Marbella
Land Specialists, Plots of Land Costa del Sol, Land for Sale Marbella,
Spain
Registered
Members
The
Builder & The Architect | Costa del Sol
If
you can arrange a credit check on the builder it could save you
much heartache in the future. Regrettably a minority of builders
has created an unfortunate reputation for the building trade in
general; a few have been known to declare bankruptcy half way through
a job.
Stage
payments should be controlled according to a schedule laid down
in the building contract. Under no circumstances should the builder
be allowed to be ahead on payment. At various stages in the building,
his work will be inspected, if it is up to standard then payment
for work completed is authorised. It's worth establishing the total
number of men employed by the builder in his business. A one man
and his dog operation could take a very long time to finish the
job!
Ensure
that the building contract is drawn up by someone other than the
builder and is as comprehensive as possible. Builders have an irritating
habit of adding extras, as the work progresses. Beware an additional
wall, a modified window, an extra archway or a new architectural
feature will be regarded as an extra and is likely to be expensive!
Time
Scales for Building | Costa del Sol
Generally speaking from
the time the site is cleared ready for laying out the foundations
an average sized house (250m² - 350m²) should be completed
within eight to 10 months. Having said that there are other bureaucratic
factors, which could delay the project.
Building
Licences and Planning permissions can sometimes take an extraordinarily
long time to complete. This can be due to a number of factors depending
whether you are building on Rustic land (outline planning permission
from the government department can take six months or more) or Urban
land (anything from two to six months, depending on the Town Hall.)
Sometimes,
if you are lucky your builder or architect will have a colleague
or friend in the appropriate department and sometimes this can help
speed things up!
Architect
| Professional Team
Choose your architect carefully and ensure he
works for you. Often architects are retained by builders, either
in house or independently. For your own security it is very important
that your architect has your interests and your interests only in
mind. The builder should follow the architect's plans and directions
to the letter.
The
architect is one of the key people to be involved in your project.
He should be available to discuss every detail of your plan, several
meetings may be necessary before the project is finalised and the
plans produced. Language can sometimes prove to be a problem; if
your architect can speak your language this is a great advantage.
