PROJECT MANAGEMENT & WORKING TOGETHER

Experiencing a house extension or home renovation in Auckland can be both exciting and nerve-wrecking at the same time. It’s exciting because you are transforming your dwelling into a dream home, but the potential for things to go wrong can also keep you awake at night. Here are some tips on how we try and make the process smoother with our Project management.

ESTABLISH YOUR BUDGET

At the very beginning of communication, it’s essential that you are clear about your renovation budget. Although you may feel a bit awkward about it, or fear that it will inflate the price you pay, there is absolutely nothing to be gained from being vague about your budget. Additionally, there is nothing worse than learning a project will end up costing you much more than you planned. This enables us to plan out your project much more effectively and helps avoid setbacks or costly surprises later you can discuss this with our Project management.

We may even be able to make suggestions that will save you money!

BE CLEAR ABOUT YOUR REQUIREMENTS

Your Project Manager will help guide you through project materials options, however ultimately it is your decision on what to purchase, its quality and cost, so before your project starts, so it’s best to be very clear about what you want done and to what standard. By providing a clear scope of work, quality expectations, timeline and overall targets, you can limit the potential that something will go awry by making sure that your Project Manager knows exactly what is expected. Once we understand your expectations, budget and timeline we can form a contract to do the work.
For projects over $30,000 Inc Gst a Building Contract is required by law. This will include an agreed timeline, costs, individual milestones, and desired completion date. It is critical that you take some time to go over this contract very carefully. 

SHOW EXAMPLES

A great way to share your renovation ideas with your Project Manager is to provide some photos of other homes or equipment that capture what you want to happen to your renovation. These can be from home improvement magazines, design websites, or even Pinterest, and can help us understand what you’d like to see and whether it can be accomplished on your budget.
If you cannot find any images that show what you want, don’t panic. A hand-drawn sketch can still work wonders, and our Project Managers are used to working with clients to implement their renovation ideas.

COMMUNICATION

Once your renovation project has begun, you should keep in regular contact with your Project Manager. You’ll be provided their contact details so you can call or email them directly.
We think it’s best to have at least once a week communication with the Project Manager, either on the job site or by phone. You should discuss the best time to call and check in beforehand to avoid potentially interrupting their progress and you can even propose a set time weekly to chat so that it becomes a habit to share these updates. Your Project management will also invite you to site to go over progress on occasion, and for certain milestones, you’ll need to be available on site for signing off our progress.

When speaking to your Project Manager, it is great to ask questions. You can ask them exactly what work has been completed, or what they will be working on next week. This enables you to get a clear picture of how your renovation is progressing and whether or not it is going smoothly.

Like any relationship, communication is critical. We believe in being proactive where at a minimum, we chat at least once a week, have a regular face to face site meeting, selected Milestone meetings and face to face progress sign off to make your renovation a smooth process.

MAKE SURE YOU’RE AVAILABLE

Just in the same way as you want your Project management to keep you updated, you should be easy to reach as well. You could have planned your home renovation meticulously, but the unfortunate truth is that uncertainties and unexpected issues will often pop up with renovations. In the event that this happens, your Project Manager will need to be able to get in touch with you before proceeding with the work. If they cannot reach you, this can cause frustration and costly delays.
You should make sure that your Project Manager knows exactly how to reach you for both standard project questions and any potential emergencies. 

THE RENOVATING PROCESS

For most renovations, the process of doing the work is the same for whatever builder/renovation company you decide to work with; Quote – Build- Handover. How your project is put together is a unique as you are with us having to understand your goals and expectations in order to achieve the desired results. Our goal is to make renovating enjoyable with you enjoying the transformation. If all parties can understand what is needing to be done, what the cost may be, and what each other’s expectations are, we can make the renovation process the best experience possible.

Why not talk to us?