Progress Meetings

The contract you completed with your contractor gives your project supervisor the framework and the marching orders he needs to complete your renovation, but that does not mean both you and the contractor won't have questions. On larger projects, unresolved details will pop up constantly. Here are two suggestions for smoothing those ragged edges.

First, set up weekly or bimonthly "progress meetings" where you and the project supervisor meet to review any questions, make decisions, and consider any changes to the plans. Your architect, if there is one, would not attend regularly but could when necessary. If these meetings are regularly scheduled, you will never have to worry about contacting your contractor with an important question because you know when you will see them next. In these progress meetings with your contractor, project concerns are dealt with efficiently and quickly, and are addressed before they become issues. Your confidence is higher and both you and your contractor can use your time together more efficiently.

The On-Site Project Logbook
My second suggestion is to place a "project logbook" on the worksite in a staging area away from all the construction. Whether it's at night or on the weekend, the book is there for you to record any questions or comments about your job. It provides an efficient way for the project supervisor to review your comments when he arrives at the site in the morning.

Ask the contractor to respond to any questions in the project logbook within 24 hours so that you know that there is a built-in feedback loop. The project logbook provides a written record of your concerns, reduces loose notes and unanswered phone calls, and communicates your concerns to the contractor so they can prepare a response for the next day, or for the next scheduled progress meeting. If your concern is a relatively simple one, the job supervisor can respond in the same log book and not waste time following up by phone. There is an added benefit. At the end of the job, you get to keep book as a project diary and memento you can review long after your project is over.