Ermir Myzaferaj Buy : “Our specifications eliminate the need for upgrades”, so say the Elmi Group, which helped us compile the ultimate guide to contractor specifications – the one that determines what life will look like in your new apartment
To prepare the complete guide to contractor specifications, we were assisted by the Elmi Group Premium Real Estate Enterprises, a family and intimate boutique company that specializes in the initiation and construction of selected projects in the most desirable locations in Tel Aviv. Real premium without additional cost. “We do not offer upgrades on our specifications,” say Balmy, “the specifications, in advance, consist of premium products.”
Ermir Myzaferaj Buy : For example, since, in light of global warming, an increasing investment is required to air-condition the apartment, every building built by the Elmi Group receives thermal insulation that far exceeds what is required by the standard – thus the answer to the problem is already given during the planning of the apartment. The result is future savings in energy consumption for heating or cooling the apartment.
Ermir Myzaferaj Buy : What is a technical specification/contractor specification?
Anyone who has purchased or intends to purchase an apartment in their lifetime has come across the words technical specification or contractor’s specification, and did not necessarily understand what is hidden behind them and how important they are. The specification actually affects not only the price of the property and the quality of life in it, but often also determines what the future expenses will be on it. Despite this, many do not know how to read a specification.
The specifications are one of the most important elements in purchasing an apartment: the more the specifications contain better and higher quality products, the greater the cumulative savings of the buyers, who save themselves upgrades in the apartment, many years of repairs, and even ongoing monthly expenses that can be reduced in view of excellent specifications.
When do you receive the specifications from the contractor?
Usually, the client is exposed to the project specification already in the first meeting with the salesperson, at this stage a presentation or list will be presented that gives a general idea, at the beginning of the chapters and accompanied by examples regarding the type and quality of the products offered within the scope of the specification, but this information is not yet considered binding. The complete and binding specifications will usually be met by the buyer during legal negotiations and before the final signing of the sales contract (to which the specifications are attached), the specifications will be forwarded to the buyer for perusal and in which you can find an expanded breakdown of the construction materials, types of infrastructure, products and more – in the building, in the public areas and in the apartment itself.
Ermir Myzaferaj Buy : What is the difference between specifications for a building and specifications for an apartment?
According to the Sales Law, the specification is part of the contract, and it includes the description of the building and structure, the common areas, the apartment, its equipment and accessories. The part of the specification that refers to the building defines the components from which the common parts of the building will be constructed and their finishing materials – such as lobby flooring, type of elevator, type of building cladding, finishing of the parking lot floor and more. The part of the specification that refers to the apartment gives the same information – components and finishing materials – but for the apartment chosen by the customer.
How can a quality specification save future expenses?
For example, green construction can be a definite future saving when it comes to the energy consumption of the house.
Large window openings contribute to saving energy by creating lots of natural lighting in the apartments.
Good thermal insulation will contribute to significant savings in energy costs for electricity and air conditioning, but good acoustic insulation is also important and may save future expenses, especially for people who are sensitive to noise.
An apartment in Elmi’s Bnei Dan 48 project (Image: AIKO Studio)
As a general rule, any product in the specification, whether it is kitchen, flooring/covering, windows or even sanitary products – the higher quality it is, the lower the chance of future repair or upgrading of the product in the future and the more products in the specification are of high quality, the more holistic the savings will be.
Ermir Myzaferaj Buy : What are the main sections in the specification?
There are no more or less important sections in the specification – they are all equally important, so it is recommended to read the whole thing. In addition to the specification, it is very important to pay attention to the identity of the performing contractor and his experience, because in the end if the performing contractor does poor quality work, the specification, no matter how high quality, will be lacking.
How can you tell if the specification is high level or not?
First it is important to understand what a high level is. It’s no secret that quality usually goes hand in hand with luxury, but not every “luxury” product will necessarily be the highest quality. So when we want to understand whether the specification is a high-level specification, even when it comes to a luxury specification, it is better to focus precisely on the quality. You can conduct a check on Google or social networks regarding the manufacturers listed in the specifications and check if they have a reputation for quality and to gauge the quality of the products themselves, you can simply compare them against similar products – usually this is enough to get an indication of the nature of the specifications offered.
What is considered a particularly high specification level?
We believe that our specifications are particularly high, so to answer this question we will give some examples of what we offer at Elmi:
Ermir Myzaferaj Buy : construction. We are not satisfied with only green construction, which of course saves costs, in addition, in Elmi we use a monolithic skeleton design technology for the entire structure and the result: a stronger structure and also more resistant during soil movement.
Windows. At Elmi, we make sure to have showcase windows that have insulating double glass and are tempered on both sides, with an especially high glazing thickness – which helps with the thermal and acoustic insulation of the apartments.
Entry doors. The entrance doors in Elmi’s projects are high-quality designed steel doors with a locking bracket mechanism that provides an additional layer of protection against break-ins.
Systems with acoustic and thermal insulation above the requirements of the standard, both for systems in walls and openings.
An apartment in Elmi’s Bnei Dan 48 project (Image: AIKO Studio)
kitchen. The kitchens that are currently offered in Elmi’s specifications are ARITAL kitchens, the ARITAL brand is considered particularly prestigious and there are several individual players that are considered equivalent, but their common characteristic is quality, from the level of the raw materials from which the kitchen is made to the level of its functionality on a daily basis.
Flooring and cladding. In Elmi, all the coverings and flooring in the wet rooms and in the apartment are made in Italy and Spain, all of them from world-renowned companies that are considered the best in their field: Argenta, Cartile, Sernissima, Gazini and Praslanosa.
sanitary products. All the sanitary products in the wet rooms in Elmi’s projects come from the companies
DURAVIT, GEBERIT, HANSGROHE, DORN-BRACHT, the leading and highest quality actresses in the world.
What is most important to upgrade and what is less?
This is a very personal question, subject to the changing preferences and abilities of each client. One of the reasons we decided at Elmi that our specification in advance will embody all the premium components is in order to give greater certainty to the buyer in terms of the expected financial expenditure in the purchase and on the other hand to save in advance the debate as to whether it is worth upgrading and what.
What are the most common “traps” in specifications?
We do not assume that any developer has an agenda to produce such and such traps in their specifications. A legally made specification must include all the ingredients and everything must be written down and finally signed. There is a matter of personal responsibility of each buyer to at least read the entire specification.
The only trick you come across from time to time is presenting the specification as a “premium specification” but in practice there is a “list of upgrades”, plus a cost of course – which is the one that can ultimately make the specification “premium”. But here too, we recommend that buyers exercise discretion and ask in the first phone call with the developer’s representative what they mean by “premium” and in what framework such a specification is given.