Self builders urged to pick a good site manager

Selecting the right site manager could be crucial to the smooth creation of a self build home.

Claire Alderson, writing for the Telegraph, believes that a good building site manager is the "key to good relations with everyone involved".

Ms Alderson, who is building an ecohome in Cornwall, recommends builders see any green energy systems in action before installing them into their property so they can select the right one for the development.

She also advocates the employment of a person to check the 'greenness' of the project and to come up with ecological alternatives to building issues.

Nick Willson, of Willson and Bell Architects, advises that people should invest a serious amount of time in finding the right architect for a project because "it is all about personality".

"You need to be comfortable that if something is not going right or if you are not happy with the design then you can tell them," he explained.