Tag: Contractor scope

Searching for building contractors in Nairobi gives you plenty of names. Choosing one for your house takes a more specific conversation: can this company carry out your work, at your site, with a scope and price you understand?

Start with your project rather than a long shortlist. Describe what you want built, collect the design information you have and ask potential contractors to respond to the same brief. Then check their relevant experience, credentials, proposed team and written quotation before deciding.

If you are ready to seek offers, request house construction quotes in Nairobi through MyJenga.

Describe the house you want built

A contractor who works on residential projects still needs to understand your particular build. A bungalow, maisonette and whole apartment block call for different conversations about scope, quantities and organisation.

Prepare a short description with:

• Your actual county and town or area.
• The building type and intended use.
• Drawings and a bill of quantities, if available, including their revision dates.
• The work to include in the quotation.
• The finish and material specifications you have decided on.
• Your intended timing and any funding constraints.
• Known site access or delivery restrictions.

Do not invent missing measurements to make the brief look finished. Identify what is unknown and ask what is needed before the contractor can provide a detailed price.

If you have a plot but have not settled the design, get help planning your build first. You can begin that conversation without completed drawings.

Use the site location rather than the search location

You may look for construction companies in Nairobi because you live or work there, while the plot is in a neighbouring county. Give the contractor the actual project location.

For example, if your site is in Kiambu, Kajiado or Machakos County, name that county and the town or area in the enquiry. This helps the company consider how it would organise site visits, deliveries and its team.

Ask who would be based on site, how often the person managing the project would attend and how you would receive progress updates. Being able to visit a Nairobi office does not by itself answer those questions.

Ask about comparable residential work

Look beyond a portfolio’s best photograph. Ask the company to explain its role in projects similar to yours: the building type, scope it carried out and who managed the work.

Useful questions include:

• Did your company carry out the whole build or a particular part?
• Who supervised the work, and would that person be involved in my project?
• Can you provide a reference from a comparable project, with the client’s permission?
• What information would a former client be able to confirm about your work?
• Can any visit to a previous project be arranged with the owner’s permission?

A photograph can start a discussion, but it does not establish who delivered the work or whether the pictured finishes are included in your offer. Ask for evidence relevant to the company and team you would actually hire.

Check the business and professional details

Ask for the contractor’s registered business name and relevant registration and practising-licence details. Use the National Construction Authority’s official website to find its current contractor-checking guidance and services. Match the details to the business making the offer.

If the offer includes design, engineering or quantity-surveying services, ask who provides each service and how you can check their professional details. Establish which appointments and responsibilities are included in the proposed arrangement.

Keep these checks separate from the price discussion. Receiving a quotation through a platform is not the same as having completed every credential, reference or project-specific suitability check.

Ask each contractor to price the same work

A short quotation headed “complete house” may leave important responsibilities unclear. Give each company the same documents and ask for a written scope, specifications, exclusions and assumptions.

Check whether the offer includes labour only or labour and materials. Then ask about transport, unloading, equipment, external work, applicable taxes and allowances for undecided items.

Use a simple comparison sheet:

Check	What you need confirmed
Documents	Which drawings, specifications and quantities were priced
Included work	The exact construction scope and materials
Exclusions	What you will arrange or pay for separately
Allowances	Which amounts depend on later choices or further information
Programme	Proposed start, duration and dependencies
Team	Who manages the work and how you contact them
Payments	Amounts, stages and what triggers each payment
Changes	How additional work is described, priced and agreed

An unanswered item should remain visible as a question. Do not assume it is included because it was discussed informally.

For more detail, read our guide to comparing construction quotes in Kenya. If one quotation is much higher than another, check the reasons construction quotes differ before negotiating the headline price.

Discuss the working arrangement before choosing

Ask how progress will be communicated and who can make decisions about changes. If you cannot attend the site regularly, explain that before accepting the offer and agree how you will receive updates and raise concerns.

Ask the contractor to explain the payment proposal alongside the work programme. Clarify which decisions or purchases are your responsibility, and when they are needed. Record agreed revisions in the final offer so you are not relying on several versions and a string of messages.

Where the scope or price remains difficult to assess, consider a defined professional review. Agree what will be checked, the output and the fee before commissioning it.

Make a focused enquiry

Here is an illustrative starting point you can adapt:

I am planning a maisonette in Nairobi County. My drawings are in progress, and I want to understand what information is needed for a construction quotation. Please explain the residential work your company handles, what you would need to price my project and who would manage the build. I would like the eventual quotation to state its scope, exclusions, payment proposal and timing.

Use your actual building type, location and drawing status. If you are seeking bungalow builders, say so. If you want a whole apartment block priced, describe the complete project rather than only one unit.

Request construction quotes for your project

MyJenga helps you describe your residential project and request proposals from suitable providers. You can compare up to five proposals per round, depending on availability, and choose who to hire. Five responses are not guaranteed.

Request quotes from building contractors for your Nairobi project →

You can prepare and review your enquiry before signing in to send it. An existing project is not required: MyJenga creates one from your details when you submit your first enquiry. Sending the enquiry is free and does not commit you to hiring a contractor.

One contractor offers to build with materials you buy. Another offers to supply the materials as well. Their totals are different, but that does not yet tell you which arrangement will suit you.

A labour-only quote generally prices the labour within an agreed scope, while a labour-and-materials quote also prices specified materials. The wording varies between offers, so ask each contractor to spell out their responsibilities. Neither label replaces a detailed quotation.

Compare the complete responsibilities and expected costs of each option, including the work you will organise yourself.

Start with a responsibility list

Before comparing totals, ask who is responsible for each item below. If the answer is “included,” ask where it is described in the quotation.

Responsibility	What to clarify
Buying materials	Who places orders and checks the specification?
Quantities	Who prepares the order quantities and approves changes?
Transport and unloading	Who organises and pays for both?
Tools and equipment	What the contractor supplies and what is separately charged
Storage and site arrangements	Who provides storage and handles materials on site?
Subcontracted work	Whether plumbing, electrical and other work is included
Delivery checks	Who receives materials and reports shortages or damage?
Timing	Who coordinates orders with the work programme?
Waste and surplus	How handling, removal and leftover materials are treated

The point is to expose gaps before work starts. You may be comfortable managing purchases, but only if you know which purchases you are taking on.

Work out what sits outside the labour-only total

With a labour-only offer, list the costs you would pay separately. Depending on the agreed scope, these may include materials, transport, unloading, hired equipment and particular trades.

Use actual supplier quotations for defined quantities where possible. Keep uncertain amounts clearly marked as estimates or allowances. Do not turn an unpriced item into zero just to finish the comparison.

For example, if the labour quote excludes scaffolding but the combined quote includes it, that difference belongs in your comparison. The same applies when one offer includes plumbing labour and the other does not.

If you need supply prices, request building materials quotations using the specifications and quantities agreed with your project team.

Check what the combined quote actually supplies

A labour-and-materials offer should describe the materials behind its price. Ask about products, specifications, quantities and any allowances for items you will choose later.

“Standard finishes” may mean different things to different contractors. Ask for enough detail to understand the offer. Where the quote uses an allowance, ask what happens if your selection costs more or less.

Check the exclusions too. A combined quote may cover the house but leave out external works, connections or particular fittings. You need the written scope to know.

Compare the arrangements as well as the money

Think about the time you can give to ordering and receiving materials. If you live away from the site or have limited availability, ask who will handle those tasks and how you will be kept informed.

Under a labour-only arrangement, late purchases may affect the work schedule. Under a combined arrangement, you still need clarity about when materials will be supplied, which substitutions need your agreement and how progress will be reported.

Ask each contractor what they need from you to maintain the proposed programme. Record those dependencies alongside the start date and duration.

Ask about payment and changes before choosing

Have each contractor explain the proposed deposit, later payments and what each payment relates to. Ask how additional work or changed material choices will be described, priced and agreed.

Avoid relying on a verbal assurance that an item “will be sorted out.” If it affects what you will receive or pay for, ask for it to be included in the revised offer.

You can send this message:

Please confirm whether your quotation includes materials, transport, unloading, equipment and all the listed trades. For anything excluded, please state what I must arrange. Please also identify allowances, the payment schedule and how changes would be priced and approved.

Which option is better?

There is no single answer for every homeowner. A labour-only arrangement may suit someone prepared to organise purchasing and delivery. A combined arrangement may suit someone who wants those responsibilities included in the contractor’s scope. Both depend on a clear specification and a capable provider.

Compare the cost of the same work, the responsibilities you will keep, the proposed timing and how much coordination each arrangement requires from you. Do not assume that buying every material yourself will automatically save money, or that a combined offer removes the need to check details.

Get help comparing the offers you have

If the quotations still do not line up, a QS review can focus on missing items, allowances and scope differences. Agree the review output and fee before commissioning it.

Get help reviewing my construction quotes →

Choose the option for existing quotations and explain which responsibilities or costs are unclear. You can prepare the enquiry before signing in. Sign in to send it; an existing project is not required.

Related guide: One Contractor Quoted KSh 4 Million, Another KSh 7 Million—What Should I Check?.