Builder for shell only

[Bluebaron]

Has anyone contracted a builder for shell only?

 

Im looking at getting a builder in to get me from plot to roof on. Im happy to take over for windows/doors and internals. 
 

I’m wondering if this would cost a lot more than getting it done separately. Basically I could arrange for a groundwork’s company then try and find a bricklaying team and scaffolding. Then finally a carpenter and roofer but I assume a builder would have good local contacts and therefore could negotiate better prices than me and even with his “bit on the top”, this would work out broadly similar?

 

 

 

[Nickfromwales]

It’s perfectly doable, but the time investment up front needs to be you researching all local builders to see who’s good / bad / ugly (aka expensive) and doing your own due diligence on them. 
 

Go to see jobs, insist on speaking to previous clients etc etc.

 

Online reviews mean very little as most can pay to have bad reviews removed. If you’re lazy here, expect things to go less than great, however if you invest well now it should be reasonably plain sailing. 
 

Ask that they quote comprehensively with a full breakdown of each element, and for a payment schedule. As about building control signing off at certain stages, and the payments being made immediately after you have evidence that these goals have been met.

 

The only person to cover your arse here, is you. 

 

[nod]

M

[Nickfromwales]

2 minutes ago, nod said:

M

A man of few words lol. 😂

[ProDave]

We did this.  Using a local company I knew and trusted (had worked with them before)  but they did foundations and timber frame build and errect so it would be their problem if the frame did not fit the foundations.

[Conor]

Lots of people do this. We had one contractor do the foundation, walls and steel structure. We then hunted down individual contractors for the rest. You save about 25% on a turn key service but you take on more risk.

[jack]

19 hours ago, Bluebaron said:

Has anyone contracted a builder for shell only?

 

Im looking at getting a builder in to get me from plot to roof on. Im happy to take over for windows/doors and internals. 
 

I’m wondering if this would cost a lot more than getting it done separately. Basically I could arrange for a groundwork’s company then try and find a bricklaying team and scaffolding. Then finally a carpenter and roofer but I assume a builder would have good local contacts and therefore could negotiate better prices than me and even with his “bit on the top”, this would work out broadly similar?

 

From ~10 years of reading BuildHub threads, one general principle pops up again and again when it comes to building problems: the junction where one trade's work meets another. 

 

The timber frame company's work isn't square? Foundation guy's fault. Plasterboarding guy having trouble? Timber frame guy's fault. Windows a problem? Supplier says it's the installer's fault, installer says it's the supplier's fault. Roof issues? Roofer says the blockwork isn't level and it's the best they can do, take it up with the brickie.

 

Costs aside, for my money there's huge value in being able to point at a potential problem and identify the one person who is responsible. I suspect that in some cases there are fewer chances of problems if it's all the responsibility of one entity, because there's less temptation to cut corners at each stage.

 

If I wanted a shell built, I'd get someone in to do it. That's what we did. And of course, the two biggest subsequent problems were windows and roofing. The window installers blamed the framing company for some of their difficulties, even though they'd approved all measurements and external battening before arriving. The roofers blamed the timber frame company for ongoing leaks before the house was completely watertight. The leaks turned out to be 100% the fault of the roofers.

[ProDave]

The above post is good, but it does come back to how good the trades are, and were they recommended?

 

Our builders first built the foundation to the plans.  Then they built the timber frame.  But they did not just build the frame from the plans, they came and measured the foundations, even though they had just built them, to make sure the frame was built to the size of the foundations.

 

Later we employed the same builder to supply and fit the windows.  Again they had built the frame to the drawings, but before ordering the windows they came and measured each window and door opening.

 

We had no nasty surprises because they checked and re checked everything.

[joth]

Further to what @jack lists as challenges, a variation is to do weathertight + airtight shell, so include windows and roof in the shell-builder's contract. This way you can specify airtightness and weathertightness requirements on that shell.  Although they've lost some popularity, MBC Timber Frames offer this service. I'm sure others do too.

 

Edited Monday at 11:56 by jack
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