Paying a general contractor for a remodeling...help!

[charlez]

Hi there,
I have a condo in Miami wich needs a remodeling. I know you can give all the budget to a GC so he manages everything, materials, labour... But i'm not confortable with this "carte blanche" kind of deal (bear with me, i'm from France and the US requirements, GC, permits, are totally new for me). Also, i'm not fond of not having control of what material is bought, at what price, etc ...

Anyway, do you know if it's possible to have a fixed price contract with a GC, just to manage the labour for me along with the permits, so i can buy myself, with the GC approval of course, the material (tiles, kitchen cabinet, bathrooms stuff, etc) ???

Good or bad idea ?

What i don't understand is how can a general contractor make a bid for a project when he don't know exactely what material will be used ? Does that mean in that case clients have to give him all the material references they want installed (model of tiles, kitchen's cabinet etc) ? Pretty hard to decide everything in advance...

PS : Sorry for the grammatical mistakes ! :p

[concretemasonry]

If you do have a good plan and contract, you can get a reasonably accurate price. - If not, the term "carte blanche" and trust in the individual would describe the arrangement.

If you buy and supplying materials, this opens the door because a contractor has no control over the supply and delivery and the specifics of the installation. An example would be kitchen cabinets that are though of as being a part of the kitchen and condo in the U.S., but in France, they are very often treated as "furniture" and moved with the resident. Setting up a modular kitchen can be much cheaper than typical American kitchen.

[Don_P]

The GC can bid giving "allowances" for materials. He may pick mid grade materials for bidding and you can upgrade, knowing this is a place you are altering the budget.

He can also bid "cost plus". He then gives a labor bid and adds the cost of materials to that, or you provide them.

He can also work "time and materials". You retain him by the hour and pay for materials.

[charlez]

Thanks a lot for the infos. I'll try to negociate a package based on the "time and materials" formula. best regards

[ChuckDylan]

I know I'm likely late on this issue, but here is my two cents:

Knowing all the specifications is vital to achieving an accurate estimate. Spending the proper time on the design phase, including picking out all of the vital materials (type of tile, what bathroom fixtures to use, etc.) is simply good common sense. This should be the first of all the steps. Then the contractor can estimate the project as he knows what he is building/installing.

You are totally at risk going time and materials. Sometimes this is necessary, but rarely.

I'm a contractor and have been in the business for 34 years and I would advice everyone to take the time to thoroughly design a project as far as possible and seek fixed bids off this plan. Trust me.

ChuckDylan