How To Manage Risks When Building Your Own Home

How To Manage Risks When Building Your Own Home

Guest Post
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Deciding to build your own home is a daunting prospect. With so many things to think about, from project agreements, professional negligence claims and settlement negotiations, it’s too easy to get lost in the jungle of legal requirements before you’re even allowed to start with the actual build.

And there’s one legal implication that’s arguably the most important of them all when it comes to your own construction project; risk management. As with any project that relies heavily on people, materials and even factors such as the weather, the uncertainty towards such risks can cause even the most precise plans to crumble. The last thing you want is the future house of your dreams to overrun, fall victim to budget deficits, or even be compromised in quality.

Therefore, it’s fundamental to become as organized as possible before you embark on your ultimate DIY project.

But, if you’re in need of a little direction about where to start, here’s a summary of some of the most important things to consider when it comes to managing the risks of building your own home:

Assess, Assess, Assess

The first phase of managing the risks associated with your project is to assess the risks; from the physical risks, to those risks associated with those physically working on the project.

In terms of physical risks, it’s important to analyze all environments in which work is taking place. Health and safety is undoubtedly one of the most important considerations when dealing with any construction project. As a result, it’s vital to consider every potential risk, no matter how big or small, for every individual working on the project.
In terms of contract risks and those working on the project, they key is to stay organized. List every contract that’s required for the project, and work with key contacts on these contracts to plan strategically and realistically, for what needs to happen and when it needs to happen. A huge risk of working with contractors is the likelihood of unrealistic times, unrealistic quality standards and incorrect delegation of responsibility. Plan for these early and you can help to ensure that your project will run much more smoothly.

Assign

The next stage of managing the risks associated with your build is to assign risks to those individuals who will be responsible to them.
Put the assessments as described above into an accurate spreadsheet and assign a rating between a scale of 1 and 5, which specifies the degree of risk for each task. This then allows for easy indication of the high-risk tasks, relative the low risk projects. Prioritize and assign high-risk tasks to one individual or team, average risks to another, and low risks to others – these individuals will then be responsible for specific projects. This will ensure that one team is fully aware of the whole situation when it comes to that particular risk and can manage it accordingly.

Reduce and Eliminate

Another important aspect of managing risks is to plan, prepare and mitigate for all potential risks. This may include deciding on the best route to achieve objectives whilst minimizing any detriment to the project as a whole.

In house and on site, it’s possible to reduce and eliminate risks through simple procedures such as producing checklists, carrying out regular safety meetings and holding regular meetings with contractors.

However, you may require the expertise of construction lawyers, such as

Makdap.com.au building lawyers, who will help to prepare for your risks financially. A key consideration that can help with mitigating risks, is insurance. Construction lawyers will be able to go through with you those tasks that you have highlighted as high risk, and help you to decide on the appropriate insurance to help you should things not go to plan.

Charlotte Howard, an experienced freelance writer, wrote this article. Charlotte specializes in providing informative legal advice to homeowners.