Before you ask a relative to “handle things at home,” agree what that means. A short written plan can spare both of you repeated questions about money, authority and progress.
This family construction management checklist is for diaspora homeowners building in Kenya. Use it to organise family help alongside your contractor and project professionals. It is a practical discussion guide, not a legal agreement or a substitute for your construction contract.
1. Define the family member’s role
List the tasks they have agreed to perform: arranging site access, gathering supplier quotations, recording deliveries, photographing agreed areas or forwarding documents. Write down how often they can attend and who covers when they are unavailable.
Separate coordination from technical decisions. A relative can help arrange an engineer’s attendance without taking responsibility for assessing reinforcement themselves. They can collect a contractor’s claim without certifying its value.
Use our guide to the risks and safeguards of family-managed construction to identify gaps before assigning tasks.
2. Agree who may instruct the contractor
Name the people authorised to give different kinds of instructions and establish how the contractor receives them. Avoid a situation where several relatives each approve a different finish or request extra work.
Tell the contractor which choices your family contact can make, which require your approval and which require the relevant project professional. Confirm this arrangement with the parties concerned rather than relying on a private understanding that the contractor has never seen.
Record important decisions with a date, drawing or specification reference, cost effect and programme effect. Formal authority or contractual changes may need professional legal advice.
3. Set spending and reimbursement rules
Agree a project-specific spending approval process. Specify which purchases need prior approval, what happens in an urgent situation and how any agreed spending limit is recorded in KSh. There is no universal limit suitable for every family or project.
Distinguish contractor payments, material purchases, transport, the relative’s reimbursable expenses and any agreed compensation. Make clear how each is documented. Do not leave a family member to absorb costs and later guess whether they can recover them.
If you choose to pay a contractor or supplier directly, verify the recipient and agree how the transaction appears in the project records. Direct payment alone does not prove delivery or satisfactory work.
4. Keep one ledger and accessible documents
Use a shared project ledger with the date, purpose, amount received, amount spent, recipient, document reference and remaining balance. Keep the source receipts and transfer confirmations in a folder the homeowner can access.
For materials, record what was ordered, what arrived, delivery date and where it was stored. Distinguish delivery from installation. Ask for an explanation of differences between orders, receipts and reported quantities.
Agree how unspent money, outstanding purchases and incomplete records are handled when the role ends. Keep project spending separate from family gifts and other personal transfers.
5. Make the update routine specific
Agree a reporting schedule, the areas to photograph and a format for the summary. Each update should cover completed work, outstanding work, delays, decisions needed and the next planned activities.
Request wide views from consistent positions and labelled close-ups of the items being discussed. Identify capture dates and preserve original files where practical. Ask the person reporting to say when information comes from the contractor rather than direct observation.
Our remote construction monitoring guide explains how to make updates easier to compare.
6. Plan professional checks separately
Ask the appointed professionals which stages need inspection, testing or valuation and how much notice they require. Record who arranges attendance and how the required documents reach you.
Check relevant current credentials. BORAQS regulates architects and quantity surveyors; the Engineers Board of Kenya portal offers an engineer member-checking route. A family recommendation should be followed by the same credential and scope checks as any other appointment.
Do not ask a relative to approve technical work merely because they are already at the site. Photos and informal reassurance cannot replace the assessment required for your project.
7. Agree how you will handle concerns
Choose a private way to raise missing receipts, inconsistent updates or unexplained costs. Ask for clarification against specific records and give a reasonable agreed date for the response. Keep disagreements out of public family groups.
Separate administrative gaps from technical concerns and contractual disputes. A question about a delivery needs different evidence from a question about a crack or an amount claimed. The next-payment checklist can help organise contractor claim queries.
A short family-role note to adapt
“You will help with the tasks we list and send updates on our agreed schedule. I will retain the project documents and approve spending or changes outside your agreed authority. Purchases and reimbursements will be recorded with supporting documents. Technical assessments and payment certification will remain with the appointed professionals. If either of us needs to change the arrangement, we will agree a handover of records, outstanding matters and any project balance.”
Adapt this discussion note to your circumstances. If it is intended to create formal authority or legal obligations, obtain appropriate legal advice.
Include an independent view where useful
A progress visit can focus on named rooms, visible progress and questions that your existing updates do not answer. A separate observation record can support the family arrangement without asking your relative to assess everything. If your concern requires technical expertise, request a defined professional assessment.
Describe your project and concerns through MyJenga. Suitable providers are invited to propose a progress visit or professional assessment. Compare up to five proposals and choose who visits your site; five is a maximum, not a guarantee of five responses.
Compare the total price including travel, the named attendee, relevant qualifications, agreed checks, exclusions, proposed visit date and report turnaround. Confirm any relationships with your contractor or family contact, and agree authorised access and private report delivery before booking. An enquiry requires no account and does not commit you to a purchase.
A photo visit does not provide accounting oversight, structural certification or a payment valuation. Relevant professional work needs its own scope and appropriate qualifications.
If you need to put these arrangements in place mid-build, read how to reset unclear family-managed construction updates.