How to Choose Contractors: Expert Opinion

After you have chosen a designer and started creating the project of your dream home, it's time to find contractors who will bring your vision to life. How not to make a mistake in the selection, designer Ekaterina Krymova told us.

Ekaterina KrymovaDesignerEkaterina Krymova is an art historian, interior designer, and executive director of Art Studio LC. General contractor with their own team

A general contractor is a serious person who usually heads their own construction company. They may have more than one team under the leadership of an experienced foreman.

Advantages:

• The company bears legal responsibility for construction work.
• The foreman appears on the construction site every day, which guarantees quick resolution of any issues.
• A general contractor rarely exceeds the agreed budget.
• Work quality is at a high level.
• You will have the schedule of work and payments in your hands.

Disadvantages:

• High cost of work.
• You are not protected from force majeure in the work. An experienced general contractor will resolve issues directly with the designer, not involving the client or issuing additional estimates. Unfortunately, these are rare cases: more often, mistakes are blamed on the foreman's oversight on site (he may even be fired for it). However, who will pay for the redo remains an open question.

2. Foreman with their own team

Usually, this is a narrow specialist who decides to form their own team from similar specialists with whom they previously worked. Simply, they know how to organize the process because they understand construction from within.

Advantages:

• The foreman controls the workers, coordinates work processes on site, and knows all stages of construction.
• The foreman can draw up a schedule if asked.
• The foreman is present on site every day and can immediately report any problematic moments that require urgent decisions.
• Work quality is at a good level.

Disadvantages:

• High cost of work.
• Because a foreman often becomes a narrow specialist worker, problems may arise with reading construction documentation. This can lead to complications that delay the renovation.
• Additional estimates often appear: a brigade leader may not always anticipate all expenses.
• It sometimes happens that a brigade leader shifts responsibility for the work done by their specialists to someone else.

Request a full estimate for the renovation immediately to avoid additional costs and understand how much it might cost.3. Generalist Contractors

Another option – contractors who work independently from teams and for themselves. They claim they can do everything: from rough (demolition) to engineering (building new walls, plumbing and electrical work) to finishing (tiling, wallpapering, installing lights).

Advantages:

• Relatively low cost of work.
• Work duration: since contractors work for themselves, they are motivated to finish your project quickly and move on to the next job.
• If you're lucky and the team is truly professional, project implementation will be fast and of good quality.

Disadvantages:

• Relatively low quality of work.
• Different understanding of what constitutes a quality renovation.
• Not all contractors understand design plans and project specifications.
• It follows from the above – they may say it's impossible to do what the designer and/or client wants. For example, cut larger-format tiles at 45 degrees.

Find out from contractors what documents they can work with. Many don’t know how to read blueprints and ask for pictures or visualizations.4. Contractor teams who don't speak Russian

Today, in new and rapidly growing districts, many contractors come from nearby, often southern, countries for work. You won't have time to look around before receiving a mass of offers about renovation.

Advantages:

• High speed of construction process: workers don’t like to drag out renovations.
• Low cost of work.

Disadvantages:

• Contractors often exceed the estimate.
• Language barrier.
• Low quality of work.

The editorial team thanks the Design and Interior Decoration School for Chez Moi lovers for helping prepare this material.