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‘ Building a home abroad – particularly in challenging terrain – is not for the faint of heart.’ So reads one of a plethora of testimonials on CG Construction’s website where, if you were considering doing the aforementioned, wouldn’t be a bad place to start your research.

The plaudit from owners of a four-bedroom luxury villa built by the Antigua-based firm is one of dozens found online lauding CG’s professionalism, integrity and value for money. Not only did the company support the family “every step of the way”, its customer service “made the whole process as simple and pleasurable as possible”, it concludes. CG has created more than 50 highend homes and commercial projects since it was established in 2004.

Today, it occupies an enviable place in the market as one of the largest and most respected construction companies in Antigua. Completing works on time and within budget on a small, imports-dependent island is no mean feat. Creativity, efficiency and timeliness place this 25-strong team – which includes several highly skilled project managers – head and shoulders above the rest.

From beachfront abodes to mountainside hideaways – encompassing new builds, renovations and extensions – CG pledges to “take care, custody and control” of every development it undertakes. “We do everything with the utmost care, we take custody which means absolute transparency and accountability, and we are always in control,” says CG’s founder and managing director Paul Smith. “We believe that’s vital to any building project.” And because CG knows that realtime two-way correspondence is key to customer satisfaction, all clients benefit from a blog spot with photos uploaded each day, allowing them to observe every step of their dream project coming to fruition.

It avoids discrepancies in communication while keeping a pictorial record of your development journey for posterity. Costs are kept lower than many competitors because CG can also take charge of the design process, explains British-born Paul, a qualified chartered engineer. “Often we find details are onerous and unnecessarily over-specified by architects. There’s a saying that anyone can build a bridge, but only an engineer can build it efficiently,” he says.

CG reduces the cost of “buildability” – assessing designs from the perspective of those that will manufacture, install components and carry out the construction works – to only what’s required. “We find the best solutions to foundations, structures, suspended elements or difficult detailing, helping the architect to choose the right material with the correct properties for the job. This kind of pro-active design helps us keep our clients’ bills as low as possible,”

Paul continues. “Customers are welcome to come in and see us any time at our Cobbs Cross offices. It’s an opportunity to look through our samples and see what they like, as well as talk to us face to face.” For a firm that prides itself on expertise, state-of-the-art equipment is a given. CG’s satellite-based instruments – which use geographic information system (GIS) technology – promise accuracy to within a few millimetres in field surveys, such as topography assessments. “Accuracy is all-important and we can provide the very closest results,”

Paul says. Building a home or business from the ground up naturally comes with a number of risks. CG offers a variety of contracts depending on the level of risk a client wishes to absorb. “We want people to feel as comfortable as possible during the development of their project. Risks might be anything from a discrepancy between drawings, to hitting rock when you were expecting soft ground and needing to pay for an excavator,”

Paul explains. CG offers three principle contracts. ‘Fixed price’ is where the costs are set at the beginning and do not alter (notwithstanding any changes the client wishes to make along the way), with the contractor absorbing any risks encountered. A ‘cost-plus’ contract is where the client covers the project’s actual expenses – eg labour, materials and other costs incurred along the way. The ‘plus’ part refers to a fixed percentage agreed on gross costs. “We also offer ‘fixed fee’ which is like a management contract; we manage it all for a fee,” Paul explains. “The customer simply pays an agreed fee plus the discounted costs for goods, materials and labour that a professional contractor is able to obtain.”

Such flexibility has paid dividends in ensuring happy customers, like the family who chose CG to build their new beachside home in scenic Willoughby Bay. To their delight, the four-bedroom property was ready to move into in just nine months. “We were amazed with how quickly and cost-effectively the project was handled,” the owners enthused. “The build even came in under budget and our family is now fully enjoying life in our new home.”

CG Construction’s offices in Cobbs Cross are open Monday to Friday 7.30am-6pm. Visit www.cg-construction.com or call +1 562-8074.