What Should Be Included In a Proposal From a Contractor?

It’s important, if you decide to use contractors at all when building your own home, that you have what they are being hired to do for you in writing long before they begin the home construction and in as much detail as possible.  It’s excellent if you outline all of this ahead of time verbally.  However, in order to avoid arguments, friction, and potential legal action in the course of construction, it’s important to document all agreements for service in writing and have them signed by both parties.

Obviously, there should be some discussion in the proposal of what the contractor intends to provide for you and how much money you’re going to pay in exchange for it.  However, where some home builders neglect to spend enough time is in getting as detailed a list as possible of the services a particular contractor will provide.  It’s important not just to have “install cabinets,” but, rather, a detailed discussion of where the cabinets will go in the house, exactly how many of them there will be, and what kind of wood, hinges, and glue are going to be used in the construction of the cabinets.

Probably the area of greatest contention for many homebuilders is the timeline but many forget to make sure their contractor has outlined this issue in their proposal.  Not only should the proposal be very detailed in its description of the services provided, but it should be detailed in the dates on which they’ll be provided.  This means having a start date as well as a predicted finishing date and provisions if either are not met.

In this same vein, make sure that your proposal is equipped with a “right to cancel” clause.  Such a clause is standard procedure in most states, and allows for the employer to opt out of any agreement for three weeks if the services provided by the contractor are unsatisfactory.

Finally, very few homebuilders or contractors ever run into a problem with the following information being absent from a contract but if it is, it could mean there are bigger problems with your contractor than their ability to submit a decent proposal.  The proposal ought to include a permanent address for the contractor or their company, the company’s name, the license number of the company, and as much of the contact information (phone, fax, etc.) as is necessary to promptly contact them.  If any of this information is missing, it may be indicative of a lack of professionalism.