Ask anyone who has built in Ghana and you will hear a version of the same story: a contractor who started well, a budget that grew, and a project that stalled. It is common enough that people budget for disappointment.
It does not have to go that way. Here is what to actually check.
1. Is there a certified engineer, or just a builder?
There is a real difference between someone who can build and someone who can engineer. Ask who is doing the structural design, what they are certified in, and by whom. Load-bearing design is not a matter of experience and instinct — it is calculated.
2. Who is accountable when disciplines disagree?
Most build problems appear at the seams: the architect never spoke to the structural engineer, or the plumbing layout was never coordinated with either. If design and construction sit with different parties, ask directly who resolves the conflict — and who pays when it surfaces on site.
3. Do you get written costing before work starts?
A verbal figure is not an estimate. You should receive a written breakdown, by element, before anything begins, and you should approve it. If a firm resists putting numbers on paper early, that tells you how the rest of the project will go.
4. What happens to drainage?
This is the question almost nobody asks, and it is the one that produces the most expensive regret. Drainage designed in from the start behaves differently from drainage added once the structure is up. If the answer is “we will sort the septic tank later”, expect to be sorting it repeatedly.
5. Who is actually on site?
Firms subcontract — that is normal. What matters is whether the people holding the trowel were trained to any standard, and who is supervising them. Ask how the workforce is trained and how work is checked.
6. Can they show you completed work?
Not renders. Not a portfolio of other people’s buildings. Completed projects you could go and look at, and clients you could ask.
A fair warning
These questions will make some conversations uncomfortable. That is the point. A firm that answers them plainly is a firm that has thought about them; a firm that deflects has told you something useful.
Ask us the same six. Our consultation and site assessment are free, and you get written costing before anything starts.