We all love home improvements

This is obvious when you look at how many TV shows feature rebuilds, revamps and redecoration.  It’s great to sit back and relax with a cuppa as you watch your favourite show, listen to the celebrity designers and get all excited about the big reveal at the end of the programme.  However, when it comes to our own homes, deciding what to do presents a bit more of a challenge to most householders.
To begin with, you need to agree with your partner on what to do:

• Move to a larger home
• Make the most of what you have with some repurposing and redecoration of some of your rooms
• Build an extension as a way of creating extra space

There are so many options available, that choosing the one that will best suit you and your family can feel like being between a rock and a hard place!  

Choosing a builder or other contractor can be fraught with risk and stress

For those who decide to build an extension, taking the decision is just the first step along the road to a successful outcome.  You need to choose exactly what you intend to do and how you intend to do it.  Chances are that you’ll need to engage the services of builders and other contractors to help achieve your goal.  This is where it can become difficult – choosing a builder or other contractor can be fraught with risk and stress, keeping you up at night as you worry that the builders and other professional tradesmen you hire may not be the right people for the job.

In most households, there needs to be a clear agreement when it comes to what sort of work they want to be done and who they will hire to do it.  This adds an extra level of stress, especially if each partner has differing ideas.  Agreeing on what type of extension, how big it should be and what sort of roof to have installed takes time and once an agreement has been reached, there’s another hurdle to overcome!  Who will be hired to build the extension?

We’ve all heard horror stories of homeowners who have had an extension built, only to discover that it hasn’t been built to spec or doesn’t comply with building regulations.  When things go wrong, an extension can turn into a money pit which is why it’s essential to hire a building company you can trust to carry out the work.  

Let’s look at some options

• Some people choose a building company by asking around friends and family for recommendations – it’s a great idea, but we all have different opinions and attitudes and what suited your Great Aunt Mary might not suit you at all.  
• Some people will have a friend (or even a friend of a friend) who is in the building trade which may seem like the ideal solution. However, so many householders have come to a cropper by hiring a friend (and perhaps hoping to benefit from “mates rates”) that it risks not only ruining your hopes of home improvement but ruining friendships too.

Avoid the Pitfalls

So, how do you avoid the pitfalls and choose a reputable building company that you can trust to work on your most precious asset, your home?

Building regulations, Codes of Practice and Certified Qualifications have all been designed to ensure that householders can have confidence in a company to work on their homes. Parts of industry have set up registers of companies which can be used to check the credentials of their members.  Any company that applies for being accepted as a trusted member of the register.   

Membership of CIRI can be viewed by construction companies as a sought-after badge of excellence – proof that they are qualified and competent, adhere to health and safety legislation, comply with building regulations and can be trusted to do the work properly, every time.  They value their membership as proof positive that they are a legitimate company with the qualifications, skills and expertise to deliver on building projects of all sorts.

How CIRI can help

Choosing a construction company from CIRI can take away so much of the stress associated with having an extension built on your home.  Using a registered  builder/contractor will deliver some of the following benefits:

• A registered construction company will contract with, manage, coordinate and supervise the project, a vital issue as the job is likely to need work done by multiple trade subcontractors.
• An experienced registered builder/contractor should have a network of connections to benefit you – sub-contractors who should also be CIRI registered and can be trusted to do their part of the job efficiently, effectively and safely.
• A registered builder/contractor should carry appropriate insurance coverage which represents an extra layer of protection for you as a homeowner.
• A registered builder/contractor should be able to provide you with a contractual guarantee for the work done on your home.
• Working with a registered builder/contractor can save time as the job will go smoothly when carried out by somebody who has experience of construction schedules and is aware of the project’s critical path requirements.
• The job is likely to be handled efficiently and by somebody with the experience and skills necessary to carry out the work to a high standard.
• A high-quality extension built by an experienced registered builder/contractor will need less maintenance and fewer repairs during its lifetime.  It will also add to the resale value of your home, representing an investment in the long term.

If you’re in the market for an extension for your home (or any other building work, for that matter), the bullet points above should be all that’s needed to persuade you that hiring a registered professional makes sense.  Hiring a trusted professional with a good reputation is essential if you want to approach your home improvement project with confidence, safe in the knowledge that it will be completed to your satisfaction and enhance your home in the future as well as right now.  

Search CIRI

If you’re looking for registered builders/contractors in Ireland, the Construction Industry Register Ireland (CIRI) has a list of competent builders that can carry out the work for you.  CIRI is supported by the Government and recognised as the number one online resource for consumers looking for construction services.  CIRI’s standards are high and construction professionals of all types must meet the strict eligibility requirements before they can appear on the CIRI Register.  All builders registered with CIRI are regarded as competent for projects consistent with their registration profile.  This means that you, as a homeowner,  on your appointment of a competent builder, your project will be completed to an excellent standard and will be awarded a Certificate of Compliance on completion.    Search CIRI today.