Most people building a new home are prepared for the construction to take longer than planned. They have heard that subcontractors, inclement weather, utility companies, and inspection officials all contribute to delays. Few people, however, anticipate how long it takes to complete those tasks that must be done before they begin construction. Consequently, they budget too little time for these tasks and then try to compensate by skipping some tasks and rushing through others. When this strategy fails, they miss their desired move-in date and pay for it with stress with their family, conflict with their dealer and general contractor, and cost overruns with their budget.
It can take you as little as five weeks or as much as a year or more to complete all of the tasks that must be done before your modular home is delivered. Your responsibilities can take as little as one day, if you order a standard modular plan with no changes, select only standard features, agree all decisions are final, have cash to pay for everything, have a general contractor lined up and ready to go, and have a building permit in hand or don’t need one. If this is true for you, you will be an exception.
Your Modular Home, Financing, Permit, and Preconstruction Tasks
Knowing how construction process works, helps you understand the sequence of steps you must complete from the time you order a modular home until it is built and ready for occupancy. It organizes the following dealer, financing, permit, and preconstruction tasks steps into fifteen phases and spells out your responsibilities for each phase in detail.
The General Contractor’s Construction Schedule
Your modular home’s general contractor is responsible for meeting two construction schedules. The first, the pre-set schedule, includes those tasks he must complete to have your site and foundation ready for the delivery and set of your modular home. The second, the post-set schedule, involves those tasks he must do to complete the excavation on your property, button-up your home, and build your site-built structures.