Some Good Advice

I am always seeking advice on my building project. As much as I can I keep asking as many people as I can on what they have by way of advice on this project. If they had the opportunity to build another house, what would they do differently. One persons advice I have always adhered to is that from Mrs B. Today I went to see her at her offices at Kwame Nkrumah Circle. Actually I have not seen her for quite a while. My visit was a surprise, so we were both very glad to see each other. After I had settled down in her office and quenched my thirst with a cold drink, she asked me about my building project and how things were getting on.

After filling her in on where I was currently with the project, she offered me two crucial pieces of advice.
1. Engage the architect in your building project. Obviously, this will come as an extra cost, but it will benefit you from doing this. Her reasoning for this was that you [the person who has engaged the services of a building contractor] gets the added assurance that the builder follows the architectural drawings to every detail. Initially you will introduce the architect to the builder or vice versa and from then on the architect makes regular trips to your building site to make sure that what has been drawn is actually what is being built. And if there any changes you want to make to the building plan, the architect will assist the builder in how best to make the changes. She went on to mention that there have been cases where by builders have not quite understood the architects drawing and subsequently messed up the building thus creating an extra cost to the owner in rectifying the mistake[s]. With the architect making regular visits to your building site, at least you had that added security that an extra pair of eyes is monitoring what is being built.

2. If you are like me and live outside Ghana, then it will be prudent to invest in renting a one bedroom self contained apartment for a year. I say a year because in my case I estimate that the project will be completed in one year. This is a small price you will need to pay for peace of mind. Initially it is OK to seek that help from a friend or relative to provide a roof over your head whiles you monitor your project. However this cannot be a service you can rely your relative or friend to provide when you need to return to Ghana and carry on with the project. On your next trip to Ghana and when you need to stay with your friend or relative, do not be disappointed to be informed that the room you were hoping to sleep in has been given to another visitor or is being used for something else.