Project Management

[NakedMum33and3rd]

Hello,

I am about to start planning a big renovation, haven't started looking for a builder / landscaper / trades people / kitchens / bathrooms / flooring etc. I expected to do it all myself but now wondering whether it's more time and cost efficient to engage someone with lots of experience and contacts who can help from start to finish.
Is this cost effective? I work full time so am a little concerned about balancing it all. Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

If you work FT I would seriously consider finding a main contractor to do most of the management. You will still need to do a bit but managing all the trades is very difficult if you work FT. I've project managed (nearly done now) a top to toe renovation on quite a big house here and staying on top of budgets, who is due when, ordering materials and making sure trades are properly briefed is time consuming. If I wasn't PT it would have been a nightmare.

Don't do it yourself!!

We went with a builder who has many years experience. He has spent a large part of his life on building sites but as he is getting older, he has turned to project managing rather than being hands on. He's got all the trades as "employees" and seems to be project managing a few jobs at a time so he can place the trades where they need to be. He knew what stuff to order and when, the quantity and quality and had trade accounts at many local suppliers. He basically spent every day going round to his projects, ordering stuff and even the equipment (diggers etc) as well as meeting new prospective clients who he often brought to the house to show them what he was working on. Obviously we had to make decisions on colours, materials etc and that was enough! Any problems we had, or the "employees" had, were referred to him and he sorted it.

I honestly don't think it could have run anywhere near as smoothly without someone like him overseeing it and I work part time.

Thank you for your feedback. Could a builder be a project manager as well then? Or am I looking for someone separate?

Yes, a builder can be a project manager though in my case he no longer did any building! The fact that he was a builder first gave him all the contacts and knowhow. I think if you look for companies that describe themselves as builders and project managers then you'll hopefully get a "whole" package. We went with ours because he was highly recommended so ask around your local area to see what other people recommend.