WHAT IS INCLUDED IN YOUR SPECIFICATIONS?
Everything!
While I understand ‘everything’ is not helpful, I say that to illustrate how important it is to know what is in yours because the project managers build based on exactly what is in them and your contract price is figured based on them! It’s understandable to not know what some of the jargon means, it’s definitely encouraged to ask for explanations. There are things that are also not included in your specs and those are the details of your finishes. More on that a little later.
The specs will show you things like (not everything is included in this list):
- What is included in your lot prep
- How high your foundation will be
- Whether you have a crawlspace, slab, or pilings
- How close the studs will be on your framing
- How high your ceilings will be
- Roofing, siding, fascia, and soffit material
- What material your porches and railings are made out of
- Water, sewer, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical details
- The brand of interior and exterior doors. Whether you have transoms and/or sidelights
- The brand of your windows and whether they are single or double hung
- The type and size of your trim
- Number of paint colors included
- Number of tile showers
- Type of flooring, countertops, and cabinets
- Closet shelf material and amount
- Whether or not you have an elevator
- And many other things
The takeaway here is if there is a detail not listed, it’s not in your contract price so look over this closely. Examples of things that have been missed in the past are tile showers in all of the bathrooms rather than just the master, kitchen backsplashes, wooden closet shelves in the pantry, crown molding, extra electrical wiring, etc. It’s a great idea to not make assumptions about what is included and what is not. This is a part of your contract that is signed so make sure it is correct.
What is not in your specs
What is not in your specs are the details of your finishes. You will have allowances for all of your selections and the rest is for you to have fun customizing.
Allowanced items are:
- Plumbing
- Lighting
- Flooring
- Tile showers and enclosures
- Your choice in cabinets
- Countertops
- Door hardware
- Mirrors
- Bath accessories
- Closet shelving
- Landscaping
- Amount of concrete for your drive and walkways
You will have a list of our preferred vendors to visit who are the experts that will help you with your selections in each given area. Why are they preferred? Once you have made your selections, they order the materials, bill you for the overages, bill us for the allowanced portion, store the materials, organize their schedule around ours, deliver and install, replace anything that has been damaged, and help with anything later that may be an issue. They do so much for us and for you!
What else is customizable and how do we organize it?
We use a construction software that allows you to select all things from the color of your shingles to the way you’d like your fireplace wall to look. Among many other things, you get to select the style of doors and windows, list paint colors, and add any details you would like.
Within the software, there are files we keep such as your contract, house plans (there are several different ones for different trades), specs, allowances, permits, plot plans, approved selections with our vendors, the list of vendors along with their contract info, the project manager and their contact info, etc. Some things are only accessible to you, such as your contract, while others are accessible to anyone we give access to. The benefit to this is when you go pick out your lighting, for example, our vendor can access your lighting plan and your allowance. Another example is if you have a shiplap wall or range hood you’d like us to custom build, you can put a photo in the software and our tradespeople can access that from the jobsite. Pretty cool, huh?
We also have a schedule so you can see what has been done and what is coming up. When used to its fullest potential, this is a powerful tool that keeps mistakes down and the associated added costs down with them.