- 1). Establish a command and reporting structure. Decide how decisions will be made and who needs to consult with whom about different aspects of the project. Choose one person (or a team, best for married couples) to make final decisions and receive all relevant information for decision-making.
- 2). Assign responsibilities. This doesn't mean know who's going to drive each nail, but it does mean who is responsible to see to each stage of building. In many cases, this will be the same person or small group of people. This is fine, so long as every job has somebody responsible to see it done.
- 3). Gather information. Each person has one or more jobs he is responsible for. Have him research the costs, potential vendors and contractors, reasonable time lines and other relevant facts about each job on his docket.
- 4). Set up a budget and timeline. Based on the information gathered by your team, set up an initial budget for your house and a reasonable estimate of how long the project should take. This is also the place to make final decisions about how much time and money you're willing to spend and adjust the plan as necessary.
- 5). Subdivide and assign. With your large-scale budget and timeline in place, subdivide both into relevant chunks. A $200,000 overall budget might be divided into budgets for structure, framing, exterior, permits and landscaping. A two-month construction time line might be split into benchmarks for preparation, groundbreaking, foundation, flooring, framing, infrastructure, exterior and finishing. Assign responsibility to make budget and time line to the people in charge of each task.
- 6). Acquire resources. This is where you buy gear and hire contractors, putting in place the people and tools you'll need to get the house built. Schedule with each contractor based on the time line you've set.
- 7). Check progress periodically, comparing it to your original budget and time line. Often this will demonstrate the need to alter your project plan, either by adjusting expectation or by giving more energy to certain parts of the project.
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