After our first set of revisions were done, it was now time to start soliciting bids from general contractors.  There are many ways to do this, and we chose to engage with five general contractors and then narrow down the field to a negotiated bid with a select vendor.  All but one of the general contractors we engaged with were referred to us by either friends or by our architect or by both.  The general contractor that we ended up going with was referred to us by a stucco subcontractor that we had spoken to previously because we liked his work and wanted him to do our stucco.

You’ll be amazed on how many copies of your plans you’ll need to print up to give to your potential general contractors.  Each contractor will want at least one copy, it not more to give to their subcontractors to run the numbers game.  When soliciting your bids, it’s best to give your potential contractors some time to review the plans and then arrange for a meeting to discuss the plans.   The plans that your architect draws up will have high level details.  The structural plans drawn up by your engineer will have even more details outlining what types of materials and methods of construction that are going to be  needed.  Despite all this detail there is one crucial thing that is missing from all these plans - the finishes.  This is where the owner’s program comes in handy.  If you specify as much of the finishes as possible, then the contractor will have even more information and more importantly an understanding of your expectations for the things that really matter to you as a homeowner.  More homeowners care about the plumbing fixtures that are going to be installed in their home than whether or not TGIs or 2″ x 12″ are going to be used to construct your floor joists.