Construction phase - what should be better avoided during the construction phase

Hello everyone,

what were things during the construction phase that you would have preferred to avoid in hindsight?
For example, too much control, no vacation, too many changes, no/a expert etc.

Looking forward to your experiences!

Thank you

Basically, I think it's right to ask questions if you don't understand something or see something that seems strange. But:

However, I made the "mistake" and also often see it with other clients that, for example, after work, they visit the construction site and find some supposedly strange condition or alleged mistake. It gets under their skin, and they want immediate clarification to make sure there is no drama. I also slept poorly once and called the architect/site manager first thing the next morning. Other clients, no joke, write heavily worded emails at 11 p.m. (especially to general contractors) because the site manager didn't answer the phone anymore at 9 p.m., questioning what the botch job is about. With deadlines and plenty of drama, straight to alarm level red.

In 98% of cases, however, they have simply seen an interim state, meaning unfinished work. That would have been clarified anyway the next day and is therefore not worth the fuss.

I believe this really annoys the professionals. At least it would annoy me.

So always stay calm, and if in doubt, ask politely. Most of the time, it's not a drama, and you only make a fool of yourself if you cause apocalypse-level panic at every discovery.

In 98% of cases, you have simply seen an interim result, i.e. unfinished work. That would have been sorted out the next day anyway and therefore not worth the fuss.

I think as a client you can tell whether something is going wrong or if the work is just not finished yet. We were on the construction site every day; for example, the wrong bricks were accidentally ordered (filled instead of unfilled), and the masons were just about to lay the first brick when we arrived and noticed it. We also measured and checked everything again in the evening, but fortunately everything went very well. Often the craftsmen were also happy when we were there, and everything was discussed immediately.

Best regards
Sabine

- trust NO ONE except yourself
- read and familiarize yourself with EVERYTHING, there are no (few) specialists in construction
- never go away on vacation if something happens or work is being done on the construction site
- providing food for the workers is nice and friendly, but does not lead to better work results (often claimed, in my opinion nonsense)
- family businesses do not work better than other companies
- experiences from other construction sites only help to a limited extent, as it depends on the "crew" on site

We also remeasured and checked everything again in the evening, but luckily everything went very well.

How did you measure? Which laser measuring device is recommended?

In hindsight, I would have liked to have had an (unabhängigen) construction supervisor throughout the entire construction period and also to have the planning reviewed by an expert.