Getting Started

Acting as Your Own General Contractor

It will probably come as no surprise that we highly discourage people from acting as their own general contractor. Much like you should not perform surgery on yourself most people who try and act as their own general contractor end up spending more money and getting less for it than if they had hired a quality general contractor (builder).

Acting as your own general contractor is very time consuming. If you have full time job and a family good luck trying to balance the time spent between the three. A big issue is that you need to be on site when the trades are working and that is tough to do when you are supposed to be at your own job. If you do act as your own general contractor you can look forward to lots of nights of doing material takeoffs, preparing and editing your job schedule, and processing invoices.

Another issue with acting as your own general contractor is that you probably lack knowledge of current building codes, governing laws and regulations, as well as experience working with the numerous amounts of specialty trade contractors that will be needed for construction. There is no shame in being ignorant of these matters since you are not a contractor, but learning on the job can be expensive and it can significantly slow the completion of the project. Multiple delays usually result in you paying more interest on your construction loan and potentially a fee to extend your loan if get far behind.

More than the time, and additional expense, the biggest issue with acting as your own general contractor is not knowing how to deal with specialty trade contractors that will be needed for construction and how to inspect their work to make sure it is correct. Unfortunately there are disreputable trade contractors who prey on people who try to do themselves. Not being licensed or having insurance, requesting unjustified deposits, not showing up on time (or at all), not doing the contracted work or doing a poor job, are all examples of how disreputable contractors can abuse a person acting as their own general contractor.

If you are a glutton for punishment and really want to try and act as your own general contractor there are some potential advantages that in fairness we should disclose. First you will save money by not paying the margin on the cost of labor and materials to a general contractor, generally 12% to 20%. The potential savings could be significant, but also comes with the risks discussed above. The second advantage is that through the process you will lean and have knowledge of all aspects of your home. You will quickly find out that building a home is like making an omelet. It does not look pretty during the process but if you do it right it sure does taste good in the end.

The final advantage to acting as your own general contractor is the pride and sense of accomplishment you will feel when your home is complete. It is hard to put a price on that. If you do decide to give it a try, be sure to do your homework when hiring specialty trade contractors. Review the article on selecting a builder/contractor for some tips and consider asking your attorney for help.