Choosing a Contractor

This is where most money is lost and most disputes start. Take longer here than feels comfortable.

1. Keep the Architect and Contractor Separate

As stated in Architect: do not hire one party to both design and build. Your architect's job includes checking the contractor's work on your behalf. That check is worthless if they are the same person or business.

2. Finding Candidates

• Ask your architect for names — but get more than one, and ask what their relationship is.
• Ask people who have recently built. Visit the houses.
• Visit an active site of each candidate. Look at how it is organised: is steel stored off the ground, is the site tidy, are workers wearing basic protection?
• Visit a house they finished 3+ years ago. New work always looks fine. Cracks, leaks, and bad screed show up later.
• Ask each candidate directly: are you registered with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), and at what grade? Ask to see the certificate and check it is current.
  ⚠️ VERIFY — I could not reach the CIDB's website to confirm whether registration is mandatory for residential work of your size, what the grades mean, or whether a public register exists for checking a contractor yourself. Ask the CIDB directly, or ask your architect — they will know local practice. Treat "registered with CIDB" as a claim to verify, not a credential to take on trust.

3. Get Comparable Quotations

Ask at least three contractors to quote on the same documents: the same approved plans, the same specification, the same Bill of Quantities. Otherwise you are comparing nothing.

Insist on an itemised quotation, not a single lump-sum figure. You must be able to see the rate for concrete, blockwork, plaster, screed, and so on. A one-line "Rs X for the house" cannot be checked, compared, or fairly varied later.

The cheapest quote is a warning, not a win. An abnormally low bid usually means one of: thinner concrete, less steel, cheaper blocks, unqualified labour, or a plan to make it back through variation claims once you are committed.

4. Make the Specification Explicit

Ambiguity in the specification always resolves in the contractor's favour. Pin down in writing:

• Concrete grade for foundations, columns, beams, and slab
• Steel — diameter, spacing, and grade, per the engineer's drawings
• Blocks — size and type
• Waterproofing — of the roof slab and of wet areas
• Plaster and screed thickness
• Who supplies materials — contractor-supplied, you-supplied, or mixed. Be precise, item by item.
• What is explicitly excluded — boundary wall, gate, driveway, landscaping, water tank, pump, and finishes are commonly excluded and then billed as extras

5. Scope of Work — Confirm What Is Not Included

Write down explicitly whether the price includes:

• Site clearing and excavation
• Backfilling and compaction
• Scaffolding and formwork
• Site water and electricity during construction, and who pays for it
• Removal of construction debris
• Plumbing and electrical rough-in (and whether fittings are included)
• Boundary wall and gate
• Water tank, pump, and plumbing to them
• Septic tank / absorption pit, or sewer connection — see WMA — Wastewater
• Driveway and external paving
• Making good and cleaning at handover

6. The Contract

Never build on a verbal agreement or on a quotation alone. A written contract protects you both. Have your architect — and for a large build, a lawyer — review it.

The contract should state:

• Parties, site address, and the exact drawings and specification it covers (list them by title, revision, and date)
• Contract price, and whether it is fixed or subject to price fluctuation
• Payment schedule tied to completed and certified stages
• Start date, completion date, and duration
• Liquidated damages — an agreed amount per day or week of delay
• Retention — see below
• Defects liability period — commonly 6–12 months after handover, during which the contractor must fix defects at their cost
• Variation procedure — no extra work is done without a written, priced, signed variation order. This single clause prevents most cost overruns.
• Insurance obligations — CAR, public liability, workmen's compensation. See Financing Your House.
• Termination and dispute resolution

7. Payment Milestones

Pay for work already done and inspected, never in advance of it.

A typical structure — adjust with your architect and align with your bank's tranche schedule from Financing Your House:

Rules to hold to:

• Never let payments run ahead of progress. The moment you have paid for more than has been built, you have lost your leverage.
• Your architect certifies each stage before you pay. That is part of what you are paying them for.
• Get a signed receipt for every payment. Pay by traceable means, not cash.

8. Retention

Hold back a retention — commonly around 5–10% of each payment — released only after the defects liability period ends and all snags are fixed. VERIFY — the 5–10% range is general construction practice, not a published Mauritian standard; confirm what is normal locally with your architect or quantity surveyor before writing a figure into the contract.

This is the only real leverage you have to get defects fixed after the contractor has left site. Do not waive it.

9. During Construction

• Keep a site diary — dates, deliveries, workers on site, weather, instructions given, photos.
• Photograph everything before it is covered up — reinforcement before the concrete pour, pipes and conduits before plastering, foundations before backfilling. You cannot inspect what is buried.
• Attend site meetings and keep written minutes.
• Give instructions in writing to the contractor, not verbally to workers on site.
• Never let a variation proceed on a promise to "sort out the price later".

10. Checklist

• Architect and contractor are separate parties
• CIDB registration certificate seen, current, and requirement confirmed for your build size
• Completed site from 3+ years ago visited
• Active site visited
• Three itemised quotations on identical documents obtained and compared
• Specification pinned down: concrete grade, steel, blocks, waterproofing, thicknesses
• Exclusions listed explicitly in writing
• Written contract reviewed by architect (and lawyer if large)
• Payment schedule tied to certified stages and aligned with the bank's tranches
• Written variation-order procedure agreed
• Liquidated damages for delay included
• Retention percentage and release conditions agreed
• Defects liability period agreed
• Contractor's insurances verified — see Financing Your House

⚠️ Important Note

🚨 The two clauses that save the most money: written variation orders, and retention held to the end of the defects period. If you negotiate nothing else, negotiate these.