Tiny Home Building Contracts: Your Assurance of a Quality Tiny Home

Having a house built for you can be quite stressful when it comes to working with a builder.  Hoping that you chose the right builder for the job, making sure they are building to your specifications and desires, and trying to make sure all of your bases are covered to get a quality home that is safely built and worth every penny you spend can be quite taxing mentally and emotionally. One way to ease your mind throughout the process is to make sure the building contract is solid and there are no loopholes you may have missed.  To do this, there are some things that you will want to ensure are included in the contract to your satisfaction.  

Start and End Dates 

Make sure your start and end dates are clearly mentioned in the contract.  Penalties to the contractor for failure to complete the tiny home by the agree date should also be included.

Agreed Upon Price

The agreed upon price and the details of your payment schedule should also be included in the contract.  This is to protect both you and the contractor.  With this detail in the contract, the builder can not come back and charge you additional fees unless it is specifically stated.  In addition, having a payment schedule assure that all payments are made in time to avoid additional late fees or interruption in the building process.

Warranty and Guarantee Details

Know that all work completed by the contractor is guaranteed with the proper warranty in place.  If not, your home may not be built to the quality you expect.  Additionally, if there is any repairs or work to be done after the build, you will have to pay out of pocket.  

Include details of how change orders are to be submitted and approved by you and the contractor.

Require that emergent problems are dealt with during construction, rather than afterwards.  Also you will want to agree on how you will communicate your concerns to the builder.  

Agree on how to address any future repairs that may be needed following completion.

Get a guarantee that your home will be considered road worthy and street legal if your tiny homes will have wheels.

Get a guarantee of a dry basement if your tiny home will have one.

Legality Details

Assure there is proof of liability insurance and a worker’s compensation plan, just in case a neighboring property is some how damaged during construction, or a sub-contractor is injured during the building process.

Require that the contractor handles all licensing and inspection requirements with your local government.

Require your contractor obtains lean releases from any sub-contractor they plan to employ. By dong this you will be absolved of all third-party litigation in case your builder decides not to pay  their bills.

Miscellaneous Details to Include 

Assure in your contract it is stated the use of any specific materials or fixture installations that will be needed, including brand names where appropriate. The contract should also include that you will receive copies of all receipts.

The contract should state what is and what is not included in the design plan of the project and its budget.

Building any type of home is always stressful, but building your tiny home doesn’t have to be.  With a solid contract in place, and assuring the areas we covered are included in that contract, your building journey can be one that is enjoyable and a little more relaxed.  After all living tiny is an adventure that is supposed to be fun and exciting so why not start with building it?

Until next time, live tiny y’all!