7 Steps to Start any project
the dbd7 framework
These are the 7 steps we follow to start any project on the right foot. The moment you hire us, we will begin leading you through this process.
Scope
The first step is to understand what you want us to work on. We are a fully licensed, bonded, & insured GB98 contractor, so the sky is the limit. We do have specialties and we will help you understand where someone else may be better able to help you.
We call this the discovery process. Getting the ideas, “what’s possible”, and your vision are part of this process.
Scope includes sketches and drawings, defining constraints like budget or time, boundaries, and final deliverables to be considered complete.
This is also when you will send us inspiration via Pinterest boards, pictures, and examples that will help us design and choose selections in the next step.
Selections
After we know the full Scope, we will move on to more specific Selections.
This includes:
Colors
Textures
Materials
Themes
Styles
Having the scope + selections gives us everything we need to build a full design brief for your project.
*A Note on Budget:
Your selections have an impact on the budget of your project. The selections process helps find out where you’d like to spend money and where you’d like to save. Even if you’re a luxury buyer, no one wants to spend money that they don’t have to.
Scope helps us find the goal, selections helps us achieve it.
If your goal is: “Build a ridiculously, artistic, premium quality, and luxuriously finished space possible, I want to show this place off”, your budget should reflect such a goal.
If your goal is: Build a pleasant space that will last, we can help spend where it counts.
Big Milestone:
The design brief
At this point, we know enough about you to create what we call a ‘Design Brief’. This has a written summary of your project, a little about your goals, and design intent about what results you want from your project. This document becomes a north star for all downstream decisions.
We share this document with subs so that they can better understand the project they are bidding on.
Think of this document as oil to the machine. It makes everything move easier and work better together.
Subs
Knowing your scope and selections will tell us what sub-contractors will be needed to accomplish your project. From concrete to roof, other trades can be a vital role in getting things done right.
This is why it is crucial to find a local contractor. We know the best tradesmen here, and we are familiar with their prices and practices, meaning we can negotiate on your behalf for price and quality.
Getting scope and prices from subs can take weeks depending on their availability and the size of their scope.
Schedule
Once we know what we are building and what the details are, we can begin to forecast a calendar.
Many things can play into the schedule.
The scope
Your budget (pay less over more time can equal a slower project)
Specifications that require intricate details.
Season; winter can slow work.
Other Trades
We do our best to give you an accurate forecast, but we aren’t wizards and there aren’t crystal balls to predict everything. If we could forecast perfectly, we’d be in a different business.
We use Buildertrend to manage our company. You’ll have access to the schedule, as well as many other helpful features during your project. The Blue Line shows today, and everything is linked. If one item is changed, the rest of the calendar will move. This way, long term projects can remain accurate even with little changes day-to-day.
Signatures
Now we get into the business of construction.
Once everything is decided, we send a contract to you that gets us committed to one another. This will be a construction contract with pretty typical language. The signature will mean your first payment toward your project is due.
If you don’t feel ready, your contract will have a 2 week life span. After that, we must give
Stamps* (if needed)
Once everything is signed and the first payment has been made, we can make your designs official. If Architectural drawings, blueprints, or design details need to be engineered, this is the time to do this (before permits).
Submittals
This is when we start all permits, fees to HOAs or governing bodies, documents like your warranty deed.
Being local to Angel Fire, we are familiar with the governing bodies, their requirements, and what they want to see in a successful project.
