There are many reasons to conduct a Google search for a housing contractor near me. Residential construction is a very diverse industry and offers owners many service options for new construction, home improvements and maintance services.
Searching housing contractor near me will likely provide you with many different types of contractors in each of the contracting fields. So how can you filter this search to provide you with results that better define your query needs.
To better understand residential contractors, we will have a brief discussion about the various types of contractors, the value of their services and how to conduct business with them. Although the contracting business has many common practices, the actual methods of delivery are often extremely different.
There are typically three different types of residential new construction contractors; residential construction companies, general contractors and home builders.
Within these 3 categories are various subcategories which can help you zero in on your exact needs. These would be titles such as production home builders, one of a kind home general contractors and home building construction companies.
Construction Companies – Although construction companies will often appear in a search for housing contractor near me, the title category name is slightly misleading because technically speaking all construction contracting firms are construction companies. But not all construction companies are new home construction companies.
Although as confusing as this may be, the term construction companies can apply to all of the following professional profile titles. The odds are if a contracting firm is conducting business for providing contracting services, they are a probably a construction company.
General Contractors – are contracting firms that provide a full-service approach to new construction contracting which may include design services, preconstruction services and actual construction contracting services. General contractors typically hire multiple trade services and purchase the required materials and equipment to perform the duties of a new construction home building project.
New construction home construction services align perfectly for general contractor services. There are many construction management services that are required for new home construction. These services can normally be classified as offsite administrative responsibilities and onsite contracting management services.
Administrative management services are traditionally considered back-office duties such scheduling, financial matters, procurement tasks, contract and insurance affairs.
Where as construction management services often refer to the direct services required for the new home construction, such as quality control tasks, project safety, drawing and specification compliance, material and labor logistics.
Home Builders – are the most commonly used term when seeking new home construction contracts. Home builders conduct many of the same services and responsibilities as the general contractor when it comes to new home construction.
The differences are usually associated with the types of houses built by the home builder. It is common that a home builder will normally build a class of houses that they specialize in, such as production homes or custom homes.
Production homes are traditionally houses that may have as many as 4 – 8 different floor plan models, each having as many as 4 profile elevations. These houses are design and built to be cost effective and the builders do not normally allow changes to be made.
While the type of custom home builders ranges from one of a kind unique contracting to more of a semi-custom house that is predesigned and the builder allows a number of changes to be made to the design plans.
Not all builders offer home plan design services, which means that if you are not using a builder with existing architectural plans, you will likely need to hire a designer and engineer to prepare the building documents.
Understanding the different types of home builders can save you money and time.