Our Design/Build Process

The Design/Build model is perfect for residential construction. As a homeowner, you’re assured that your needs and goals are being matched with a targeted budget right from the start. You’re immediately placed on our production schedule. You will work closely with a dedicated team of individuals experienced in both residential remodeling design and construction. Our talented design staff works hand-in-hand with project managers, estimators, and permit specialists to assure that your project starts in the right direction and stays on track.

The Design/Build process is a singular effort. You’ll need a full set of complete drawings in order to build your project, and that’s where we start. (See our Design Book, a sample of construction documents on the left)

The drawings need to satisfy several requirements. You need the drawings in a form that you can fully understand. Your local permit office wants to see explicit information defining all elements of your project, including a final site plan, demolition and proposed floor plans, elevations, sections, structural details, mechanical, and plumbing plans, and window, door, and finish schedules. It’s a lot of work, but our in-house experts are some of the best in the business. When completed, we will have thoroughly detailed your project to satisfy all code, contractual, construction, and client requirements.

The length of your process will vary with your needs, goals, and project scope. From start to finish, the entire process of design, permitting, and construction for a typical $200,000 project, for example, may take approximately 9-12 months. The actual construction phase may take 4-6 months, with design and permitting processes often being the biggest variables on the critical path.

Have some fun

This is all the more reason to get off to a good start. Essentially, your project will get built twice, once as a representation in a computer and on paper, and then again on site. We know it can be frustrating for a homeowner that the design and permitting can take longer than the actual construction, but it’s necessary work and crucial to the success of the project. We’ll seek to make this all easy for you, and try to have as much fun as we can along the way!

Our process is simple. It is composed of 4 phases. Schematic Design (Phase 1), Design Development (Phase 2), Construction Documents (Phase 3), and Production (Phase 4).

Phase 1
We will begin our Schematic Design (Phase 1) process with a thorough site analysis, documentation of the existing conditions of your home, and include any zoning regulations, code, and historic preservation and Fine Arts requirements for your particular site. We prepare detailed “As-Built” drawings of your existing home as a first step so that we’re intimately familiar with your home, its structure, and its existing systems. Upon completion of the As-Built drawings, we will work with you and propose our initial concepts. Working directly with you, we will clarify project requirements, further refine your goals and needs, and propose a well-designed solution. We use a variety of presentation methods including AutoCAD (Computer Aided Design), freehand sketches, and 3-D or perspective renderings to delineate the project for you.

We know that clients visualize things in different ways, and we strive to present the schematic material in a format that is easy for you to understand. We’ll start out conceptually, and then move into the details of the home with plans, sections, and elevations. Many of your decisions concerning the design and construction of your project will be firmly established by the end of this initial process, and will thus form the bounding parameters of the project. The Schematic Design will conclude with the presentation of an Interim Construction Estimate and the various drawings developed in this phase.

Phase 2
With your approval of the drawings and cost projection, we will commence with Design Development (Phase 2). In this phase we are working to compile and complete all of the final information required to secure all necessary permits for your project. The estimate, again, is revisited and refined throughout Phase 2 as the drawings are further developed and as we get more information from our material suppliers, project managers, and subcontractors. At the conclusion of this phase we will file for your building permit and present firm construction pricing.

Phase 3
The final phase, Construction Documents, consists of the assembly of cut sheets, specifications, finish selections, final detail drawings, interior elevations, schedules, and the specific contract language for your construction work.

Our total fee for all design work (Phases 1, 2, and 3) is based on 12 percent of an estimated construction cost. At the conclusion of the design effort two percentage points will be credited toward your ratified construction contract, effectively reducing our design fee to 10 percent of the actual construction cost.

No “hand-off”
As your project moves through design, you’re already on our construction schedule. Your Project Manager is scheduling all the necessary resources to get your project built. We make every effort to move you directly into production as soon as permits are procured and our construction agreement is finalized. Your team leader will track and shepherd your project through all phases of design, estimating, permitting, and construction. He or she will be directly and intimately involved in all phases of your project. We don’t have a hand-off.

Phase 4
We like to say that this is where the “real work” gets done. During Production (Phase 4) your team assembled at the start of the process will plan, manage, and perform all of the construction work on your project. The Project Manager becomes your point person for all communication and is responsible for assembling and coordinating all materials and labor to get your project completed as soon as possible and with quality results. Your team leader and design staff follow your project through, and are always available to answer the inevitable questions that will arise during production. We do almost all of the production work in-house, with the usual exceptions being roofing, drywall, and painting work, which we will coordinate and subcontract with specialized crews (this saves on our costs, which we pass along to you!) And, of course, your dedicated team will work directly with you to keep you informed and address any concerns during the entire process.

We will schedule meetings with you at certain production milestones in addition to our weekly progress meetings with you. Before dry-walling, we conduct a “Close-In” walk-through with you to explain, verify, and confirm all systems before concealment. We will ask you to pay particular attention to the location of light fixtures, switches, and receptacles, since we don’t want to be moving those items around afterwards.

When we reach Substantial Completion (the point at which you can use the spaces for their intended purposes), we will schedule another formal walk-through and review the last items to be completed, corrected, or finalized. A “Punch List” of minor defects and incomplete items will be jointly prepared and agreed upon, and when the listed items are completed, our contractual agreement will be considered 100 percent fulfilled.

As your new systems, drywall, and structural work learn to live with one another in their new surroundings, we monitor and Warrant our completed work for a period of one year after Substantial Completion. It’s normal that there may a few nail pops in drywall, or that your HVAC may need final balancing or adjustment during this period. We expect it and plan to be available for you to ensure that all systems are working as planned.

At Final Completion, you will be presented a Certificate of Final Completion and all manuals, product warranties, etc., for installed items will be presented to you for your reference and use. We are always available to answer your questions.