Appointing a contractor is where residential projects quietly succeed or quietly fail. Here are the five questions that separate the firms who can deliver a £2m+ scheme from those who will say they can.
One. Who leads the commercial? On any project of scale, cost control sits with a senior commercial lead, not the site manager. Ask who that person is, what their role is on your project, and how often they issue valuations. A contractor without a named commercial lead is not equipped for this value.
Two. What is the contract form, and are they fluent in it? JCT Standard, JCT D&B, NEC, bespoke. Each form allocates risk differently. A contractor who cannot immediately describe the contract conditions they want, and why, is not experienced at this tier.
“A contractor who answers the five questions in writing, in the first meeting, is the contractor you want.”
Three. What does their weekly reporting look like? Ask to see a sample weekly report. Real firms have templates. Programme, cost, AIs, snags, safety, photos. A firm that says 'we'll work that out together' is about to be a problem.
Four. Who is on site, named? There should be a site manager, a project manager, a QS, and access to a contract administrator or equivalent. Ask for names, CVs, and a signed commitment on who will be on your project, not who might be.
Five. What is their rectification-period response? After practical completion, the contractor is on the hook for defects for 12 months. Ask how they handle callbacks. Who picks up, how fast, what is covered. The best firms see this as an extension of the original appointment; the worst disappear the day the cheque clears.
HXL answers all five in the first meeting, in writing, before you commit to anything. If any contractor you are considering does not, that is your information.
