A renovating project can be an exciting time for all involved. For the owner, it means sharing ideas, and communicating with the builder to create a wonderful home everyone will love to give all involved a satisfying feeling of accomplishment.
However, one common mistake is often made with projects, and it can be a real downer: When the project’s scope grows to far exceed the project budget. Simply put, champagne taste on a beer budget. There isn’t enough money or time to pay for the full scope of the project. If the project scope changes during construction, then the design team may be forced to work out compromises to meet the budget or timeframe. Often quality in the finishes can be the victim of the latter changes. Variations and latent conditions are an exception to this, and we discuss these exceptions in another blog.
To avoid this disappointment, take the time at the start of the project and fully detail the design and project scope. Create a list and schedules, and include costings of all the prime cost items and main ideas. This can be done with the designers or builders. Once the schedules are created, share them with other team members, suppliers and trades. Everyone will then know what they are working towards.