in those things that defined the important work - i.e. what was being done; who paid for what; what the total cost would be etc. and not scare him off with nitpicky stuff - and FWIW I'm a contracts lawyer by trade so I can scare off ANYBODY with contractual terms and negotiation if I want to play hardball. In the end, I had to trust the recommendations of my designer who had worked with him.