Our Philosophy
Owners often benefit from a strong Advocate during the development process to assist with project oversight. This could include review of a property that is for sale, building a team of consultants, assistance with planning and entitlements, or the oversight of the design and construction process and associated coordination between the team members.
The relationship between the Owner, the Architect, Contractor, and the various consultants and municipal authorities involved in a project requires special sensitivity and it can often be a careful balance to achieve the full and coordinated benefit of the expertise of each party. Anticipating the questions or needs of each stakeholder is critical to avoiding unnecessary redundancy between consultants.
Having a division and direction of work that is clearly distributed to all parties can often help keep soft-costs down and reduce such redundant expenses; it can also help limit contradictory instructions in the plans and supporting contract documents. Most ground-up projects will require an architect to develop the design, a geotechnical engineer to examine the soil conditions, a civil engineer to evaluate the slope of the property and provide a drainage plan, and a structural engineer to size the foundation and structural elements. This likely represents the minimum number of design consultants on any project; larger jobs could also potentially have an interior designer, a landscape architect, mechanical engineer, an arborist, a waterproofing consultant, and many more.
The solicitation and review of proposals, review and negotiation of contracts and insurance, and coordination of these parties and their work can be a daunting task in and of itself. It is important to ensure that the entire design and construction team is maintaining culpability for the design, that the contractor has a solid contract with the right General Liability insurance in place, and that all of the contracts are coordinated and reference each other appropriately and consistently. Some Architects are accustomed to managing such a process, but a builder’s eye and management can add technical expertise to clearly define the division of scopes between the various consultants and to help direct them to work in tandem to design a building that does not spend wastefully on infrastructure or inadvertently provide duplicative services, leaving a larger proportion of the budget to devote towards the finishes and systems.
After the design is developed and the building entitlements are approved it is time to start construction! A team meeting every one to two weeks is typical, and most Contractors bill on a monthly basis. It isn’t unusual to see Change Order requests in the early months of a construction project, and depending on the development and coordination of the plans and supporting documents, as well as Owner-driven changes, it might continue throughout the project. Distillation of the contents of these meetings and process documents into an easily digestible executive summary for review by the Owner is a core service.
Careful review of each billing statement and Change Order from the Contractor is another central portion of the oversight process; it also isn’t unusual to see requests for additional design fees from the consultants if a new item is added or unforeseen conditions require changes to the plans. A good Advocate should act careful questions about any inconsistencies in the financial statements and authorizations for additional work and services. By having an independent agent push back on any potential irregularities, an Advocate can help engender a less emotional and more collaborative team setting since the Architect is no longer required to balance this portion of their professional relationship with the Contractor.
Black House’s team of experienced industry leaders and library of historical unit costs allows quick identification of whether proposed costs are within market norms, or if it requires further scrutiny. The result is a team that works together in a more collaborative and efficient manner, leading to a shorter overall construction schedule, financial savings, and a better final product.