Because building an extension is less complicated than building-new or restoring a property there is a wider choice of builders wanting to take on this kind of work. Although the French did not invent the term "Cowboy Builder" they have certainly perfected the art and here we will point out just a few of the pitfalls to avoid.

Completion date

Once you have decided to build you will be keen to get on with the job and it can be very frustrating to find you have to wait weeks or months before your project can start. The better builders with excellent reputations will probably have clients already waiting. The worse the builder, the sooner he will have time for your project. So make sure you ask around for people's opinions on different builders and do not be afraid to take up references with their previous clients.

If you make it clear you have an urgent deadline many builders will say they can do the job in the time, even if they can't. They will move some equipment on-site, maybe even lay the foundations and then make you wait, and wait, and wait.

Price

Again the better builders are likely to be amongst the more expensive and, conversely, the worse the builder, the cheaper he will be. If you have used an architect for your plans he/she will be able to give you an idea what to expect on price and you should be suspicious of any builder significantly below this price. Do not let the builders know what the architect's estimate is and don't let any builder know what his competitors have quoted.

It is very prevalent in the south of France to simply offer to undercut the cheapest quote since there will always be the opportunity to either cut costs on the build or increase the price later.

Stage Payments

The level of stage payments is dependent on the nature of the work and needs to reflect both the costs incurred by the builder at each stage as well as the cost required to complete. If a builder is working on an unrealistically tight budget he will try to advance the payments as much as possible. This puts him in a much better position to ask for more money later on to complete the project, since he knows you would not be able to find any other builder to finish the job for the remaining budget. If he does not finish the job at least he will have done well on the part he did complete!