If you don’t have much experience with construction, you might not be familiar with how easy it is for a custom home to run into issues. Delays, cost increases and other annoyances can sour your joy when they happen during your construction project. Alair Homes Vancouver recommends the following seven tips to help make your construction project easier.

1. Get a Design Pro

One of the best ways to ensure that your construction project goes smoothly is to hire an architect or design pro. When you have a design pro who has a reputation for excellence, your construction project will go more smoothly. Architects know how to coordinate multiple systems to ensure your house has the best possible design. Spend the time coordinating with your design pro before construction begins so that you can avoid the need for a costly remodel later.

2. Be a Member of the Team

Some people spend more time planning their grocery lists every month than they spend planning the construction of their houses. If you want your construction project to be what you want, you should participate in the construction from the initial planning stages all the way down the line. When you are involved in the process, you can ensure that things are going to plan and that you get what you want.

3. Prioritize

When you begin planning your construction project, you need to make a list of the things that you need and want in your new building. Make sure to rank your priorities in the order of their importance. There may come a time in the project where you are forced to choose whether to sacrifice one aspect of construction in order to implement something else. When that happens, it is nice to have a list that shows exactly what your priorities are.

4. Set Aside Extra Money

If there is one constant that you can almost always expect during a construction project, something unexpected will pop up to add to your budget.  When that happens, it is nice to have money set aside to cover the expenses. You should set aside at least 10 percent of the initial estimate to cover any extra costs that crop up during construction.

5. Be Patient

Another thing that you can almost always expect during a construction project is delays. If you are impatient, it is not going to make the project go any faster. It is just going to make you feel worse. While you should do what you can to keep the project on-schedule, you have to be patient when the inevitable delays occur. To keep yourself from stressing, it is good to have a backup plan in place in case the project completion date does get pushed back.

6. Consider the Implications of Your Construction Plan

It is good to hire an architect so you can realize the implications of the decisions you make before construction begins on your custom home or remodel. Some things you do may require a specialist like a structural engineer to be called in. You may have to get special permits for some aspects of the project. An architect will be able to recognize and plan for all the implications of your construction plan.

7. Communicate with Your Team

You need to be in contact with your construction team at least once a week from the time planning begins until the project is completed. Getting a weekly status report allows you to stay on top of things and recognize quickly if there are any problems. With your careful planning and attention to detail, your custom home or remodel will go swimmingly.