Building an Addition to your Miami Property:

You got that raise at work, and now it is time to build that bigger master bedroom you have been wanting for all these years. Whether it is a new baby on the way or time to get your growing kids separate rooms, adding square footage to your existing home can usually take care of these issues.

If your property is ideally located, close to work and the children’s school, it may make more sense to add to it than sell and buy elsewhere. Of course, there are many issues to consider: Among several, Financial feasibility and Zoning Regulations are the most important ones to consider. You will also have to decide whether to take on this project yourself, or hire a professional contractor to run the show.

Financial Issues and Zoning Regulations.

Financial issues: Will the cost of the addition add value to your home? If the addition adds value to your home at the very least in the amount that you are investing in it, then definitively you should consider it. However, if your house is valued at the top of the range for the houses in your area, then it is probably not a good idea to spend money doing the addition. In many cases additions can add value in excess of their cost, thus creating the silver lining of a financial gain in your investment.

Zoning: Many design professionals and engineers get offended when I tell them that in my opinion this is the most important item to consider. Zoning regulations dictate the percentage allowed of lot coverage—the area that the house’s imprint can cover the land. The zoning department also checks whether your proposed addition complies with the required setbacks–the distance between your proposed addition and your property boundary lines. If the project is not in compliance with zoning regulations for your area, in most cases it cannot be done. There are instances where variances from the zoning department rules are allowed.

Once you have an idea of what you would like to do, and before you spend money on architects and/or engineers, I suggest making an appointment with your zoning department to discuss the viability of your plans. There are also zoning consultants that could do this for you at a cost. If you get bad news from the zoning official, this small investment of time or money will keep you from wasting money in architects or engineering fees on a project that will not be approved.

Pre-Planning: Once you learn of the extent and viability of your project, it is time to start pre-planning for the project. How many square feet are you adding? What type of windows are you planning to use? What kind of flooring? What about plumbing fixtures? This planning helps with the material selection process and starts shaping the budget for the project. Although the budget is extremely important, you won’t really be able to set a final one until the drawings are completed and approved. What a great feeling once you know that your dream house is within your reach! 

Carlos Veccio has worked as a Florida licensed building contractor for the past 20 years. He has a bachelors and masters degree in accounting from Florida International University.

Choosing: Hiring Professionals or Doing it Yourself. 

This seemingly easy choice has several variables. Using the services of a professional contractor to do the addition turnkey—or ready to move in, is without a doubt the easiest choice. You could hire a design professional to produce the working drawings for your project. Once the set of drawings are complete, then you should interview and get estimates from at least three different licensed contractors with more than five years of proven experience on the field. You should also look into the Department of Business and Professional Regulations’ website (myfloridalicense.com) to verify the status and check for any complaints against these licensed contractors.

Estimates or proposals are usually done in one of three different forms:

• Everything included, where the contractor details all the work to be completed and the allowances—amount of money allocated—to the different finishes, plumbing fixtures, etc., to be included in the quote. Permit fees, impact fees and other governmental charges are usually not included in the estimate. This type of estimate gives you a more precise cost before starting the project and it, however, after the contract is signed, changes or additions can be more expensive and cause delays. This type of estimate is best when trying to finish the project fast and at a low budget.
• Another one is Cost Plus. In this estimate the Contractor charges a percentage over the actual cost of the project. For example, 25% over cost. This type of contract gives the client more flexibility to choose materials and finishes. This type of contract is great for higher end projects. This type of project allows you to undertake the project without knowing exactly the type of materials and finishes that you are going to use.
• Finally, a Contractor Set Fee is another way to get the job done. In this case, you negotiate the contractor fee as a set amount, regardless of the cost of construction. This type of agreement is great because it allows flexibility on the spending without an increase in contractor fees.

There are some contractors who offer in house design professionals, which will remove the need for you to select and hire an architect or engineer. However, no matter which kind of agreement you choose, you will still have to deal with the selection of materials, fixtures and finishes. Do not take these tasks lightly. These selections can create the greatest levels of stress because you will be choosing from virtually an infinite number of choices and combinations. To make this task easier I always tell my clients to buy a number of design and architectural magazines and search for websites that contain photos to guide them form the project into their ideal home. Above all things, I tell my clients to follow their taste. It does not matter what anyone else thinks: They are the ones that have to be happy with their home.

We could go on and on with these choices, but I have a feeling that the reason you are reading this is because you want to be the one directing the show. If you are organized, persistent, and do not discourage easily when things start to go wrong, I believe that you will be able to do the addition on your own.

Constructing the addition as an Owner / Builder:

After finishing the first steps, where you pre-plan and then hire a design professional to produce official working drawings or plans, and process them in the building department of your city or municipality until they are approved. Since you will be running the show as an Owner/Builder, an official of the building department will conduct a test/interview to make sure that you are capable of reading and interpreting the working drawings. At that time, if approved and after paying all permit, impact and other required fees, the Master Permit will be emitted. At this time, and before any work is done in the property it is wise and required that you record a Notice of Commencement as required by Florida Statute 713.13. This form can be obtained at the building department, whose staff will be more than glad to assist you in how to fill the document up and record it.

While the plans are being processed at the building department, you should start getting bids for the different trades that will be working in your project. Since you hold the Master permit you are the contractor of record. The companies that you will hire to do the different trades are called sub-contractors. Notice that I said companies and no individuals. Most of the principal trades, like plumbing, roofing, electrical, and mechanical—deals with air conditioning and exhaust systems—have to be licensed in order to get the required permits for each trade. Also, in order to hold a license these companies must have general liability and workers’ compensation insurances. Some other trades doing drywall, carpentry, tile laying, landscaping, kitchen and bath cabinets, etc., are not required to obtain permits to perform their jobs if you have a master permit. You should obtain certificates of insurance with you as a certificate holder from all hired subcontractors before they start any work on your premises. If you don’t, you will be financially responsible for any kind of injury or property damage caused by them on your property.

As I recommended before, you should get at least three bids for each one of the trades that you will be utilizing in your project, and use due diligence to verify licenses, insurances, and recommendations before you make a decision. For my jobs I have created an Excel worksheet where I list all the trades that I use and materials for those trades. Next to each trade I enter the value of the contracts, and I assign a value to the materials required. As you can see, some of the trades include materials—like drywall–, but others like plumbing, electrical and carpentry have also materials. These materials will have a substantial impact in the total cost of your project. There are infinite choices with very different costs, so you should find a happy compromise between your taste and your budget. By adding all the costs entered into the worksheet, including what I design as soft costs, you arrive at your tentative final cost for the project. Usually you should add 5% of the total cost as “contingencies,” and any financial charges and interest resulting from loans taken to do the project. Following is the list of entries that I have been using for the past few years:

To keep my numbers organized; to the right of each line I enter any payments made and create a formula to calculate amounts remaining in each contract. For example:

In addition and remodeling projects there are always unforeseen circumstances that may affect the total cost of the project. Hopefully the “contingencies” line would suffice to cover these unexpected events.

You obtained the permit; you recorded your notice of commencement, and entered into contract with the required subcontractors, so let’s start the project. First of all, you should perform any required soil preparation using the required heavy equipment. After that, once the area is cleared, you would need a certified surveyor to mark the points delineating the boundary of the area you are about to build. It is good to take into account that once the area is built, it may restrict access to area that were accessible before, so make preparations so that no unintended items are left with no future access. Once the structure is commenced, it may be hard to move some of the required materials for the construction. It is also important to secure water, electricity, and portable sanitation for your project before it commences. Always plan ahead! 

Spanish skyscraper missing elevators in monster goof: ‘Standard for the Future’ or sign of current decline?

Today InTempo has 94% of its structure completed, but the 47-story skyscraper doesn’t have a single elevator shaft. (HEINO KALIS/REUTERS)

BY JULIAN ARENZON

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Friday, August 9, 2013, 3:13 PM

Structural work: Assuming you hired a shell contractor—they build the exterior structure of the project—with materials. They usually charge per square foot of construction. You could just hire them to do the labor, but that would leave you open to unexpected expenses: once you get their price, you know exactly your cost before you start construction. This is a pretty technical part of your assignment as a contractor. You have to make sure that the right size and amount of rebar (steel) and location is correct.

To be continued…