13. The Main Contractor

The Main Contractor is a man or company that you employ to carry out your building works.
The contract to build your house is between you and the Main Contractor
The Main Contractor acts as the Project Manager, but also hires trades and subcontractors to undertake elements of the project.

The Main Contractor for your Green home needs to be a cut above the average.
Green buildings tend to be of a higher margin of quality in workmanship to match some of the higher standards building performance involved.
Greener building systems are not as familiar to contractors as the traditional brick-cavity-block system.
Your contractor should either come with knowledge of the system, be prepared to learn on the job or employ a specialist sub-contractor to do some of the more unusual work.
A lot of the Greener building systems will be associated with specialist sub-contractors.
Though many fewer, contractors skilled in Green construction are usually well-known to the Green build community.
A list of Green building contractors can be found on the Green Register at http://www.greenregister.org.uk by clicking on ‘Search by Profession’ and selecting ‘Builder/Contractor’. The Green Register is based in Bristol so tends to attract professionals from mostly England and Wales. Scottish and Irish contractors are usually known by word of mouth.
Your Green architect will be able to advise you on the most suitable of contractors.
If you are going out for competitive tendering, you should identify a least 3 potential contractors.
You should get to see their work and talk to previous clients to find out more about them. Ultimately you will be likely working with them closely to a lesser or greater extent - so you need to get on!