How to Build Your Home FAST
In my personal experience, the single biggest reason projects take longer than anticipated is due to delays in material selections. Now, this may sound like I am blaming the client. FALSE. I am blaming the builder (me). I failed to communicate the importance of timely selections and deadlines. That ends today! It is imperative that ALL material selections be made by the client by the time the house is framed. In fact, by the time the foundation is poured, most selections should be made.
That may sound a bit ridiculous to some of you. That is so early in the construction process!!! To help you understand, allow me to explain what happens between you making a selection and the material being installed. Let’s take tile, for example. Here are the steps that must happen to install your selected tile:
A material “takeoff” needs to be performed. A material takeoff is when measurements are taken from the house plans to determine the needed quantity of a certain material (i.e. tile). Plans do not tell you the square footage of tile in a specific area (i.e. shower). A material takeoff must be performed to determine this quantity. It is simple mathematics, but it does take a bit of time – especially when multiple materials are selected for a certain area. (TIME FOR THIS STEP – 3 TO 5 DAYS)
Retrieve quotes from tile vendors. Once we know the exact amount of tile needed, we can send a quote request to the desired vendor. (TIME FOR THIS STEP – 3 TO 5 DAYS)
Request pricing approval from the client. Since most material selections are linked to “allowance items” (see our earlier blog post about allowances), the client must approve the cost of a material before it is purchased. Continuing the tile example, if there was a $10K allowance for tile material, and the vendor’s quote came back at $11K, then the builder must receive written approval from the client regarding the overage. (TIME FOR THIS STEP – 3 TO 5 DAYS)
Purchase material. Once the quotes are reviewed by the builder and approved by the client, it is time to purchase the material! Very rarely are materials like tile in stock and ready to be picked up. They can have a lead time of a week to months, depending on the tile. (TIME FOR THIS STEP FROM PURCHASE TO READY FOR PICKUP – 3 WEEKS ON AVERAGE).
Install material. (TIME FOR THIS STEP – 5 DAYS)
The steps above must take place for every single material that needs to be selected for your home. As you can see in the tile example, it would be very unwise to wait until the builder was ready for the tile to be installed to make your selection. If you wait that long, there will be major project delays. If all of the materials are selected up front, the builder can purchase proactively and swiftly churn through the work. The result is a home-building journey with decreased stress and increased speed- a win-win!
