Great question.  We can of course assist you on your project from concept to construction completion and have existing relations with numerous qualified and trustworthy contractors.  There are two common ways to work with a general contractor and each begins with the creation Construction Documents.

Creating Construction Documents

As architects, it is our pleasure to work closely with you to understand your goals for the project and then design accordingly, taking into account codes, legal restrictions, and budgets. The end product we create is a detailed set of Construction Documents which will be reviewed and permitted by local jurisdictions and then provided to a general contractor to construct the project.

Selecting a Contractor

You have a few options when it comes to selecting a general contractor. One option is to wait until the completion of the construction documents and solicit competitive bids from multiple general contractors for the full scope of work.

A second approach is to hire a general contractor early in the design process and make them a member of the team as the project develops. In this scenario, the project team evaluates different design options regarding price and we can track the budget closely as things develop.  When Construction Documents are complete, the general contractor solicits bids from a variety of subcontractors to get competitive prices from those trades and negotiates with you on their fees and markups.

In either scenario we will be more than happy to introduce you to qualified candidates for the construction and guide you through the process, staying on board through the completion of the construction as your advocate.

Thanks for the question Surag. You are right, a million factors will ultimately determine the final cost of a construction project. However, at these very preliminary stages of project development you can usually rely on some simple rules of thumb to establish a budget.

For lower-end custom home construction you should budget $200-$250 per s.f.

Quality mid-end construction is more like $300-400 per s.f. and we find man projects will fall somewhere in that range.

High end projects start to get the most variation in cost as there can be a very steep cost increase as your make certain finish and equipment  choices. For preliminary budgeting purposes you can start with $500-$600 per s.f. in this market but be aware that you still need to stay on top of things to keep it from escalating to $700-800 or more.

In addition these numbers you should also budget about $100 per s.f. for exterior hardscape construction. (driveways, walks, patios, decks, etc.)

We recommend you include at least a 10% contingency in your budget to address any unexpected costs that may arise during construction.  With quality, accurate drawings and a good team managing the project you can stay on top of a lot of these unforeseen issues and stay on target with your budget.

Good luck with your parcel search. Be aware that there are some neighborhoods with strict CC&R’s so look into those before making any final decisions and adjust your plans accordingly.