Get your building contract, site visits and payments properly managed
For homeowners and businesses about to start on site with a builder. Compare quotes from professionals who can administer your building contract, inspect the work, value payments and manage changes through to completion.
Contract administration means appointing a professional to run the building contract between you and your builder once work starts. They visit site at agreed intervals, check the work against the drawings and specification, issue instructions for any changes, value the work done before each payment, and deal with delays and extra costs in the way the contract sets out. At the end they certify completion, list defects for the builder to put right, and agree the final account. It suits projects built under a formal contract, such as one of the JCT forms, where you want someone experienced dealing with the builder for you.
How a professional can help
- Putting the contract in place: They prepare the building contract with the agreed price, programme, drawings, specification, insurance requirements and payment terms, so you and the builder both sign the same set of documents.
- Periodic site inspections: They visit at agreed stages to check progress and that the work generally matches the design, raise problems early, and record what they find in written reports.
- Valuing payments: Before each payment they assess the value of work properly completed and materials delivered to site, and issue a certificate, so you pay for progress rather than promises.
- Managing changes and extras: Any change you want, or one the site demands, is issued as a written instruction and priced as it happens, so the running cost of the project stays visible.
- Handling delays: If the builder falls behind, they assess the cause under the contract terms, decide whether more time is due, and explain what the contract allows on either side.
- Completion, defects and final account: They certify when the work is practically complete, list snagging items, inspect again at the end of the defects period and agree the final account with the builder.
Is this right for you?
- You’re about to sign a contract for a sizeable extension, renovation or new build and want it run properly.
- You can’t visit site often yourself and want a professional checking progress and quality for you.
- You want each payment to the builder to be based on a professional’s valuation of the work actually done.
- Your project already has a designer, and you’d like them, or someone else, to stay involved through the build.
How the project usually runs
- Contract documents and signing: The agreed tender, drawings, specification and programme are assembled into the contract, insurances are checked, and both parties sign before the builder takes possession of the site.
- Pre-start meeting: Everyone meets to agree site access, working hours, lines of communication, how instructions will be issued, the payment timetable and who arranges building control inspections.
- Inspections and instructions: During the build the contract administrator visits at agreed intervals, answers the builder’s design queries, issues written instructions for changes and keeps a record of decisions and progress.
- Valuations and payment certificates: At each payment stage the work is valued and a certificate issued, with any agreed retention held back, so the amount you pay follows the contract terms.
- Completion and final account: Practical completion is certified, defects are listed and fixed, retention is released at the end of the defects period, and the final account is agreed and closed.
What affects the cost
- How long the build programme runs, since most of the work happens during the construction period.
- How often you want site inspections, from key stages only to regular visits throughout the build.
- The form of contract and the size and complexity of the project, including how many specialist trades are involved.
- Whether the professional designed the scheme, or needs time to get to know a design prepared by someone else.
- How many changes you expect to make once work has started, and whether a quantity surveyor is needed to value them.
- How far the professional has to travel to reach your site.
Approvals and legal rules during the build
- The build must follow the planning permission and its conditions, and a contract administrator can flag work that drifts from the approved drawings.
- Building control checks the work against Building Regulations (building standards in Scotland). A contract administrator’s inspections are for you and don’t replace that sign-off.
- Under the CDM Regulations 2015 in Great Britain, a homeowner’s client duties normally pass to the builder, while business clients keep their own duties. Northern Ireland has similar regulations.
- In England, Wales and Scotland, the Construction Act’s statutory payment rules generally don’t apply where the client lives, or will live, in the home being worked on, so the contract’s own payment terms matter.
Questions people ask
What’s the difference between contract administration and project management?
Contract administration is a defined role under the building contract: inspecting, instructing, valuing and certifying. Project management is broader and can cover the whole project, from appointing the design team and managing the programme to coordinating approvals, budgets and suppliers. On many home projects one professional does both, but it’s worth agreeing in writing exactly which duties are included.
Will the contract administrator be on site every day?
No. Inspections are periodic, at intervals or stages agreed in the appointment, so they check the work generally rather than every brick. The builder remains responsible for the quality of its work and for supervising its own team. If you need someone on site full time, for example on a large or sensitive project, ask about a clerk of works.
Does the contract administrator act only for me?
You appoint and pay them, and they advise you. But when the contract asks them to make decisions, such as valuing work, granting extra time or certifying completion, they must act fairly between you and the builder. That fairness is part of what makes the arrangement work, because both sides can trust the certificates.
Do I need a formal contract for a home extension?
It isn’t compulsory, but a written contract that sets out the price, scope, programme, payment stages, insurance and how changes and delays are handled avoids many disputes. Standard forms written for homeowners and for minor works are widely used, and some include a role for a professional to administer them. Your professional can suggest one that suits the size of the job.
What is retention?
Retention is a small part of each payment held back under the contract. Part is usually released at practical completion and the rest at the end of the defects period, once the builder has put right any defects that have appeared. It gives the builder a reason to come back, and your contract sets the amount and timing.
What happens if the build runs late?
The contract administrator looks at why. If the delay is the builder’s responsibility under the contract, the builder may have to pay any damages for late completion that the contract sets out. If it was caused by events such as changes you asked for, they can extend the completion date. Getting this right relies on clear records kept throughout the build.
Available across the UK
Professionals cover the whole of the UK: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Planning and Building Regulations differ between the four nations, and your professional will work to the rules that apply where your property is.