A few years ago there was once an architect who was quite popular. He had a number of houses under construction and was enjoying the sweet smell of success. The only problem he had was the lack of hours in a day. You see, he fancied himself to be a one-man band. He was brilliant and everyone wanted his designs. So he hired a secretary and that left him with much more time. Well...not really, but he found novel ways to compensate for what was needed on his job sites. He hired men who were competent masons and went by every Saturday to check on the job, to pay the men, and to order material for the next week.
This idea worked - on paper anyway. But he had so many jobs that he had to send someone else to half of his jobs. That someone was, of course, his secretary. Now she was a very bright young lady but devoid of any knowledge of construction. She just didn't know what to order or if the men had been busy all week and other odds and ends of that nature.
As you might imagine, this hole in the young lady's information began to affect the work which could actually be accomplished during the week and this lack of accomplishment began to affect the cash flow of the brilliant architect. It wasn't long before he was experiencing a certain amount of stress in his life, most of which emanated from his clients who were rather pointed in their critiques of his work ethic. They wanted to know why they were paying for men to stand around waiting for material which didn't show up for days on end. But our guy was up to the task. He began to play tennis every morning to give himself a physical outlet for the mounting stress in his life. He also went broke.
I tell this story to illustrate a point. Supervision is essential to realizing a construction project. Supervision must be day by day, hands on, and nearly invisible. The construction supervisor's job is to make sure that material is on-site as needed; that the men work together without conflict; that the owner is getting what he or she wants; to understand what would be the best materials for the owners needs, and to find those materials. Within the construction supervisor's duties are legal constrains which include building permits and IMSS requirements.
From time to time owners will try to realize all these issues themselves. Some owners are great at the job. To those I doff my cap. There are others which are somewhat like the architect's secretary: they are void of understanding of local customs, law, and construction practices. Those poor, lost souls who do not have sufficient resources to hire a construction supervisor should, in all honesty, rent or buy a completed house. To those who do have the resources I offer the following advise.
1. Do not try to explain what you want to the workmen. Ever! Talk to the supervisor and let him explain the changes. You are simply going to confuse the issue so don't do it.
2. If you think you are paying too much for material because you heard it was cheaper somewhere else, check on delivery times. Slow delivery can be more than the difference in cost if only for a half day.
3. You haven't worked with the men who are on your job. The supervisor probably has. He has, without doubt, turned over many rocks to find the men he has. Trust him and his judgment!
4. When you come to the building site be polite to everyone: Your supervisor, the men, and even the boys carrying materials. Compliment them. Happy workers do good work. Unhappy workers will screw you.
5. If you order something, pay for it! The construction grapevine is faster than a speeding bullet. By the next day you will be branded as someone who can't be trusted. (That is not to say you should pay for something that is not right, but it is to say that the man who did the work is feeding his family by the sweat of his brow and you don't have the right to punish him for trusting you.)
6.Finally, if you want to make sure that the job drags out forever, undermine the supervisor: Tell the workers that he is not doing his job. If you try to divide and conquer in this way, be prepared to learn that a house divided against itself, cannot stand or ever be completed.
The devil is in the details. So when you get to the finish phase of your project, remember to apply all the above in spades.
Mr. Worthington is a long-time resident of the area, a builder and landscape architect. You can contact Mr. Worthington at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
