Design Agreement

Pending your request to proceed with this stage, we will invite you into our office prior to committing to the process to review and go over all of the details, contract language, terms of service and future expectations for you to consider, extending out through the actual construction phase and through the warranty life-cycle of your project. We will also review our online project management system that you will be integrated into as part of the process. The agreement will include:

• A general sequence of events to expect during the DA phase

• A scope of work, to be completed by K. Fedewa Builders to satisfy the agreement, usually something like the following:
  • Full collection of client wishes, sharing project inspirations (magazine pictures or Houzz or Pinterest boards)
  • Site measure and create space plans for the project - creating 3-D Models of existing and proposed spaces  
  • Review existing plans/surveys/site plans, meet Town/County officials as needed to verify zoning and building department compliance. Identify potential hurdles with the project
  • Present preliminary space plans for areas desired
  • Present preliminary budget estimate for project - utilizing allowances and price ranges as needed pending final concepts and selections
  • After customer sign off on preliminary designs and budget estimates, client desire to proceed, financing approvals (if needed).  K. Fedewa Builders Designer to meet with Client to finalize concepts and collect substantial specification and selection information to adequately finalize project pricing.  Note that some allowances may be utilized in the final construction contract
  • Perform due diligence as needed to accurately price the project and define a construction scope of work. This may include additional on-site visits at project address with trade partners to more accurately complete this due diligence
  • Create a detailed project construction proposal including proposed schedule, pricing and scope of work setting full and complete expectations for both parties

• Client responsibilities prior to and as part of the agreement, which include:
  • Provide an accurate wish list/scope of work to be considered as part of this proposal
  • Disclose all decision makers that will be involved in the project development and subsequent construction contract
  • Disclose a realistic budget for us to work with
  • Disclose project financing and lending requirements
  • Disclose any special requests for the actual construction phase that will impact K. Fedewa Builders costs, schedule, work hours, process, etc...
  • Provide reasonable access to the residence as needed by K. Fedewa Builders and or its partners for this project
  • Provide an accurate site plan (survey or plat) or results of any previous discussion regarding Town or County zoning parameters (if available) if the project involves any exterior footprint expansions prior to the start of conceptual plans to ensure that any expansion fits within legal building envelopes
  • Make themselves available for meetings within reasonable time frames to ensure the project stays on schedule
  • Make reasonable and timely decisions when needed to facilitate the project schedule.
  • (If applicable) Procure and/or identify any HOA approvals required prior to start of construction of the project unless otherwise noted in this agreement

• We will also review in detail what you WILL receive as part of this process:
  • Concept drawings marked NOT FOR CONSTRUCTION in digital .pdf format. K. Fedewa Builders is not in the business of doing design work for clients that do not intend to use K. Fedewa Builders for construction of the final project. Client acknowledges that designs are the Copyrighted property of K. Fedewa Builders until the project is completed
  • A comprehensive list of finish selections that need to be made during the Design Agreement phase/ prior to construction. K. Fedewa Builders designer will assist with preliminary selections based on client budget requirements via K. Fedewa Builders preferred vendors
  • Verbal estimates of schedule and cost ranges during the design agreement phase
  • A final fixed-price construction contract will be presented at the end of the process, complete with anticipated start date, payment schedule and project duration

• And we will also review what you WILL NOT receive as part of this process:
  • Permit ready, construction ready, engineered plans. These plans will be finalized after acceptance of the construction contract and submitted for approval with local jurisdictions as needed
  • Detailed project schedule and exact start date...the start will depend on the timing of the execution of the construction contract and our current construction schedule at that time. Project duration and planned start date will be finalized on our construction contract at the conclusion of the DA process
  • Detailed cost breakdowns. K. Fedewa Builders provides ‘Fixed Price’ construction contracts and does not share line itemizing of construction costs or costs/markups for contractor Overhead and Profit. 
    • In expectation of a follow up question on this, here is a comprehensive breakdown offered by the National Association of Homebuilders on Construction Cost Breakdowns for a few types of construction contractors  http://eyeonhousing.org/2016/01/homebuilding-costs/. K. Fedewa Builders is primarily a Remodeling contractor and the associated graph will give you an idea of how the costs add up for a professional remodeling contractor.  K. Fedewa Builders follows industry guidelines for business operations and management practices as well as overhead and profit models so these are very close to how you could expect our costs to break down.
    • If you have a DIY background, the cost of the ‘stuff’, aka the cabinets and fixtures and other materials is typically around 25-35% of the total project cost on remodels, so hiring a professional remodeling firm and using licensed trade partners to complete the work will cost approximately 3-4 times as much as you could theoretically DIY the project  (in a case where you supply all of the labor at no cost)
    • We can provide pricing for options (within reason) and often will utilize allowances so that our clients can choose products that fit their needs and budget