We are hiring Lindsey Johnson of Johnson Construction as our contractor. We chose him based on three things:

• has built two other homes designed by our architect, and came recommended by him.
  
• We were able to see and evaluate his work.
  
• Lindsey was given high praise by sub-contractors and county inspectors.
  

Kay and I think it is very important to hire a LOCAL contractor. That is not to say that some out-of-area builders haven't built some fine homes here at the coast. But, let's face it, we live in a rain forest. With an average rainfall approaching 100 inches a year, and with hurricane force winds battering us during fierce winter storms, a contractor MUST be familiar with building in this brutal -- but beautiful -- environment.

The last piece of the lending package that we needed to send to our lender was the written contract between us and Lindsey Johnson, our contractor. As you know, contracts can be short or long; very specific or very general; favoring one side or the other. From our perspective, we wanted to start with a memorandum of understanding which addressed our concerns about the building process.

For us, the important things were:  that the contractor show up most every day, that he supervise all subs closely, that he spend the "draw" money only on our project (not his last one or a future one), the site be kept reasonably clean and undamaged, no mean job-dogs, finish reasonably on time with no big screw-ups and complete the "punch list" (those little end-of-the-trail items) in a reasonable time frame.

We have looked at several contract forms prepared by attorneys and have not been able to accept some of the language. Our best advice is to go to an attorney who is familiar with construction and tell her that you want an "even-handed" agreement that will bring light to the process, not threats. The issues of who insures what, what the time lines are going to be, who is actually going to do the work on the property, how will payment be made and what will happen if you have a dispute with the contractor all need to be addressed. The contractor should give you a list of the cost break-downs for the construction.

Our architect, Andrew Montgomery, provided us and Lindsey Johnson with a book of specifications for the house. We all knew what was expected. It is a real process to get the vision of all the participants to "jive" and become a reality. We have been so fortunate so far to have great people to work with.

Web site by Webmistress, Inc.