You think you'll remember every little detail & conversation about your new home build, don't you?
Think again. Memory is shockingly unreliable. In a classic 1974 study by Loftus and Palmer, people watched film of a car crash. Those asked how fast the cars were going when they "smashed" into each other estimated higher speeds than those asked about cars that "hit" each other, and a week later more of them "remembered" broken glass that wasn't there. One word changed the memory.
On something as long and complex as a new home build, you need systems that don't rely on memory: a site diary, checklists, and plenty of photos. You'll thank yourself later.
The Three Tools
Use these on your build:
- Checklists - Know what needs checking at each stage and tick it off as you go. Refer back to them to confirm what was done and when.
- Photos - Take pictures throughout the build. Photos are an unbiased record of what the site looked like at each stage.
- Site diaries - Record what happened, any issues, and who and what was on site. Your diary creates an accurate timeline you can check facts against.
How Memory Biases Lead to Inaccurate Recollections
False memories
Your mind can create memories of events that never happened. In one study, people were shown a doctored photo of themselves as children on a hot air balloon ride that never happened. Within a couple of weeks, about half "remembered" it.
Confirmation bias
You tend to remember things that confirm what you already believe and forget the rest. If you trust your builder, you'll tend to forget the small things that went wrong.
Fading affect bias
Over time, the emotion attached to a memory fades faster than the memory itself. You'll remember the milestones, but the frustration of each setback dulls, so the whole experience seems rosier than it was, and so do the problems.
Other memory traps:
- Misinformation effect: We incorporate misleading information into our memories.
- Confirmation bias: We search for and believe memories that confirm what we already think is true.
- Anchoring effect: We rely too heavily on the first information we receive (the "anchor") and fail to adequately adjust for subsequent information.
- Availability heuristic: We estimate the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind.
What to Record (and How It Protects You)
Photos: Photograph the site before work starts, the slab and frame as they go up, roofing and flashings, waterproofing before it's tiled over, and the finished result. Many of these things are covered up within days, so a photo may be the only evidence you'll ever have.
Checklists: Use them for selections (flooring, cabinetry, lighting and so on, with the exact product, colour and quantity) and for stage inspections. My stage inspection checklists, from the C5 Pre-Pour Slab Inspection through to C16 Practical Completion, tell you what to check and photograph at each stage.
Site diary: Record for every site visit, meeting or phone call:
The date and time, and who was there.
The key points discussed, and any decisions, actions or agreements.
Problems you noticed, with photos, and how and when they were resolved.
Changes to the plans or selections. For example, whether you chose the 600 x 600 tile or the 300 x 600.
Confirm any verbal agreement by email the same day, and get variations in writing and signed before the work is done.
Conclusion
Your memory will fail you. Your records won't.
Good records are your evidence if you need to raise a defect with your builder within the defects period, dispute a variation, or lodge a complaint with the QBCC. Dated photos, a site diary and signed-off checklists turn "I'm sure they said..." into facts nobody can argue with.
