Chris Bates sets out some of the key steps you can take to minimise delays en route to completing your new home

Every home build will bring bumps and unexpected surprises along the way, but with the right prep you can put yourself in the best position to take the rough with the smooth and keep your scheme moving forwards. Here, I’ve put together 10 considerations that will help you stick as close as possible to your schedule.

1 Fix the design

Time invested at the design stage will pay dividends later and help solve complications before they happen on site. The more you can fix before you get started, the more confident you can be that trades are quoting appropriate costs and timings for their work. All manner of decisions will need to be made, but one key area to think through is the junctions.

Uncertainty over the interfaces between different design elements often slows things down on site, costing you both time and money. So, zone in on these with your architect, engineers and trades. Want a flush threshold for your glazed doors? The floor build-up needs to be mapped out. Keen for your windows to perform as expected? Talk through details such as how deep they need to sit within the wall to avoid bridging the insulation. Planning to go for a mix of external claddings? You need to decide exactly how they’ll interface with one another and at locations such as corners, windows, roofs etc to ensure installation goes smoothly.

2 Consider your project route

We often talk about this from a cost perspective: the more involvement you have, the bigger your potential to save money versus using a professional project manager or builder. The issue comes when inexperience rears its head – failing to order materials on time or in the right amounts could mean down-time for the relevant trade, for instance. If you’ve got no slack built into your programme, the effect can snowball as you’re forced to delay follow-on works.