The design is complete and you LOVE the plans for your house revised. The bids were all within budget and your building permit is hanging in the front bay window. You’ve hired the best general contractor around and the sun is shining. Life is good.
As construction begins on your renovation project, remember one thing… Expect a HUGE problem!
With every renovation project we complete, something unexpected occurs. Renovation is unpredictable. Thirteen plus years of experience has taught us to expect the unexpected. Every Fivecat Studio project is guided by a documented process that includes the expectation that something bad is going to happen. Something hiding under that thick layer of wall plaster will be completely different than we expected… and that’s OK, because we expect that.
When providing construction management services, we include this “surprise” in the construction schedule and a contingency fund in the budget. We set the expectation with our clients and explain that the contingency is part of the budget. It’s not a separate “emergency fund”. The money will be spent, we just don’t know yet where, when or on what. When the expected-unexpected occurs, we are well prepared to handle the situation with professionalism and without crisis.
Did you expect the unexpected? Click “comment” above and share YOUR stories of renovation surprise.
Reusing of some material of the house is the best example of this. Upon planning, if the planned to use a certain material to save budget but suddenly, on the process of the renovation that certain material can’t be use because it will not fit the design or something else. This will be a big unexpected thing! On the other hand, the post gave me idea of proper allocation of budget when renovating, now, I will include “unexpected/surprise” budget.