Our approach to residential construction is guided by our talented team of problem-solvers. We have a great group, and we’re here to bring you successfully through the construction process. Add our partners, who are some of the best architects, designers, and proven building artisans in the business, a big dose of passion, up-to-the-minute technology, and you’ll understand how we make every project turn heads (not to mention win awards), move smoothly, and come in on time and on budget
The Pre-Construction Process
Initial Site Visit
During our first visit, we’ll review construction documents, familiarize ourselves with the job site, and talk to you about your expectations for your project, as well as answer any questions you may have. If you’re not working with a design professional and would like to, we can help you find one exactly right for you.
Second Site Visit
Once you’ve defined the scope of the job with architectural drawings and specifications, we visit the site with sub-contractors, like plumbers and electricians, so that they can provide us with their estimates.
Preliminary Estimate
Construction is like the old chicken and egg problem. You don’t know the price of a project until you have pricing from a builder, but a builder can’t price the project until they know what they’re building. If your plans aren’t fully developed, we can still create a preliminary budget based on assumptions and the information we have. Yes, it’s a ballpark estimate, but it will give you a pretty good idea of the budget required to bring your plans to life.
Detailed Estimate
Once we finalize the project design and specifications, we provide you with a detailed line-item estimate based on a Cost-Plus model, which means that we bill you for the work we have done, and no more. We’ve found this model works well for our clients, especially when doing renovation work. Our system is “open book,” which means you have access to subcontractor and material pricing, as well as all invoices from subcontractors and material providers. You can decide how granular you’d like to get, but you’ll find we’re always 100% transparent.
Project Information
Once a contract has been signed, we put together a team of professionals to manage your project, consisting of a job supervisor and an office-based project manager. They’ll work with you and the architect/designer to oversee and guide your project during every phase.
Planning, Permits, & Schedules
Before the project begins, we’ll have one or more planning meetings with you and your architect/designer to review the project plans. The pre-construction phase also includes obtaining necessary permits, determining a schedule for ordering materials, and coordinating time frames with our trade partners. Once the permits are in hand, construction can begin.
The Construction Process
You Team
The Job Supervisor is responsible for everything that happens on the site. He directs the crew, schedules subcontractors, checks quality, interacts with the architect, oversees safety, works with the project manager on the schedule and budget, makes sure we are good neighbors during construction, and brings the occasional box of coffee!
The Project Manager is responsible for budget tracking, documenting and communicating the project schedule, ordering finish materials, organizing and documenting regular meetings with you.
Billing
Invoices are issued every two weeks, complete with a full accounting of our costs, including time, materials, subcontractor costs, rentals, permits, and other costs that we have paid for to date. We can provide any level of documentation or copies of cost invoices that you require.
Tracking, Budget, and Schedule
We report on the status of the budget and the schedule every two weeks. This enables the team to see, early on, if there are any issues and allows us to course-correct. Keeping you up-to-date about everything that pertains to your project is an important part of what we do.
Change Orders
Change orders are changes to the scope of the work, both up and down. We have a custom system for issuing and tracking change orders that keeps you informed and the budget updated.
The S+H Warranty
We stand behind our work, offering a one-year warranty on labor and materials.