How do you find a builder who understands your vision?

Although poorly performing residential projects have failed at the framing stage, most have failed in the six weeks prior to contract when the homeowner and builder were working off of the same set of drawings but had differing assumptions regarding cost, sequence and what constitutes completion or “finished” work. Selection is where the biggest gap is closed and where the biggest mistakes are covered up. Homeowners must make sure that they are evaluating builders for the right factors that will determine a successful custom home project and not for an interesting presentation.

Portfolios prove capability, not comprehension

For each of the custom home builders that Columbia homeowners were considering, we reviewed the lists of builders that the homeowner had considered. In each case, the homeowner had started with a list of photographs of homes that the builder had completed. These finished homes revealed that the builder could complete a house of a certain style. However, the photos provided the weakest of filters for determining if the builder arrived at the home’s design through a process of disciplined questioning with the homeowner or if the builder simply built what the architect had designed.

Questions that separate the two

Go through a scenario or case study (such as a project) where a significant change to the original concept or homeowner request for change occurred prior to the work commencing (i.e. During preconstruction). How did the builder handle the change? What was the process like? What were the results?

• What did the client want that the site or the budget would not support, and how was that resolved?
• Which decisions were locked before permit, and which were deliberately left open?
• What was the cost variance between the initial estimate and the final invoice, and what drove it?
• Who on the team would be on site daily, and how many other projects would they carry?

To some degree, a builder’s ability to handle and resolve changes and variations to the drawings prior to the commencement of construction will determine the success of your custom home. Therefore, a builder’s inability or failure to discuss variations during the preconstruction stage in numbers and explanation will eliminate them from consideration of building your home.

Preconstruction is the real audition

Your shortlist is stronger when it favors custom home builders in Columbia that invest heavily in the estimating and design coordination functions of their office. This is because it is far more cost effective to resolve all issues on paper before commencing work on site versus allowing issues to arise and then being forced to resolve them on the job.

What a serious preconstruction phase produces

The scope of work including change orders will be represented in a line item format with verified allowances for each item. A scope of work including associated milestones and their corresponding amount of ‘float’ (slack time) will be presented to define the anticipated completion date of each stage of the project. Written assumptions and exclusions will be clearly defined and presented as a list to clarify scope of work prior to commencement of the project.

Match the contract structure to your tolerance for uncertainty

Pricing models of builders shape their behavior much more than the terms and conditions of a contract. Be very cautious when choosing a pricing model based on the completeness of your drawings and the amount of variability that you can absorb.

Assess quality through systems, not surfaces

Covered up parts of the house such as the framing, roof and structural components are often the biggest determinants of how your home will perform over the next 30 years or so. It is relatively easy to inspect trim and tile on a completed home but by the time the home is completed the covered up parts of the house will have been dealt with prior to you seeing the completed rooms. The builder’s attitude to these parts of the house will therefore be a good indicator of how they will treat the rest of the house.

Where to look during a site visit

1. Air sealing and insulation detail at rim joists, top plates, and penetrations.
2. Water management at windows, decks, and roof to wall transitions.
3. Mechanical layout, specifically whether ducts run in conditioned space.
4. Site housekeeping and material storage, which correlate strongly with defect rates.

Instead of inspecting the finished product of a home, it is more productive to meet the superintendent on a site visit (in progress) and then record their explanation of the technical aspects of the home under construction. Determine if they can explain the aspects of the home in great detail or if they seem to be evading the issue by going “up” to the architect or designer.

Protect alignment once construction starts

Things deteriorate quickly. Write out all your selections before you begin to excavate.

Three provisions worth negotiating

First, be sure to create a selections calendar (with dated deadlines) so that even the very late decisions in the construction process have a visible schedule cost. Second, establish a change order threshold (e.g. For work over $500) and insist on written approval for such work. Third, hold a standing weekly meeting to review the prior week’s work and create a short written summary of all decisions and work completed during the meeting. Distribute the written summary to all participants after the meeting.

Don’t confuse selecting a homeowner builder with deciding upon home designs or architecture. You need to find a builder with sufficient processes in place to ensure any misunderstandings will be costly to continue, and are easily discovered by you.

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