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Independent Assessments
Who is truly looking out for your interests?
RSD Resolution Services is hired by you to evaluate your project. Our only interest is insuring that you get what you want, and what you are paying for.
More often than many realize, there are questionable practices used in the construction of beautiful homes. Sometimes it is by reason of budget constraints, sometimes lack of integrity and sometimes it comes from a honest lack of experience or knowledge on the part of your contractor or trades person.
Whatever is going on, we have 40+ years of experience in the construction industry - all available for you. That experience spans all the disciplines of home construction from renovations and starter homes, to multi-million dollar homes, multi-family projects, as well as small to medium sized commercial projects
Reports
Unfortunately, many dream projects degenerate to CONFLICT and all out war! The best weapon is INFORMATION: correct, well documented and credible INFORMATION. The right INFORMATION will save you time, stress and cash.
RSD Resolution Services will provide that INFORMATION. Our experience in writing professional technical reports provides you the best results for backing your claims. Our clients have saved thousands in legal costs as a result of having well prepared and informative reports from RSD Resolution Services. More importantly, they have gained good knowledge and understanding to make good choices moving forward.
Information on Construction Processes
INFORMATION is the best insurance policy a person can have on a construction project, whether a new home or an extensive renovation. Problems arise from misinformation or no information at all. Often they become very expensive if they are allowed to develop unchecked. The more you understand the PROCESSES involved in creating a beautifully finished product, the less likely you are to face serious problems.
Your contractor will give you the information he/she wants you to have; very few will give you information that may be disadvantageous to them or their business, whether it is in your best interest or not. This is the VALUE in having an experienced non-partisan individual come along side to give you the whole picture. INFORMATION goes a long way to prevent misunderstandings that lead to conflict and ultimately unnecessary costs.
Blog
Monday September 28, 2015
Reducing the Incidence of Conflict in Renovations
A couple of weeks ago I had written a piece on the value of Independent Assessments when you feel that all is not well with your home project. Always, when mopping up after the fact, there is a greater cost than taking steps to prevent the issues in the first place. The old adage goes like this, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." The reason this saying has never gotten old is simply because it is true.
Unfortunately, I have seen customers spend thousands of dollars on legal fees on a dispute over $10,000. Even if you gain the concessions you sought, at that point you have just given the money you saved to your lawyer and made him a happy camper. Most folks seem happier to do that than give it to the contractor they have an issue with. While this emotional response isn't necessarily in their best interests it certainly feels better. Even though an Independent Assessment is not a replacement for a lawyer, it will go a long way to ensuring that you know where you really stand and how to protect your assets. If necessary, it can provide your with important resources you can take to your lawyer when required. Having someone come in who isn't emotionally invested in your project will help with sorting fact from feeling, and will help articulate the truth behind the emotion.
But how do you prevent your project from getting to the point where you need to resolve a dispute in the first place? Well, if its a renovation you want to do on the "ole" house, then your first challenge is to figure out what it is you want to do and define it as best you can. One of the most significant issues with the "basic" renovation is that a home-owner gets an idea to renovate then calls around looking for a contractor to do it for them before they really know what they want. An "idea" can be interpreted in as many different ways as there are people involved and you will find as many opinions about what and how you should do it as you will find contractors. This means that the less you define for them, the more varied the quotes will be and it will be less likely that you will actually get what you had envisioned for the price you were given.
If it is so important to define your project, how do you do that? There are a few ways to go about defining your project. If you have the time, go to the home shows, visit various suppliers of cabinets, flooring, plumbing and lighting fixtures. Magazines can also be a valuable resource, however, make sure that the ideas presented are relevant to the Southern Alberta climate and codes! There are a wealth of ideas in those sources that you can filter through and find something you like. If you don 't have the time for self study, then find an interior designer to help you with putting together a "package" that works for you. In a modest renovation, spending $2500-3000 on an interior designer will likely save you in construction at least the equivalent to the cost of engaging them. If, however, you are looking at a renovation that you expect will cost more than $150,000 then I would strongly suggest finding someone who can do some design work for you to define your project before you commit to starting. This will take at up to 6 months from start to finish, the more complex the project, the more time it will take. If the design component of your project isn't done right, everything is starting on the wrong foot!
In the case of an extensive renovation, some contractors can offer an in house design service and this can be a good thing. This will typically cost less than using an architectural firm. It does mean that you need to vet your contractors and make your choice before you begin the design work. However, this can simplify and expedite your project if you can find a contractor you feel you can work with and you can trust.
With renovations there are a lot of unknowns, and anyone telling you that they can do it for this price or that price and do so very confidently are likely blowing you a lot of smoke. Look for a contractor that is willing to be honest and lets you know that there will likely be unknowns and assures you that they will come to you with it as soon as they find something unexpected (make sure that is written in the agreement).
Back to the "ounce of prevention," when you have gotten of quotes from various contractors, going over that with an independent party who is experienced in quoting and renovations can give you valuable insight. That independent set of eyes can find the inconsistencies, missing information, or limitations that will affect the outcome or price. It can also assist with one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle, expectations. Having a qualified person sit down with you and go through the quotes and clarify things and also understand what your expectations are, and whether you are on the same page as the contractors you are considering. For just a few hundred dollars worth of time from an experienced, non biased person, you can steer clear of a world of hurt before you ever get started.
Written by
Ron Davidson
Wednesday 7th December
Independent Assessments: Is my contractor responsible for this?
When Alberta is booming, its really booming, everyone is flat out and in the construction industry here in Alberta. It also means there are a larger number of questionable contractors, and or trades people paying less attention to details . When its not booming...there seems to be more questions about quality and fiscal responsibility from those who have engaged said contractors or tradespeople.
Currently we here in Canada, specifically Alberta, are transitioning into a softer market where clients and customers have more time and more financial impetus to question certain practices, quality or timing. Without specific knowledge or experience, differentiating between acceptable practice and poor workmanship or reasonably priced services versus gouging can be very difficult. Just to make it even more difficult, emotions are ready to make it all more personal. Quite often people intuitively know something is not right, however, when they confront the issue without the knowledge or experience it can turn into a nasty squabble. Sometimes there is a element of legitimacy that makes it hard to argue your case successfully if you can't see through the smoke screen. Quite often this type of situation boils into a full dispute where the customer loses either in project completion or by being taken advantage of.
Take the picture below for example, there is a significant issue with these stairs which the home-owner wasn't even aware of. These stairs do not meet code and to have fixed them in the construction stage would have been very simple and inexpensive. To change them now five years after they were built is not. When the home-owner went to sell this house, the buyers home inspector picked up on the non-compliant stairs. Now what does the homeowner do? What is the chance the contractor will fix this without any fuss? How can one ensure this doesn't happen in the first place?
This is where the value of having an independent assessment can help immensely. That experienced outside view, which isn't encumbered with the emotion of the conflict, can bring clarity and the information you need to prevent or resolve the issue(s). For the times when there is no wrongful practices or substandard quality to protest, independent assessments provide the customer/client with the knowledge that they are either being treated right or expose the wrong doing. Having a third party assessment done will bring a level of education and comfort to situation, reducing the stress and providing a great project experience at a price far less then the alternative.
Written by,
Ron Davidson
Our happy clients
After two years of struggling with a complex heating system in a high end condo project, we brought Ron in to see what he could
do for us. He was not only able to resolve the outstanding errors in installation, but was key in helping the residents understand
the heating system and how to make it work for them.
Phil D.
We settled yesterday. We sent them a copy of the report and they decided to settle very quickly :) They agreed to the amount I had offered in mediation…so I am happy with that just wished they would have agreed the first time which was 18 months ago but oh well.
My lawyer was really impressed by the report. He said he was going to give you a call. I will also refer you if I ever get a friend in a similar situation.
Thanks for your help! Estelle T
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