5 Protective Measures To Take For Your Self-Build
Thinking of building your own home? Self-builds have become increasingly popular in recent years - they allow you to effectively design your dream home and can often be more affordable than buying an existing home of the same quality. However, there are certain risks to consider when building a house that shouldn’t be overlooked. Below are 5 ways you can protect yourself against these risks.
Get full planning permission
When undertaking any construction project, it’s a good idea to obtain planning permission. Your local planning committee can order to have your self-build demolished if it goes against local planning restrictions (either that or you will receive a large fan). By finding out exactly what restrictions are in place, you can build your home around these restrictions. It’s often best to look into any restrictions before purchasing a plot of land to build on. After purchasing the land and designing your home, you should then apply for planning permission before starting any construction work to make sure that your design is acceptable. Getting the approval of your neighbors is also recommended.
Take out self-build insurance
Self-build insurance can financially cover you against various disasters that may occur during the self-build process. This includes the injury of any workers on your site, as well as any damage that occurs to the building during construction. Some self-build insurance schemes may even provide a 10 year warranty on top of this so that any potential snags can be fixed. There are various companies online that provide this cover.
Check if contractors are insured
Rather than taking out insurance yourself, you may be able to cover yourself simply by hiring contractors who are fully insured themselves. Many contractors will have public liability insurance, which covers you against any potential injuries caused to anyone or any potential damage caused to anyone’s property during the build. It’s also worth checking if they provide a performance bond for construction of your self-build. This is a guarantee of sorts that will ensure you are paid compensation if for some reason construction is not completed. Hopefully, you won’t need these forms of cover, but it’s useful to have them just in case.
Physically secure your site
While your home is being built, it could be important to make sure that the site is adequately secured so that there is no risk of vandalism, theft of equipment or squatting. This could include putting up security cameras or building a temporary anti-climb barrier around the site. This is particularly worthwhile when it comes to construction projects in urban areas.
Budget for the unexpected
There are all kinds of unexpected setbacks to be wary of when building a home from bad weather to delays in shipping materials. This can result in having to spend extra money that you may not have budgeted for. For this reason, you should try not to have too tight a budget. Having some cash spare will help to cover any problems so that you don’t end up running out of money mid-construction.