Jennifer Sheahan: How to choose a contractor and go through the tender process

Your contractor oversees your renovation. You need to trust they will deliver to a high standard, within your budget and on time

Jennifer Sheahan with her rescue dog Perry outside her house in Rathmines after renovation.  Picture: Moya Nolan 

My number-one piece of advice when planning a renovation is to choose a good contractor. Simple, right? Well, no — it has been near-impossible for the past two years, but things are easing off and availability is starting to open up again.

The majority of renovators are doing it for the first time and don’t have deep knowledge of or expertise in the construction industry. This makes choosing a good contractor difficult, because you may not know what to look for, or even where to look.

Your main contractor will oversee your entire renovation project and you need to trust that they will deliver to a high standard, within your budget and timeframe. Here are my best tips for going through the tender process and choosing the right contractor.

WHAT YOU WANT

Regular readers are well used to me saying this but before you do anything, you need to decide what you want. This can be a bit of a chicken-and-egg process because budget will dictate what you can have, but my advice is to create a wishlist of everything and scale back from there. You should define your non-negotiables and decide which areas you’re willing to compromise on should it come to that.

At this stage, you may need an architect, especially if you require planning permission or if there will be significant structural changes to your home such as an extension (check riai.ie for tips and to find an architect). Your architect will be able to translate your wishlist into a “bill of quantities”, usually in collaboration with a quantity surveyor. If you do not have an architect, you can hire a QS directly to do this for you and to manage the costs throughout the project (find one on scsi.ie).

TENDERING

The next step is to take your itemised wishlist (or BoQ) and invite contractors to submit a quote. This step is crucial because you can decide who you invite. I strongly advise asking for recommendations here — ask as many people as you can who they have worked with and whether they would recommend them.

Ask them what they liked and disliked about working with their contractor. If you don’t know anyone in real life, find people online — follow local instagram renovation accounts and ask them via message if they have recommendations. (Not everyone will be able to reply, but many will be happy to offer advice.) 

When choosing contractors — and architects for that matter — I recommend finding someone who has already done similar jobs to yours. Personally, I searched for an architect and a contractor who had done many small home renovations because they came with ideas and learnings from similar projects that enhanced my own renovation.

REVIEWING QUOTES

The exterior of Jennifer's house before renovation.

Once you have received bids from contractors, you get to decide who to work with. Do not just pick the lowest quote and be done with it! Carefully review the quotes that you receive and make sure everything you want is included. 

There will be some estimates — when you see the term “PC sum”, that is the prime cost sum of the likely materials plus contractor costs required to complete that portion of your project. 

For example, you might see a PC sum for flooring, and you should understand that the final cost may be higher if you choose an expensive brand of solid wood flooring, or lower if you choose the most affordable laminate.

You may also see some items that you don’t require — for example, I took out a line item for a wired house alarm because I knew I was going to install my own wireless system. This is the time to negotiate and reach a firm agreement with your chosen contractor on every line item in the quote before signing any contracts.

COMMUNICATION

Jennifer's property during construction.

Working with a contractor is a business relationship like any other that requires trust based on good communication. If you find someone that you communicate very well with and comes recommended, it is worth choosing to work with them if possible — even if their quote is higher. You are likely to save money overall by avoiding delays or misunderstandings due to poor communication. 

I also recommend asking selected contractors if they can provide references — my own contractor (JEMI construction) put me in touch with people whose houses he had renovated and also took me to his current site so that I could see first-hand examples of his work. This gave me a lot of confidence that he would deliver to the standard I wanted.

SPECIALISTS

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) provides a range of grants for insulation and renewable energy solutions for homes. If you want to include something like solar panels, air-to-water heaters, or upgraded insulation for your home then check what’s available on seai.ie for options and application guidelines. 

This will dictate your choice of contractor because many of these grants are dependent on having a registered installer complete the work — seai.ie has a list of those registered. Make sure you choose someone from this list and discuss your intention to apply for a grant with them before committing to the work.

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