Building
After construction documents are complete, you are ready to begin the building process. The next steps are obtaining building permits, receiving bids from multiple contractors, selecting a contractor, and building your alley flat. Typically, the permitting and bidding process run concurrently.
Permitting
ACDDC will take the required paperwork and drawings issued by the designer and submit for a building permit with the City of Austin Plan Review Department. The City of Austin’s Building Permit information page is a very useful resource to you during this process. You can find their location, hours of operation, a place to submit email questions, and several helpful documents and forms on the website. Some of the most important documents are described below.
Bidding and Selecting a Contractor/Builder
You will want to hire a licensed and insured general building contractor to build your alley flat. One of the best ways to choose a contractor is to get recommendations from friends and colleagues that have had success with a contractor for their own projects. We begin the process by asking 2-3 contractors to bid on your alley flat and discuss the bids with each of them in detail. You will also want to ask your contractor for local references so that you may contact them and see if they were satisfied with the contractor’s work. Make sure you contractor is insured and ask to see a copy of the insurance certificate.
Construction Contract
Once you’ve selected the contractor, you’ll want to write and sign a contract with your contractor/builder and get all oral promises in writing. Make sure you understand each portion of the contract before signing and be as specific and clear as possible in completing the contract. You may want to use the AIA Contract Documents, which are widely considered to be the industry standard.
Construction Administration
Consistent with industry standards, ACDDC and the pro-bono designer will make at least 2 site visits during construction.