Experienced builders are well aware of the challenges of construction today. Rising material and labor costs have forced builders to seek multiple estimates for the lowest price and estimating has become time consuming and a bit frightening. Customers need a builder’s time and attention to details on-site, but they also need constant communication and information about the project. After working a full day, builders may be faced with reporting to owners, bill paying and project accounting as well as scheduling sub-contractors and ordering materials, often stretching their workday from daylight into darkness.
At Aline Architecture we offer services to help builders shorten their workday. In addition to our architectural design and in-house construction services, we provide contract management services to local builders. With just one meeting per week the following services are provided:
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- Prepare building contracts and cover letters, format estimates and package plans and specifications, etc.
- Prepare a weekly progress report for each project and email or mail it to the owner – review work completed on the project during the previous week and work planned for the current week and following week.
- Create a cash flow report for each project – review all paid invoices for the past week, copy the invoices for the owner, review labor and break it down into budget categories and track all the paid expenses and income received on the cash flow report (Excel spreadsheet) – new expenses are anticipated for the next two weeks and entered into the new cash required portion of the report – account for all cash received and deliver progress payments to the builder.
- Mail all reports (progress report-weekly/cash flow-bi-weekly) to owner along with copies of all paid invoices for the period with a copy of reports sent to the builder as well.
- Provide on-going, general assistance in scheduling subcontractors, debris removal, materials delivery, etc. as needed to ease the process.
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Timely information, communication and thorough documentation are essential elements to ensure the project’s success. By selecting a builder that provides these services all aspects of the project will be properly monitored and recorded.