Doing your research and working with professional contractors can help you reduce the risk and expense of home construction projects
Sun
Professional new home builders and renovators help homeowners make sound and confident decisions.
You have thought about it and decided to renovate your home. Now you need to figure out how to go about it. What are the next steps, who should you hire, how do you make sure that your renovation is a success? It can be difficult to know how to put all the pieces together, and you want to avoid making serious mistakes.
Fortunately, help is at hand from the people who are closest to the marketplace–the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA), the national organization representing Canada‘s professional new home builders and renovators.
“A successful home renovation begins with good information,” says Richard Lind, President of the CHBA. “Investing in your home can be a big decision, both financially and emotionally. One of our key roles as an organization is to help people get the knowledge they need to make sound and confident decisions.” The Association was established more than 60 years ago, with a network of national, provincial and local offices across the country.
The Association’s website, www.chba.ca, has a full range of information for people who are contemplating making changes to their home. Don’t know where to start? Find out how to plan a renovation, with advice from homeowners and professional renovators. Not sure how to tackle your projects? Get practical information on how to approach and get the most out of your kitchen, bathroom, basement and other common renovations. Also, check out award-winning projects. Find out how to hire a professional renovator. Download worksheets. Locate a member renovator in your area.
The site is also home to several “featured sites” developed by the CHBA. One site, www.myhomereno.com, offers a roadmap to energy-efficient and healthy renovations. With today’s housing technology, you can increase the comfort of your older home significantly and enjoy better living while helping to protect the environment by reducing greenhouse gasses and other pollutants. Look for links to specific information products from the CHBA as well as Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Natural Resources Canada.
Another important site to check out, www.HiringAContactor.com, is the official site of the Association’s national consumer campaign, Get it in Writing!, aimed at encouraging homeowners to work with a professional renovator. Often homeowners are not aware of the implications and risks of hiring someone who doesn’t “play by the rules” or asks for payment in cash without a contract. Practical and to the point, this site explains the risks and how to avoid them. It offers information on insurance, workers compensation, liens and other important considerations for anyone thinking about hiring someone to work on their home, and explains the ins and outs of contracting. Finally, the site lets you take a sober look at renovations that did not work out–frauds, scams, court cases.
At the community level, local Home Builders’ Associations organize parades of renovations, consumer seminars, home show displays, media campaigns and a host of other public activities. This puts a face to the professional renovation industry, and lets homeowners see what others have done and learn about the renovation process.
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© The Vancouver Sun 2007
