UPCLOSE & PERSONAL
REHABBING
USING A SCOPE OF WORK— ESPECIALLY A DETAILED ONE— CAN PREVENT MISINTERPRETATION AND SAVE YOU BIG MONEY.
For the Record
by John and Corinne Tesh
N
o matter what size project we un- dertake, we always put together a scope of work. This can be as simple as writing specifications on a legal pad or a multiple-page document kept in a bind- er. At our company, Citygate Homes, we do a very comprehensive scope—espe- cially when doing a flip. We start in the living room and work our way through the entire house, room by room. Once outside, we work our way around the house and grounds, from the roof down to the flower beds. Everything is included—from Sheet- rock work, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, kitchen layout, even down to the paint palette and switch plate colors. Corinne manages the design and finishes of the house as well as man- aging the contractors. She starts at the front door and, once inside, works from ceiling to the floors. Ceiling color, wall color, semi gloss or flat, trim color, wall repair, light fixtures, electrical outlets and switches, window replacement, door replacement, flooring … well, you get it. Any drawings or plans are in- cluded as well, so you can imagine how detailed the kitchen pages can be. Once it’s all completed, Corinne heads back to the office and compiles it room by room into the main scope of work.
fields needed, give them the lockbox code and have them walk through the house. They keep their scope and quote off that. Everybody is working off the same thing—John calls it “sheet music” because everybody’s singing the same song! It really gives us credibility with the subcontractors. They know we’re not going to be wasting their time down
She also has separate overview pages listing each contractor’s responsibility so they can see where they are involved and the materials they need. The final contract, payment schedule, required insurance documents and change order procedure are enclosed as well. When we have closed on the prop- erty and are ready to go, she will call several contractors for each of the
122 | think realty magazine | may :: june 2016
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