Custom builders provide a very personal professional service for owners that want to build a unique house. Owners require a custom builder to personalize their house through design and construction that make a statement about their lifestyles.
These owners are also people that are uncompromising and have higher expectations of their luxury houses than they can purchase in the real estate market. In a few words, custom home construction is an exclusive membership to a one-of-a-kind luxury custom home constructed by a premier builder of their choice.
Do you want to build your dream home according to your style and design preferences?
Generally, custom home builders build houses based on the architects’ designs (approved by homeowners) or orchestrate both design and construction in the design-build delivery approach.
In such cases, homeowners generally depend on the design layout and specifications provided by the architects with a few inputs from their side. Building a house where the design plan is curated by the architect or designer can mean fitting into the overall scheme of things without much flexibility to exhibit.
This may not prove to be long-lasting as your preferences for certain features or elements can weigh down heavily on you. And after some years, you may contemplate remodeling your house.
However, you can avoid all these by opting for a custom house design. Here, you, as the owner, draw the basic sketch of the layout, design specifications, and features based on your style and preference.
To put it simply, you design your own house (the basic sketch) and then hire the services of a Houston custom home builder to bring your dream to fruition. Since such Houston custom builders build your home tailormade to your preferences, they can be called custom home builders.
Let us share some things about them and the proper way to choose the right one for your custom-built house. You may also read our detailed resource on the secrets of luxury home builders.
What is a custom home builder?
Custom builders are premier builders building houses on the clients’ land. Here, in most cases, the clients bring their completed house plans to be executed by the Houston custom builders.
However, they may also commission the design build builders to design the building plans and execute the construction. In the design-build approach, the custom builder manages both design and construction.
In other approaches, the owner needs to work with an architect to design the house (basic sketch prepared by the owner). Either way, it is advantageous to get the custom builders’ input throughout the design process when possible.
Nothing is more disappointing than completing your luxury home plans and being required to start redesigning due to budget constraints, unforeseen constructability issues, or great design enhancement ideas that were not available during the design phase.
Moreover, building a house that reflects your taste can be truly satisfying, which is difficult to be achieved by buying an existing dwelling.
What are the areas of responsibility of a custom builder?
Hiring a custom builder would mean managing all the responsibilities of building your new house. Since the person would be overseeing the entire process, it is important to know his or her areas of responsibility.
The key roles of custom builders in modern real estate markets are as follows:
Manage subcontractors: A custom builder Houston needs to manage the subcontractors right from the design stage. Since a house has several elements – plumbing, flooring, masonry, roofing, and power supply, among others, there will be specific subcontractors catering to various elements. The custom builder needs to coordinate with the subcontractors and ensure they perform their respective work within the scheduled timelines.
Material procurement: The house builder will be in charge of the material procurement needed for construction purposes. He or she needs to order and track the materials, delivery, and payment of all goods. Also, he or she in most cases monitors the use and remaining materials as they relate to the quantity take-offs and the construction budget.
Subcontractor management: To keep the project on track and ensure everything goes according to the original plan and specifications, premier builders are responsible for developing a scope of work, developing a contract for services and securing the proper insurance coverage.
Custom builders coordinate subcontractor labor with a master schedule that includes the flow of labor, materials and equipment to achieve completion progress milestones. They also are responsible for progress payments to subcontractors and lien releases that protect the owner’s property interest.
Facilitate custom home design construction documents: Many Houston home builders may have their in-house design team or work for an architectural firm. They will work with the client from the onset of the design stage and will develop the working budget as the design progresses.
They may offer amenities, features, and upgrades to the custom house design progresses. When preliminary design is approved, the custom builders will hire engineers for the structural and MEP plans.
Upon completion of the construction documents, the builders will also be responsible for obtaining the building permits on the owners behalf by paying the required fees to the respective local authorities.
Manage construction costs: During the entire design and construction process, custom builders will manage the cost of construction, including applications for payment by the owner and making progress payments to subcontractors and vendors. Managing the cash flow for multiple projects requires good accounting practices and a diligent effort of monitoring the ongoing and future construction cost.
Adhere to building codes: Your custom house must be built according to the national and local building codes and regulations. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the builder to carry out construction work in accordance with the building codes or laws set by the local or federal government.
In doing so, the builder shall ensure all subcontractors are in compliance with required codes and monitor each disciplines work and inspections.
Jobsite safety: Your home builder will conduct construction safety inspections and require subcontractors to prepare safety execution plans for medium and high-risk task that need to be performed. These are conducted for the safety and wellbeing of the skilled trades performing the work and to mitigate injury or loss during home building.
Progress & final inspection: During home construction, Houston builders will conduct a joint inspection with homeowners to ensure the progress meets the planned intent of the owners and the ultimate completion of work as per the original design specifications.
They will look for the defects or unfinished work that are needed to be addressed or completed before the next construction phase and when the house is ready to move in. Additionally, they will request certified inspectors from the local government agencies to check if the custom home has been built as per the local building codes.
Resolving issues: A master custom builder resolves issues that will arise regularly during house building. These may include the materials being delivered late, or the owner changing their minds after work has been completed or the need to accelerate the schedule for some important reason. The custom builder represents the owner during achievements and setbacks. The owner should be able to rely on their premier builder to appropriately resolve any issue that presents itself during custom house building.
Obtain a certificate of occupancy: Once all defects and/or unfinished work are looked into and addressed, the builder will obtain the certificate of occupancy post the final inspection of the property. This certificate will allow the builder to hand over the keys of the luxury home to you. Since a custom builder is vital to completing the construction of your house right from the design phase, it is important to choose the right professional. You may read our blog discussing the factors to be kept in mind while choosing the right custom builder.
Reasons to choose a custom builder
Many homeowners avoid hiring custom builders thinking their services to be more expensive. However, the benefits can easily outweigh the hiring costs.
There is significant difference if custom builders and semi-custom builders. Let us discuss the reasons for hiring them.
Get more of your preferences: A custom home builder has the expertise and experience of implementing customization. You name it and he or she can make it with respect to room sizes, colors, appliances, flooring, and others. Everything can be tailormade to your taste.
Moreover, with a custom builder, you can discuss your preferences with the architect. You can pick and choose the materials and products you want in your home.
Here, you can either choose the architect yourself or get a custom builder who offers both the services – design and construction. You will be given an opportunity to make selections for the many different products that will be needed during custom home building.
Want exotic countertops, wood or stone floors, or copper sinks? You can choose anything you like.
Better value: The resale value of your house can increase thanks to the modern design elements, use of quality construction materials, and high customization. So, even though unique products are expensive, carefully planned your custom house will grow in value over the years.
Also, the high-end materials and fixtures are likely to last for many years thereby saving you money on maintenance, repairs and replacement. Further, you need not spend money on remodeling a few years down the line given that the existing house has all the updated features.
Smooth construction process: Houston custom home builder’s primary purpose while custom house building is to bring everything together through good project management. Thereby relieving the homeowners from the risks associated with the home construction process.
They act as the single point of contact for overseeing the construction of the entire custom home. This way, the entire process gets executed smoothly and homeowners don’t have to pay for the large number of things that can wrong during construction.
The custom builders can make every stakeholder work within the budget and schedule them without bothering the homeowners.
Conclusion:
The custom home building market has countless numbers of custom home builders having the right credentials. However, you need to select the right one that fits your personal needs and to ensure the intent of both the home design and construction of your luxury home building is managed properly.
This is of utmost importance as choosing the wrong home builder can leave you with a litany of woes including a drain on your resources. You may read a blog to know the responsibilities of a custom builder and decide on hiring one.
