- The Lump Sum Contract
In this contract we would quote on all the required works, and include all the works in one price. This is the most commonly used form of contract, as it gives the client the peace of mind of knowing what the end cost will be, as well as not having to put any input into the works.

- The Labour Only Contract
In this contract we only price the labour content of the works. This allows, the client to ensure he/she is able to get the best price for materials, as well as allow them control over this part of the contract. This contract does require much input from the client. In our experience we find this contract very laborious, and usually not much cheaper than doing it with a Lump Sum Contract.

-The Management Contract
In this contract we would be employed to carry out the management of the works. This allows the client free option to who is to be appointed to do any of the works. This also allows the client to save money on a companies overheads. This contract works well when a part demolition is involved, or in the case of alterations and additions.

-The Financial Management Contract
In this contract we would be responsible in ensuring that the client is paying a fair and market related price for their project, but would not require us to have any site input. This is suitable for a client with a good overview of the building process, but does not necessarily have a good grasp of the related construction or material costs of the time.

Once we have been accepted for a contract, we would supply a copy of the latest JBCC contract, which would form the bases of the agreement. Dependant on the tyoe of contract required, we would amend the JBCC accordingly.

We will always strive to make the selected type of contract work for the client, and will always advise them on which would suite them best.

Our account is insured with an insurance policy which ensures that the account will never be jeopardized, should any key member be incapacitated. This will safe guard any clients interest in the accounts of the company.

Due to the nature of the times, we are always investigating new banking opportunities, and we may change between banks, as it would best benefit us, and the clients. We have found that most banking institutions, are more concerned with their profits, than in the service of their customers. The days of the bank manager being able to assist without head office approval, are long gone. For this reason we feel it best to keep looking for better options in this area.

KEY MAN INSURANCE
Many people employ various contractors, without knowing what would happen if the owner of the company experienced serious injury, or even death. Without the current costs of building, one cannot ignore the need, to ensure that one is confident that should a serious event take place, that the contracting company can still complete the relevant works employed to complete.

At USIK Construction, one can be assured, that both the directors are fully insured, and should the unlikely event of injury, or death take place, the other will have the finance to complete the works, even if another body would need to be employed to do so effectively.

PUBLIC LIABILITY
USIK Construction has a public liability insurance in place for all its projects. This ensures that the client, will never be at risk, of being liable for damage costs to the public, during the contract period. Our current cover is for R2Million. This risk cover can be increased should we find the risk to be higher, for any particular projects.

To date we have never had to claim with regards to this risk cover, due to the site safety exercised on our sites. We are ensuring that the site safety is kept at a high standard to avoid any claims in the future.

CONTRACTORS ALL RISK
USIK Construction in most contracts insures the project period against any contract risks. These would include vandalism, theft of materials, riots, fire, storm damage, or any other element out of our control. In the case of alterations to an existing building, the onus would be on the client to ensure the works, as the client usually has an effective cover over the building, that is to be altered or added to.

GENERAL INSURANCE
USIK Construction has insurance in place for all the aspects of the business incuding, staff, vehicles, machinary, equipment, life, owned buildings, electrical equipment and the like.

We are always searching for the best rates for our insurance to ensure that we can keep the rates included in our pricing at the lowest rate possible. In turn this saving will be passed on to the client.

The Client – A Payment Guarantee
This is usually in the form of a bank guarantee for an amount equal to the highest estimated interim claim on the project. This gives the contractor the peace of mind in knowing tha any one payment is guaranteed.

The Contractor – A Constitution Guarantee
This is usually in the form of a bankers guarantee, for 12.5% of the contract value, in the clients name. This gives the client peace of mind in knowing that should anything go wrong in the contract, they have funds to cover any unresolved works.

A common and safe middle ground is to set a retention in both parties name. This will result in 10% of any payment be paid into the retantion account. This money will accumulate with every payment on progress, and will be reduced to 50% on Practical Completion. Once the three month snag period is over the remainder of the retention money must be paid out to the contractor.

The retention method is the simplest and most convenient and inexpensive way of implementing a guarantee on both parties, as it serves both interests evenly. We find that most contracts are very successful with this solution.

At present we are finding that the new trend is to have the contractor provide a construction guarantee. Therewith, we are currently sourcing quotes to provide a sufficient guarantor for this purpose, as the bank guarantee will not always be sufficient for the larger projects.

However, we have been fortunate to have been able to purchase our own property and building. This is situated in the industrial area of Hermanus.

Further, we have purchased most of our equipment, vehicles, machinary and tools that we use in the business daily. There are very few items that we owe any money on, and most will be fully paid for within a short period.

The demands of the building trade, do however force us to take loans on occasion, so as to improve our productivity, and to make various tasks easier. This we only undertake with much consideration.

At present we have been fortunate in that we can now comfortably say that our Assets far exceed our liabilities. This will give our clients, bankers, insurers and guarantors great peace of mind when they interact with USIK Construction (Pty)Ltd.