ON THE LEVEL

Graeme Huguet, owner of My House Design/Build Team keeps the conversation real when discussing the construction phase. Realistic timelines, building permits, inspections, anticipating interruptions – a discussion, on the level.

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Graeme Huguet, owner of My House Design/Build Team, is a multi-award-winning renovator & custom home builder, including over 100 industry awards, notably the BC Georgie “Renovator of the Year,” for 6 years running and the 2019 Customer Satisfaction award.

Graeme’s extensive background in design and directing for theatre and television provides the foundation for his 25 plus years in the residential building industry.   As a builder who is “Built Green” certified, his team of designers and construction personnel take personal pride in guiding clients through the ‘design/build process’ to create Great Living Spaces. Graeme’s team is most noted for incorporating natural light and West Coast Contemporary Design.  No matter the scope of the project – from a small improvement to a full renovation of a condo, townhome, or detached house, to the building of a new custom home – it all starts with a cup of coffee to discuss your potential project.

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Jen:

Welcome to Measure Twice, Cut Once the podcast from HAVAN, the Homebuilders Association Vancouver.

Mike:

From code to closets,

Jen:

safety to skylights,

Mike:

we’ll take you behind the walls and all things home building and renovation

Jen:

and give you the ins and outs from the experts on what you should know.

Mike:

in plain language.

Jen:

about home building design and renovation.

Mike:

I’m Mike Friedman,

Jen:

and I’m Jennifer Lee. Now that you’re here, why not hit subscribe? And you’ll never miss an episode.

Mike:

And don’t forget to share with your family, friends or anyone else, you know, who might be thinking of a project in their home now or in the future. Hey Jen, great to be back in the studio today.

Jen:

Yeah. It’s always fun to come in here and chat with some amazing people from the industry. I’ve grown up in the world of construction and every episode, I still continue to just be wowed by all the tips and insight.

Mike:

I know what you mean. I only wish I had this information back when I was renovating my own home. Speaking with Sarah Gallop last episode really hit home about ensuring you keep the big picture in mind and to plan holistically versus step-by-step in a linear process, for the best outcome.

Jen:

Yes. So important specifically, if you don’t want to renovate in stages, you will have a better holistic design and massive time and cost savings.

Mike:

And speaking of home renovations and planning your next home building project, we’re very fortunate to have Graeme Huguet from My House Design Build Team in studio with us today. Hi Graeme.

Graeme:

Good morning.

Jen:

So Graeme, your company has been around for 25 years and your team has won literally hundreds of awards and noting this year, My House Design Build scored a trifecta winning not only HAVAN’s Renovator of the Year award, but multiple Georgie Awards and the national CHBA Housing Awards of Excellence too. Congratulations.

Graeme:

Thank you. It’s a team effort for sure.

Jen:

Yeah. And what does that mean for the My House Design Team this year after winning all these awards?

Graeme:

Well, it was really, really quite an interesting year in terms of how the awards were, but just each year that we participate, everyone’s very passionate about what they do. We’re very fortunate to have great people and that’s what we’ve done over the years. We’ve been able to attract and keep great people. And that’s, that’s really what it’s all about.

Mike:

All those awards are awesome and they look great on the wall, but there’s some additional value as well, specifically for a homeowner. What is the value of working with someone who has those type of awards for a homeowner?

Graeme:

I know over the years, several homeowners who have had to for various reasons sell their homes or move. And they have seen in the equity of their home increase, just utilizing those awards in their marketing of, their home. But to be honest, just in the quality that they received without the award, they were very happy in terms of what they were able to market.

Jen:

Nice. And I love getting to know what people did before and how they got into the industry, because I love everybody’s life journey. It’s always so different. So where did you start? How did you get into the design build business?

Graeme:

I started in theater and television.

Jen:

Oh, that’s where I started.

Graeme:

And broadcasting. And so I started off acting from when I was 10 and I was in local cable television when I was 14 and broadcasting. And then I got into designing and directing for theater and television. And so I went to University of Victoria. I studied design and directing, and I translated that into architectural design and business, and then started in the design field, and then started to bring the build side into our business

Jen:

It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one with a directing degree from U Vic as well. You’re the first person to meet with the same degree as me. Awesome. I also, I did a little bit of digging because it did say that you got to a tour around and do some design for some bands. Can you explain a little bit about that?

Graeme:

Well, I love music. Still do, and my kids bother me lots of times with trivia and I bothered them with trivia. So no just had lots of opportunities with local groups, but also as groups would come across the border from the US or internationally. Produce the Victoria jazz festival on different occasions, worked with David Foster on several different occasions and then just toured with different groups that needed lighting set and audio design.

Mike:

See, there’s my tie in with all this, because I don’t have a degree from U Vic, but I do have a lot of experience working in the music industry and with bands. So now we all have something in common.

Jen:

Why were you a little jealous that I had something with Graeme?

Mike:

What, my university of Windsor degree in history and communications, isn’t good enough for you guys?

Jen:

That’s okay. We all have a connection now, Mike, we’re all good.

Mike:

Well in previous episodes, we’ve talked a lot about the importance of planning and the homeowner knowing what they’re really looking to achieve and understanding their, why. The importance of looking at the big picture. We also know that the importance of a proper scope of work to secure a quote and ultimately accurate estimates is extremely valuable. And even though you think the planning is complete, let’s get the building started, there are a lot of pieces and stages still to orchestrate within a construction phase. So, first up, there are a lot of people on any large renovation or home design build or construction site. When chatting with Sarah Gallop, she indicated that the construction phase is the largest part of the project. And as such the builder controls the budget. Can you talk to us a little about your perspective on how the builder controls the budget?

Graeme:

We actually put an emphasis on all the work to be done prior to starting construction. And we say to our clients, if we do that part right with them and they are diligent and making those planning stages and making those decisions early, the budget will be intact and they will be on time and they will be on budget. The planning stage, the design stage, in fact, right at the very beginning of looking at any project, whether it’s a renovation or a custom home, we call it a feasibility stage. To me, it lays the foundation. Pardon the pun. The entire process of looking at and analyzing exactly what the existing conditions, especially in a renovation is understanding the mechanics, things like doing drain tile, inspections, roofing inspections, mechanical inspections. Having a proper energy audit performed, consulting the homeowner on all the existing conditions, not just on the design of what they’re going to end up with, but how we’re going to get there and being a design build firm, one of the unique benefits is being able to actually consult with a homeowner on how this process is going to go forward. When someone starts specifically just with a designer and doesn’t have the builder involved right from the beginning, oftentimes that information is missed.

Jen:

And just for people, because we haven’t touched on too much, we have a little bit with some guests, but can you give us a little clarification what the difference is between hiring three different entities and then hiring a design build team like yourself?

Graeme:

Traditionally, hiring a designer, maybe a drafts person, somebody to help you figure out what your plans are, what you’re going to choose, and then taking that plan and then going to a builder or a contractor and getting a quote, that’s sort of the traditional method that a lot of people think of. Over the years, starting in design, I would hand my design to builders and then I would often see it not necessarily be built or put together the way that I had envisioned, the way I had discussed that with a homeowner. And I’ve been on the receiving end as well. I’ve received designs and plans, and then oftentimes made adjustments to those plans, seeing some of the inadequacies or seeing some of the things they just didn’t know because they hadn’t done the proper due diligence in the existing conditions. So a design build firm allows an individual to have a cohesive plan design with the end in mind, as you talked about, and the end of mind is also the budget. When we sit down with a client we’re right at the very beginning, asking them where their budget goals are, what are their have too’s that they want to accomplish? What’s their wish list? And then putting that all together into a cohesive plan from start to finish from concept to completion. And so you have a cohesive team that’s able to look at that home, right at the beginning before anything is taken apart before any money is spent before any designs or plans or anything to permit done all your due diligence upfront. And then you’re able to plan everything from your scope of work, your specifications, your design drawings, your budget, your calendar, everything should be a cohesive plan before you start.

Mike:

So, a lot of times we talk about the work itself and doing the work, and obviously there are some great, great people on site doing different things. Who helps them all dancing unison for lack of a better term? Who helps manage the flow of everything to support the scope of work that they’re doing?

Graeme:

Well for us, every project has from the very beginning to the very end a project manager. And that person is in charge of, to us on time and on budget. So they work to as a concierge with the homeowner, making sure that they have all the information from start to finish. They’re also in charge of managing the budget on the project. So they create the budget. So they would be called the estimator, but they also follow that budget and make sure that as invoicing comes in, as billings occur, that everything is accounted for, it’s put in the right line item. And then they communicate to the homeowner about budget. Perhaps there might be change orders as they go through the project. So they’re communicating that. And then they also coordinate everything about the project, as far as material deliveries, they’re coordinating our team what’s needed on site and working with the construction manager to make sure that he or she has exactly what she needs.

Mike:

And so it sounds like that will also reduce some of the gaps as you have, you know, spaces between trades and things like that. So does that shorten the process or make it more efficient for somebody who’s waiting for the project to be completed?

Graeme:

For ourselves, the majority of our main trades are in-house. And so we have the ability to schedule and look at the bigger picture as far as all of our projects go. And so that project manager is in tune with everyone’s schedule and is able to move people around effectively so that there aren’t gaps in the schedule.

Jen:

And I guess he can speak specifically to you because I know everybody deals with this a little bit differently, but how does your project manager then communicate and relay all the information that’s going on daily on the construction site? Because obviously the homeowner’s not going to be there looking over your shoulder, or you hope not.

Graeme:

There’s several ways that we communicate both as a team and with our client. We have an online portal that homeowners can log in and they will see their calendar. So they’re not calling and having to find out, Hey, when is electrical starting, they’re able to see that online. They’re able to see that on any mobile device. And it’s very clear and easy to log in. They also will have updates on photo documentation. We do our own photo documentation, and then on larger projects, we also have a third party that comes in and does photo documentation at various stages. Those are all uploaded as well. And then the project manager and the construction manager, when we’re in the construction phase, do weekly reports and they are also uploaded. So they’re able to see from our team, whether it’s our design portion, whether it’s our civic liaison dealing with city or the project manager themselves, homeowners are able to see at a glance updates on any reports, anything that’s been accomplished.

Jen:

I know what the design build model, it’s different, depending on who you talk to, but I guess bringing them back to your company or maybe other design build teams that you know, are usually the sub-trades all part of that, or are they also hired out and they’re usually different sub-trades on different projects?

Graeme:

Even going back 15 and 20 years, a majority of our team, our trades are the same. And it allows for a real cohesive working unit. At the same time we bring up people. We have an apprentice in our company. We also have an apprentice with our plumber. We have an apprentice with our electrician. And so we’re always bringing people up. We’re always strengthening with youth and bringing people on in the industry. And we’re doing that also in our office, in our administrative team, in our design team. We’ve had a cohesive unit that’s been working together for quite some time. And that really saves a lot in knowing how people were. At the same time, there’s always going to be specialty trades that you bring in that you don’t have specialty resources where people that you don’t use on a regular basis, but for the most part, those are still people I’ve been dealing with for at least five, 10, 15, sometimes 20 years.

Jen:

Yeah. And I think that’s the test of a great builder is having those relationships in place because even my dad has worked again 15, 20 years with the same people, but not only that, if he does put a new trade on, he does make sure you vet some as well. So I think it’s really important to establish those relationships, if they’re going to be new or old and continue them on.

Graeme:

Exactly. And then when we’re bringing someone new, as you described on, we always do a proper onboarding orientation, go through exactly what our expectations are. And then we start them on a small project. We start them on something that we have a little bit more control over and we’re able to see exactly what the outcome before we move them onto something bigger.

Mike:

Graeme, it’s been great talking to you so far. We do have to take a quick break to thank our podcast sponsors, but we will be back in 30 seconds.

Jen:

Measure Twice, Cut Once is a new podcast, and we are grateful for the support from our podcast partners BC Hydro, and Fortis BC. Their support helps us share expert knowledge, like we’re hearing today from Graeme to help homeowners design and build and renovate, right, the first time.

Mike:

If you’re enjoying this podcast, please like follow and share with your friends and families. The more followers we have, the better chance more people will find our podcast. And this information is gold. I really wish I knew a lot of this stuff when I was renovating my home. Thankfully, Graeme’s here to help us, so no one else makes the mistakes. I made

Jen:

It’s something Graeme, and you might like, by liking and sharing us, you’ll be entered for the chance to win a Napoleon Prestige P500 stainless steel, natural gas barbecue from our friends at Fortis BC.

Mike:

Oh, it’s an amazing barbecue. And it’s valued over a thousand dollars and someone’s going to win it. So let’s get back to Graeme.

Jen:

Mike and I have chatted with Mark Cooper in a previous episode about permitting, which, you know, permits is always that word that some of us don’t like to hear, but I feel we’d be remiss not to review the importance and potential impact on the construction phase. Can you talk us through, I know this is a huge phase, but talk us through a little bit, the Coles notes version of the permitting process

Graeme:

Permitting stage really starts right at the very beginning. We are doing a site analysis and determining exactly based on the project, what types of permits are going to be required. And consulting that home right from the very beginning when people even call us and they say they have, and they described what the project is they’re looking to do. We start to talk to them about what the potential permits may be required. So we go to the city ourselves. We make sure that we gather all the information that the city has on the house. We want to know what they know. And oftentimes a homeowner doesn’t really know what the city knows. They may assume, for example, right now in the marketplace, lots of people are doing basement suites, or they have a suite, and they’re looking to renovate. They’re looking for their kids to come back or their parents to move in with them or to take on a renter or whatever it might be. And they think they have something that is recorded at the city hall. They think it’s a legal suite. Well, we do our due diligence to make sure we know what that property really has. And then we consult the homeowner as we go through it, in terms of working with the city. City permit, aren’t just go and put an application in. It’s a process today. The process has gotten very complicated, lot more layers. We actually have one person assigned just to deal with civic liaison work. And that might involve board of variants. It might involve city council. It might involve development permit applications. It might be dealing with our engineers and our staff, and then pulling and coordinating that information at the city. It’s a process. But if you have the right people doing the right things and they’re knowledgeable, it’s not as daunting a task as it would be for perhaps a homeowner, if they were to take on that role themselves.

Jen:

Yeah. And some homeowners don’t realize either it’s really different depending on municipality. And so a lot of the times we have to talk over clients, depending on where they’re billing. It’s like, okay, it could be a three-month period, or it could be a six months to a year period. And it really depends. And a lot of people don’t get that, that it varies from municipality on how fast things can happen.

Graeme:

Absolutely. Every municipality is different. Even if someone’s building on the Gulf islands, you might be working with Island Trust. Everything takes different processes. Some small municipalities have literally one person taking care of all of the intake and the processing. And even though you think, well, it’s just a small little community, it takes even longer, maybe in a small community, as opposed to maybe downtown Vancouver.

Jen:

So the clients you have really have to make sure, like, even though they want their home tomorrow, depending on where they’re building, they might have to be a little bit patient.

Graeme:

A lot of people also don’t realize there’s lots of people that will say, well, listen, this is just a small project, I’m just renovating my kitchen, I really don’t need a permit. What they don’t understand is that, that municipality, for example, might have their own in-house electrical inspection or plumbing inspection, and you do need those inspections just to, at minimum, cover yourself from an insurance point of view, or you could put yourself at risk. If you take on a project, have electrical or plumbing or gas work done, you know, you don’t use a licensed contractor who pulls proper permit. You actually could have your insurance voided. So now you have some minor electrical work done, some minor plumbing done. They call for their permit inspections, which they can get rather quickly, the inspector comes onsite and they often say, where’s your building permit? So if you haven’t figured that out ahead of time, you don’t have that, you can have a stop work order put on your project very quickly.

Jen:

And be in big trouble.

Mike:

Oh yeah. When it comes time to put plans in, should it be the homeowner who does that? The builder who does that to designer that does that, can you talk to us a little bit about how to manage that process?

Graeme:

So we start at planning stage and the thought about what permits might be required. Any discussions with the city, talked about acquiring a property. When you’re constructing something new many times, there’s an existing structure on the property. So you need to figure out those existing conditions, too, even though you’re demolishing maybe an old house or you’re taking apart that old house, you may have hazmat materials that need to be abated. You need to maybe look at what the sub-surface is, what’s below the house. What the property holds as far as if you’re going to be digging deeper, if you need any sort of retention walls put in place. There’s lots of things to plan and think ahead. Timing, most people just don’t allow enough time. They have an expectation of something being faster than what it really can take. Oftentimes for us, we can see a construction project taking at least a year in the planning permit stage. And in greater Vancouver, if you’re building, for example, a laneway, they can take a year just for the permit.

Mike:

So what I’m hearing is if you want to do a project next year, call you today.

Graeme:

Yeah. We have people, – last night I was talking with somebody and they wanted to have their kitchen for Christmas, not just because of Christmas, but they’re expecting a baby and they wanted to have a renovation. And so the timing, even to them, didn’t make sense. When I said that we could talk about that for the spring, but let’s get started now.

Jen:

Yeah. Because again, people forget permits and those take a long time. Another thing that takes a long time sometimes to and can slow down the process is changes and changes when you’re already building. Can you tell us a little bit about change orders?

Graeme:

First of all, we always encourage people that we’re going to do our best to move them through the design and the specifications process, to make sure that all the decisions are made before starting any project, but that isn’t always realistic. People sometimes will see things as they go along. Maybe we’ve offered choices, but not until they get into the build stage do they go, you know what? You offered that before. Let’s now implement that. So, and those are changes. It could be simply on a walkthrough and they had made certain decisions on paper, but now they’re walking through maybe the framing stage and they go, hey, can we make this change? So for ourselves, we just put together a change order. As soon as somebody says, hey, I’m considering something that’s different from the scope of work, different from the plans, or different from our specifications. We just initiate a change order. We write down what the details. We may not have a cost at that point, but we’re just going to start that process. And then document as we go through, it might be something simple. I’m adding that window back into this project that we took out earlier, or it could be something where we had talked about, hey, what would solar be like? And now we have to get involved with solar design, electrical, and there’s many people involved. But whatever it is, we document it. We follow it through our project manager. Makes sure that they’re well-informed as far as what those extra costs will be, we execute it.

Jen:

Do you have a specific story about maybe a bigger change than you originally thought halfway through the process?

Graeme:

We’ve had numerous of those. Oftentimes the biggest expenses change of scope. You know, it’s one thing to change that faucet or to change the flooring, but it’s another thing to change the scope of work. For example, like you talked about something bigger where someone is renovating their kitchen, but now they’ve decided that they’re going to now carry on and do all the rest of the house or all the rest of that floor. So that’s happened many, many times. We’ve tried to help people make those decisions early and guide them, but ultimately it’s people’s homes. And so they make those decisions. And oftentimes they’re also not making them as single individuals. There’s usually maybe a partnership involved and there’s extended family involved. And I think the hardest ones are when you have many different family members involved, we’ve done three generations in one home and all of them having a stake in it, having all of them having a say in it. And so those changes just need to be carefully navigated. It comes down to communication and having good, strong relationships with your clients,

Jen:

Three generations in one home, giving the contractor all their wants and wishes. I feel like that’s a reality show in itself.

Graeme:

It definitely could be.

Mike:

Can we talk about changes? Obviously that’s not a bad thing. Reflecting what people’s needs are and how they evolve is really, really important. But one of the things that happens with changes is if you don’t have a good contract to begin with, it’s a lot harder to bring changes and things can get a lot more expensive, very, very quickly. So, in the past, we’ve chatted in depth about contracts with Matt Senf, an episode about budgets. But I want to talk to you a little bit more about contracts and liability and how I, as a homeowner can protect myself and how we’re all covered in the event of needing to change. Is there one contract for an entire project or is there a design phase contract and then a contract for the construction phase? Help me understand how this whole process works.

Graeme:

Well for ourselves, we start off with an initial design build agreement that just basically outlines what our general goals are, what the general scope is going to be entailed during that design and build process. And then we have amendments and then we have addendums put in place at key points. We have an addendum when we enter into the design ready for permit stage, we have an addendum at the permit application that where we’ve now got greater clarity on scope on the design, on the specs and on the budget. And then prior to starting construction, we do another addendum. And where we have a final construction budget, a final scope of work, a final set of plans, specifications. And then as we go through the project, we then institute, as we talked about change orders. And so they’re not an agreement per se, but they are part of the overall contract. So if we lay out all of those to a homeowner, right at the very beginning, so they know what the steps we’re going to go through, what we’re going to be signing, and when, and they’re able to review those and we keep them simple yet at the same time, we, as, as members of Canadian Home Builders Association and our local chapter here at HAVAN, we are following what, the guidelines that we’ve been given over the years through our associations and, have things well laid out well documented so that the homeowners feel comfortable.

Jen:

So some of my friends ask my dad this question, when they want to do some renovations. And they’re like, what should we be asking the contractor when we’re interviewing them? And my dad’s like, make sure they have liability insurance. Can you tell us a little bit about liability insurance? Because I don’t think people realize how important it is to have.

Graeme:

Well, first of all, it’s important to make sure you have the right insurance. Let’s say it that way because there’s different types of insurance. When you have someone come on your property to clean your gutters, wash your windows and put up Christmas lights, you need to do the same due diligence that you would, or that you should with a contractor. Because once somebody comes on your property, you as a homeowner are a hundred percent liable for them. You’re liable not only for the work they do, you’re liable for any injuries and any damage or injuries they may cause to your neighbors. So you need to make sure that first of all, WorkSafe is in place because that is a insurance. And you not just to say, Oh, do you have work safe? But you can actually go online. You can actually check out their WorkSafe and make sure they’re paid up, because if they’re not paid up, then they don’t have WorkSafe coverage, potentially. And then you mentioned liability insurance. General liability, as it’s referred to comes in different ways. It’s really helpful. If you get a copy of that insurance from that contractor, take it to your insurance provider and have them look it over because ultimately it’s as good as that piece of paper or as good as their coverage. Most people carry something like $2 million. We carry 10 because if you’re working with someone, for example, and they’re working on your condo, now, you’re not just affecting your single family home. You’re affecting multi-family and you’re affecting a large building, but also you need to course of construction insurance. And a lot of people don’t realize that if you actually leave your home for any period of time, you need to have an insurance that covers during the course of construction, many different things that’ll happen that your typical homeowners insurance does not cover. It’s also important to let your homeowner insurance coverage, let them know that you’re having a renovation done. I encourage you to talk to your contractor of what you say, how you say it, and when you say it, but you do need to let them know because most policies say that if you do renovations or you have a major project of any sort taken on in your home and you don’t inform them, you could risk having your insurance voided.

Mike:

One thing I’d like to ask you about is our legal considerations. What, if any, should we be thinking about, and who should we be talking about as far as clarification and understanding the process?

Graeme:

That’s a very open-ended question. From a legal perspective the very first thing is, make sure who’s actually putting their name on paper. We always do a title search. Sometimes you’ll have a home, a person represent themselves as the homeowner. And they are living in the home. They are making the decisions. And from a family perspective, they have all the rights to do so, but perhaps another family member actually has their name on title. So you need to know who it is that’s actually got the legal authority to actually sign any documents and make decisions. So that would be my first advice to anybody. And the same thing goes with the contractors. Make sure you know, who you’re dealing with, make sure that you’ve done your due diligence in checking out that contractor and that the people you’re dealing with have the authority to sign on their behalf.

Mike:

Should people have someone from the legal profession, look at the contract before they sign it?

Graeme:

Many of our clients do. They’ll take that to a, maybe it’s a family person who has background in law, or they actually have a lawyer. We don’t encourage people to incur a lot of additional expense. So we try and have those documents well laid out, easily read, and they get some third-party advice.

Jen:

Words that are thrown out there in the construction industry, like retainers and hold backs. Can you tell us a little bit about what those are?

Graeme:

We’re talking about the residential construction industry as a whole, and we’re talking about whether it’s a small project, a medium-sized project or building a custom home, and they all have different ramifications. There is the Builder’s Lien Act of BC, and it is like any other legal document. There is a lot of to do’s and not to do’s, but the simplicity of it is, if you’re going to have with a builder, a lien, hold back, you’re actually going to enter into an agreement of how that is, and you’re going to follow the guidelines outlined in the Builder’s Lien Act. One of the things most people don’t realize is if you’re going to do that, you actually set up a separate account between you and the builder, where the two of you have signing authority. Neither one of you can withdraw funds, but together you can authorize to withdraw funds. And the hold back money goes into that account as a joint account. And that’s how it’s established in the act. That’s what we do with homeowners, when we have a lien hold back set up.

Jen:

It seems like there’s so much information, and I know it varies from contractor to contractor, but are there any type of reporting systems to ensure that there’s proper record keeping of the time and the budget?

Graeme:

Well in the industry, there’s probably not a standard. For ourselves as a company, we work on an open book policy. So we actually show our homeowners, everything. They see all our invoices. They see all our time sheets. They see our time tracking from our trades and our staff. I’ve found for the last 20 years, open book was the easiest way for me to deal with clients. It also made it easiest when it came to change orders. I’ve heard horror stories from people who’ve had renovations or done building projects where change orders ended up being a place that a contractor can really gouge somebody. So you definitely really want to watch that. For us because we’re open book, a change is very transparent. They’re able to see exactly what the materials, what the labor costs, what went into that change. And they’re able to see exactly what it costs them.

Jen:

Graeme, we’ve talked about all the moving pieces on a construction site and the importance of permits and contracts and the value of having a cohesive team and point person to communicate to. What I’d like to talk about is the role of the homeowner. We chatted with Josh Young, from Maestro Developments a few weeks back, and he was talking about bringing the experts together and he emphasized how the homeowner is the critical member of the team. Do you think this is also the case during construction?

Graeme:

Well our company just happens to be called My House Design Build Team and we didn’t just do that randomly. The homeowner is the head of the team when it comes to that project and we make them that way.

Jen:

I know earlier, I made the comment and a bit of a joke about the homeowner not coming to the job site every day, but how often should a homeowner be onsite? Because I know they do need to come and talk to you and see what’s going on.

Graeme:

We did a project once where I remember our staff saying, you know, he pulled up a chair and he sat beside me and he was there all day while I was doing that finishing work and that’s, and that’s happened. So we jokingly have shared with clients, you know, that we charge a certain amount per hour. If they come and see us every day, then we charge a little bit more. And if they sit beside us, we charge a lot more. So that’s, that’s a little tongue in cheek. I think it’s important the homeowner communicates on a regular basis. If that’s daily for them at the end or the beginning of the project, hey that’s great. At least every week, they should be in communication, and preferably that they visit the site, if they’re not living at the site. We do all sorts of renovations, so many of our projects, homeowners are living in the home, and we’ve sectioned off a portion where they are living. And so they’re also living in the midst of the renovation. And so that’s a whole other matter that we consult them on, but that’s really important that we separate, when they should come to site to have a discussion so that, you know, they’re not disrupting the workflow, and, they’re also not adding to the time that’s being used.

Mike:

I think people are very similar. It doesn’t matter whether they’re building a home or not. Some people communicate a lot. Some people communicate a little. As to how much or how little, I think that’s up to the individual. But when we are communicating with someone like yourself, what are the sorts of questions we should be asking you? What is the information we as homeowners should be asking for?

Graeme:

If you’re working with the right team, designing and building, they should be guiding you in terms of what the correct questions are before you even have to ask the questions. They’re the ones that are supposed to be the experts and laying out these are the things that you need to think of and consider. And that’s what we do. We lay out a plan, even a shopping plan. We’ve gone to many homeowners who are building or renovating. And the first time we move, we go to their house and they’ve got flooring samples and they’re looking at flooring and they haven’t even looked at a plan of what they’re going to do, but they’re already picking flooring. And that’s an example of out of sequence. And so what we try and do is guide people of these are the things you’re going to think about now. These are the big building blocks we need to discuss, get the questions for you, answered in these areas. And then we move on and we lay out a complete plan. When we get into the design phase, our designers layout a timeline of what they need to do when they need to do it. What’s the order and the sequence. When are they going to go looking at appliances? When will flooring come into the picture? And when will they be selecting their paint colors and so forth, it’s all laid out. So there’s a sequence. So they’re not feeling overwhelmed because it can be a very daunting, overwhelming process for many people. So, in answer your question, pick the right design build team, and then you won’t have too many questions cause they’re going to be put in front of you.

Mike:

But if you do have a question, there’s a change, work order for that, right?

Jen:

I love the tie-in. Still going with the whole trusting your team and communications. You said maybe going to the site once a week, if it’s a new build, the other thing to do with that though, some people will say, hey, there’s not a lot going on my site. There’s not a lot of guys on my site. And there are phases in construction where it doesn’t look like anything’s happening, but there is a lot of stuff happening. So what would you say to those clients that are like, oh, it doesn’t look like anything’s happening in there, panicking a bit.

Graeme:

We have a project going on right now. It’s a 1908 heritage house. And I had that phone call yesterday. The homeowner happened to come by at a time when nobody was at the site. We’re in the middle of mechanical installations and my workers that were doing all the sheet metal had to go and get some custom sheet metal work. They were off site and they were doing work, but the homeowner didn’t see that he didn’t understand what they were doing. You know, I think it’s just important as a team that we communicate to our clients, not only what’s going to be going on in that week, but perhaps if there is a day or days where somebody isn’t physically able to be doing things for whatever the reason, because there’s lots of things that do come up, it could be, you’re waiting for an inspector and in today’s situation every municipality’s a little bit different, but you may call for an inspection today. Usually you would get it the next day. Sometimes now we’re waiting two or three days, depending on when inspection may happen. So there’s lots of reasons things may not be happening on site, but I think it’s again, in the beginning stage, when you’re choosing a contractor, talk to them about how do you manage your sites? Am I one of 50 projects? Or am I the only project you’re focusing on? Is this going to be dictated by who can get there? Or am I going to have people dedicated to my project? And so for us, we dedicate a team to each project. We don’t start a project that doesn’t have the right people set up and we have that organized ahead of time. So that if there is the odd day that something can’t be worked on, we communicate that hopefully effectively to our homeowners.

Mike:

What are some of the other things that homeowners should anticipate and prepare for based on your experience?

Graeme:

Well, you mentioned about timing or showing up to a site and not seeing things happening as quick as you want to. I think definitely as the construction phase goes on, homeowners definitely want to see things go faster than they often do. So you definitely need to have good communication and understand that things do take time, depending on the type of project that you’re having done. There’s many layers. And layer number two can happen before layer number one is done. And a lot of times it’s hard to understand those processes, but ask the question. You asked, what are good questions to ask? If you don’t know what’s going on and you’re not sure of what the process is, ask for an explanation so that you’re more informed of that timing.

Jen:

It doesn’t happen overnight, unless, unless you’re on a reality TV show.

Mike:

Is 22

Graeme:

Is 22 minutes. That’s right.

Mike:

Well, it’s been really awesome talking about the construction phase and I think each individual phase, as we learn about it becomes a lot more easy, a lot more manageable and a lot less daunting. Today, we talked about a lot of really crucial information that is just as foundational as any of the planning things we talked about earlier. Obviously the importance of proper planning and the potential impacts on the construction phase are first and foremost in our thinking. But also we should be thinking about the scope of work supported by detailed estimates, how they impact budgets and permit processing times. There are a lot of moving pieces on a job site and the importance of systems to ensure proper channels of communication and proper management to keep on schedule and on budget. And most importantly, we talked about the importance and the responsibility of the homeowner in all of this as well. So if you could offer one last piece of advice to our listeners, what would it be?

Graeme:

When you’re looking to choose a designer or contractor, the key is, is to make sure that you feel comfortable with that relationship. You are looking for someone you can trust in a little mini marriage, for a certain length of time. And so it’s really important that you feel good about all the things they do, not just what the end result will be and the pictures that they show you, but how you feel about their communication process, their transparency, and also their humanism. You need to make sure that they’re, that they have some warmth and they can joke, but they also can communicate a friendly manner and you feel good. So trust is the key. And if you can start building that trust early on in that relationship, your relationship with that designer, with that builder or in our case of design build team, be much better.

Jen:

Yeah you want to find that right fit. Because if you are a warm person, if you’re going to have a cold person that doesn’t communicate with you, it’s not going to be a fun time at all.

Graeme:

Exactly.

Jen:

Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule today Graeme. Thinking about all the moving pieces of a construction site is overwhelming, but also reassuring knowing that working with professionals like yourself, there are systems and procedures to ensure great results. If people want to get in touch with you, where is the best place to find you?

Graeme:

Well, our website, myhousedesignbuild.com and right on the website, there is a chat box. And though someone might not answer it at three in the morning, it will be answered on weekends evenings and be able to discuss ideas of what your project, where you can reach us at 604-my-house.

Jen:

I’m going to put that to the test and try the chat bot out at three in the morning.

Graeme:

That sounds good.

Mike:

Well, Graeme, thank you so much for coming by. It’s been great talking with you today and the information you’ve shared has been really, really crucial for people moving into that next phase. So really appreciate your insight and your experiences you’ve shared with us in the time taken to speak to us today.

Graeme:

It’s been a lot of fun and I just want to thank you guys for pulling all these industry professionals together. I think this is super huge. I’ve benefited so much over the years from the various professionals within the local Homebuilders Association. So you bringing all these industry professionals together. That’s awesome. Thank you so much.

Jen:

Thank you. And this has been Measure Twice, Cut Once the podcast from HAVAN, the Homebuilders Association Vancouver. Thanks for joining us today.

Mike:

For notes and links to everything mentioned on today’s episode, go to havan.ca/measuretwicecutonce

Jen:

Follow us and review us to help empower homeowners like yourself to make the right decision the first time and automatically by doing so you’ll be entered to win a gas barbecue courtesy of our friends at Fortis BC.