“Preparing for a self-managed house build I looked in vain for any publications that would guide me through the the challenges of dealing with contractors and a minefield of building regulations. I bought a highly lauded book, written by South Africans for the local market and found it useless. except I am keeping it for the wood-burning stove. My luck changed yesterday, when I looked at the HouseCheck website to find a publication, written by John Graham,  called SA home building. Management and Quality Control. I downloaded it for some bedtime reading and it certainly did not help me sleep.

This book has some straight talk about what can go wrong along the road to a house build.

Thankfully, it also tells you how to make sure things go right. Telling you what you need to know to successfully manage a new building project. Everything from getting plans drawn through selecting contractors, contracts and what they should include, cash management, regulatory requirements, insurance and a technical overview of  what’s involved in the building process. From being initially intimidated reading the book gave me confidence I can do it and tells me what I need to know to go about it. All that at no charge. What a deal!”

– Barry Orum