Our Process
What are the steps for building or remodeling a home or workspace in Santa Cruz County or City?
This can often be an overwhelming process since it is new for most people and involves a lot of time and money, and many decisions. The good news is that this process does not need to be difficult and stressful! We are here to work with you. Some clients prefer to let us handle everything from start to finish, while others prefer to be much more involved. We are flexible and encourage each client to engage in the process as much or as little as they would like.
As a design/build company, we can handle the whole process. From conceptual design to construction documents, submittal and permitting, and of course, the building. We are your advocate to get the project done on time and on budget. Our experience has shown us that collaboration between the builder, designer, and client from an early stage results in an efficient building process that eliminates conflict and reduces stress.
Here’s a breakdown of the process, and how you can expect a building project to go with us.
Meet with us for a free consultation to explore project feasibility, explain our process, discuss timeline, and a ballpark idea of costs.
Hire us to put your dreams on paper (plus cool 3D renderings), and provide rough cost estimates along the way. We have a preconstruction contract, called a Design and Comprehensive Project Evaluation(DCPE) for the design and permitting phase. Design goes hand in hand with 1-2 rounds of rough cost estimating at key points, to help us design to your budget. Our designer will first come up with basic plans from the client wish list. We will then give a rough cost estimate to make sure the project is within budget before the plans get too far along. If the first rough estimate is within budget, you can proceed with the full design, with the confidence that you can afford the design. If the estimate is over budget, it is still easy and inexpensive to make changes to get the design within budget. The design phase usually takes 3-5 months for a substantial project.
Finalize plans, one more estimate: our designer will put together a full set of construction documents, complete with any consultant documents such as structural engineering, soils report, title-24 report, civil engineering. Depending on the project, we will usually do one more round of rough estimating to make sure the design is still within budget, once the whole design package is assemble. If the project is still within budget, we can submit plans. If not, it is still relatively easy to make changes, before submitting to the building department.
Submit plans to County or City. Our designer will take care of this and track progress. The permit phase usually takes 3-5 months for a good size project.
Final construction bid. Once your plans are finalized we can give you a fixed bid with an exact dollar amount of what the project will cost. We usually put this bid together once we receive the Building Departments approval, in case there are any major changes they require. Plan on having a contingency of 5% or so for unforeseen things that may arise, or changes you may want to make during construction.
Sign a construction contract. If you would like us to do the construction phase, we’ll send you a construction contract. A signed contract puts your project on our job schedule.
Project manager introduction and timeline with key decisions. If you have not already met the project manager that will be overseeing construction, this is when they will come on board. We will also lay out the important owner decisions on things such as plumbing and lighting fixtures, and when those decisions have to be made so you are not rushed during the project.
Start building. A kitchen remodel typically takes 2-3 months. A new home typically takes 10-16 months depending on the scope of the project, and the time of year it began. We can provide a clear timeline once the bid has been accepted.
Move-in and enjoy the comfort and satisfaction of your new home for a lifetime!