how we work and what to expect

As someone who grew up with a father that was a gifted salesman,  Jeff learned at an early age that business is about relationships.  To him that means understanding what it is the client wants and needs, and being able to translate that into something they will want to live with and love for years to come.  Clear, concise communication is the key to smooth projects, no matter the scope or size.  That's why we begin all of our relationships with a casual meeting to let you describe what you are trying to accomplish with your project.  Whether it's a new home Passive House build, or a deep energy retrofit, we strive to listen first before we explain all of the exciting possibilities. This is really just an informal conversation, but we have learned over the years how to bring out the less obvious desires you may have for your project.


Once we have a good idea of your needs and desires for the project, we get to work with our team to translate that into a specific written plan with options that we present to you with a estimated budget of what it will cost to build the type of home you want in the area you will be building.  Once you agree that estimate, called an 'order of magnitude' estimate, is within the range of what you want to spend for your new home, we convert that into a specific written scope of work and budget that details everything that we will be doing for your project, accompanied by plans drawn by us or your architect.  This scope document becomes the most important part of the contract as it describes not only what we will do, but what you will get when your project is complete  Any changes that need to be made later to accommodate modifications to this plan will also be submitted in writing for your approval and become part of the overall contract documentation.  At no time will there be any question of where we are in the project or what remains to be completed.


In addition to the contract, a schedule based on the included scope will be issued as bids come in and tradesmen are engaged.  There are two types of schedules, which work in tandem.  The first is the schedule to completion.  It details the timeline we expect will be needed to accomplish each stage of the project, including planning/permitting, demolition, construction and so on.  The second is the schedule of payments that is intrinsically tied to the schedule to completion.  As we complete each phase or sub-phase we will submit billing for those completed phases.  At no time will you be asking yourself if we have completed the work that you are paying for.  The final phase, the 'punch list' phase, will be completed to your satisfaction before we ask for our final payment so you will always know that your project has our highest priority.

The best part?  Everything we do is on an app, that you have 24/7 access to, on your phone, your iPad or your computer.  We strive every day to keep you completely informed on where your project is, what needs to be completed and what is currently being done towards completion.  Billing and payments are all online and secure and we are even working on providing a live video feed for each project embedded right there in the app.  In every way we know, we make sure your project is well defined and the finances are clear and concise with our open book policies. 

What we consider a huge compliment is that since 2021 when we went open book and online with our app, many design build firms in the Valley that are much larger than we are have followed suit and introduced their own apps.  We consider anything that makes positive change like this in our industry to be a win for homeowners everywhere.