Berk Cektir, Zaman Legal

THINK twice before you start a renovation project. Unless you are doing it professionally to make a profit on it, a renovation is usually only hassle.

The most important element in a renovation is obviously the “usta,” the man who will be doing the painting, small works, etc. He is the man who will probably disappear right after he starts the work and come back one week later with an unbelievable excuse, such as “I had to wait for my father at the hospital as he was in intensive care.”

So how to manage the work legally? Establish the parties of the contract. But usually, the usta has neither a company nor a tax registration number to make an invoice for you. This causes the first problem.

You are working with someone you have to pay, but you don’t really have someone to make a contract with. It is certainly possible to make a contract, as I will explain, but you should first make sure you have a legal party to make a contract with.

In most cases the employer does not have much information about the usta. The usta is called “Ali Usta” and this is the first name. You will probably just be given a pay-as-you-go phone number to contact him.

To avoid losing contact with him during or after the renovation work (for warranty matters), at least start with asking for a copy of your usta’s ID so that you can make sure that you know the usta’s name. It is obviously good to know his address, too. In most buildings the management of the building will ask you to get the ID copies of the workers entering the building.

Employment issues

The usta is a contractor so make sure that you are not permanently employing him. Therefore, make a contract and emphasize this issue. Usually the usta will be working on his own or he gets the help of other men who are paid by him. Ensure the usta makes sure these men are registered with the Social Security Institution (SGK), if these people are, like the usta, independent taxpayers.                 

Scope of work

Describe and define the work in the widest terms possible. The most important thing to write in this agreement is that the usta should deliver the work in a way that is fully complete so that it is ready to use.

If I may give an example in this “scope of work” issue: If you are renovating your bathroom, the usta will change the tiles, floors, window, etc., but you must make sure he will also be installing the new bathroom equipment (such as shower or tap, etc.) too, since this is an additional job unless you include it within the work scope.

Contract type

Should the contract be turnkey or unit price? Unit price is too professional for an usta unless you know exactly what you will be doing and you are sure about the scale of the work. Therefore it is best to go for a turnkey contract.

Contract type

In my opinion it is best is to go for a turnkey contract when you are doing a renovation. A turnkey contract will help you manage your budget and give peace of mind to your usta as well as yourself. A turnkey contract is divided into two, malzemeli and malzemesiz: with materials and without materials.
 
The first question that will be asked by an usta is, “will the contract include the materials or not?” You are free to choose depending on the nature of the renovation but I would make it without the material. This means that “I will buy all the material for the work to be done.”

If the usta needs some paint he will tell me how much he needs and I will either pay him to buy it for me or I will buy and deliver it myself to the usta. The adverse effect of making it with the material is that the usta will buy the cheapest material available in order to make more profit, we cannot blame him for doing so.

Therefore, it is better to make it without material and then you only pay for the work and can choose the quality of the materials you want to use in the renovation.

Changing the order

Try to make sure that you have covered everything. However, the nature of construction work requires parties to make changes from time to time. This sometimes arises out of the employer changing their mind or sometimes it is due to obstacles that arise during the construction/renovation.

A hidden pillar in the wall, for example, may change all your plans and then this is when the usta will make suggestions. Changing orders are apparently a big cost for drivers and shall cause the budget to go up dramatically — I must note that in some cases you may decrease the budget by changing the order due to leaving part of the work undone.

You should make sure that you have a unit price for the work done so that you can easily bargain and make a second contract for this additional work or you can amend the first contract. However, knowing the unit price will help you see how much it will cost to make a change to the order.

Paying Usta

Most ustas are paid in cash. The only secret you must know is that you should withhold the final payment until the delivery of the renovation works. The other payments will be made as progress payments to be distributed to the usta with the completion of each stage of the renovation. Try to get a receipt for each payment and keep them to see how much has been paid. Never leave it as an open issue.