It’s Construction, Not a Surprise Party 

There’s only one sure thing about construction estimates: unhappy clients. The “dirty little secret” is that construction estimates never end well. Why? Because they leave decisions unmade and questions unanswered, but contracts are signed and construction moves forward nevertheless. The problem with this kind of inexact process is that while planning can gloss over some steps, actual construction cannot: Materials, design, location and orientation and size, time and effort: At some point, those hanging decisions and pending questions will need to be addressed. And when they are, costs will go up, the completion date will move back, and homeowners will be surprised. And not in a good way.

This is why we don’t do your typical construction estimate. We follow our own unique process to take a construction project from an idea to a finished, beautiful structure without hiccups, hitches, or holdups – or surprises.

Our process consists of these three distinct steps:

1) Order of Magnitude

This is the first bridge from idea to reality. Based on your architectural plans and drawings, we develop a project scope outline.

Then, using our years of experience in bespoke construction, our past projects, and an extensive database of costs that we keep and update regularly, we create a rough order of magnitude budget for each scope of your project.

2) Pre-Construction Agreement

Now we build the bridge. With our Order of Magnitude in hand and your go-ahead, we dive in deep. We assign a Project Manager to lay out all the pieces and parts in one connected array. He then pulls together a team of our staff who send out enquiries and gather bids from a host of subcontractors to nail down exact costs and time needed for every individual aspect of the work. Meanwhile, our Project Manager identifies loose ends and clears them up with concrete decisions. Through clear and detailed communications, all the questions that need to be asked are answered. All the decisions that need to be made are rendered. And in the process, all the pieces and timelines are linked together into one contiguous workflow plan.

At the height of the pre-construction process, there may be as many as a hundred materials and construction experts working together on your project. The result is a detailed and accurate map of how the entire construction project will start, what materials will be used, who will perform the work, when it will be finished, and what it will cost.

Our Pre-Construction Agreement is to a typical construction estimate as GPS is to a hand-sketched map.

3) Hybrid Construction Management

When the Pre-Construction Agreement is approved, it’s go-time. We finalize all the subcontractor contracts and schedules, and we choose carefully among our own extended staff of master craftsmen to assemble our team for your job.

Why do we so carefully choose? Because we want to make sure that your construction will move forward no matter what. The electrical subcontractor has an emergency and can’t make it to the site today? No problem, we’ve got a licensed electrician among our own team to do what needs to be done. The special-materials plasterer is a no-show? Two of our guys are trained and experienced and will take over. And so on.

This is our hybrid construction process: We use the best subcontractors in their fields, and we also back them up with our own skilled staff who can step in when the vagaries of construction – and life – get in the way (emergencies, overscheduling, even traffic delays).

Here’s the Outcome of Our Unique Process

1) Your project stays on schedule.

2) Your newly constructed addition, conversion, or new structure comes in at cost.

3) No one’s surprised. And everyone’s happy.

Kind of like the perfect party.