Homeowner Leadership Training

Homebuilding has changed significantly over the last hundred years, especially since the 1950s, when the housing industry boomed following World War II. In many respects, construction has evolved from a trade or craft to a systematized process, and building a home, in a classic, hands-on sense, is far from standard practice these days.

Modern homebuilding is much more sophisticated. Today, builders manage construction materials and methods, coordinate trade partners and suppliers, and deal with a variety of building codes and other regulations. The sophistication of these processes naturally distance homeowners from the actual building process, and can cause uncertainty as to their role.
In fact, a homeowner's role during construction is more important than ever, if vastly different than it was a century ago. The homeowner is still, ultimately, a leader in the process. By gaining a solid understanding of the building process homeowners can provide an example of professionalism to the rest of the team.

Consider the following "leadership training" tips that help define a homeowners role on a project:
Education is key. Even though you won't be building the house or acting as the general contractor or builder, get educated about the home building process and gain an understanding and respect for the pace, phases, and materials that go into a home's construction. (That is one of our purposes in offering this newsletter.) This knowledge helps you communicate with your builder, and will give you confidence as your home moves through progressive stages of completion.

Meet deadlines. Builders set deadlines for certain decisions so that materials and labor will arrive on the job site at a certain point during construction, enabling steady progress and on-time completion. As the homeowner, take responsibility to negotiate reasonable deadlines for decisions you'll have to make, such as the selection of cabinets or flooring, and stick to them. In addition to helping maintain the construction schedule (which ultimately impacts your move-in plans), it sets a good example for your builder and his suppliers and subcontractors to follow suit and return the gesture.

Respect the change order process. Make sure that your contract includes a formal and dedicated process for managing change orders, which generally are decisions made (or changed) after an agreed upon deadline. Change orders always cost money and often impact the schedule. It may take time to remove one product, wait for the delivery of its replacement, and to install it. As professional builders, we do our best to accommodate customer changes. For their part, homeowners must respect the impact a change order has on costs and the construction schedule and take responsibility for requesting and accepting the trade-offs of a change.

Communicate. Communication is critical, so avoid keeping a concern, issue, or idea to yourself. Come into the process with an open mind and don't be shy about asking questions. If possible, keep a list and present your questions during a scheduled meeting or on-site conversation with your builder, but don't shy away from an occasional ad-hoc phone call (during business hours) if you need an answer more quickly.

As a professional builder, we are proud of our business operations and systems. We partner with each of our clients. We understand and respect the relationship we have with our home owners. Our savvy customers meet us part of the way, by educating themselves, sticking to deadlines, and asking quality questions.

Warm regards,

Zenios Michael Zenios