Cliffhanger

So, Kevin finished the plans and we had a meeting scheduled with the District to submit the plans on January 25th! This meeting takes some time to get through as a plan checker needs to make sure everything is in place. We needed to a Schedule E (Owner’s Undertaking) as well as a Letter of Authorization allowing Kevin to submit the plans on our behalf and to deal with any issues that might arise around the plans. 

We also needed to bring the signed and sealed surveys for submission as well as a certification and registration for the approved septic system that was in place. Econ needed to provide proof that they had the Home Owner Protection Office (HPO) documentation in place. Approximate time for processing? Four to six weeks. Cost? $4,025 as a deposit (estimated 50% of total amount).

Then, a bit of a stall – the District needed a “Schedule D” – a letters of assurance from the Geo-Technical engineers that stated that they are the design professionals for the project and committed to performing field reviews to ensure that those particular components are carried out and constructed in accordance with the BC Building Code. 

However, as stated by the Geo-Technical Engineer:

Often the excavation cannot be carried out within the limitations of what the code allows, which is 4 vertical to 3 horizontal and thus excavation designs are required. When we simply accept responsibility for “temporary work” we can be held responsible for anything that happens onsite, even when we have not given any recommendations in this regard. Thus, if the contractor blasts the hell out of everything, causing damage to adjacent properties, people can point fingers at us. Often, the contractors excavate to the property line, undermining adjacent properties, potentially causing damage and again, the District will be asking us why this happened.

…We will need to confirm the temporary work components of the project and assess these with respect to what the BC Building Code allows. Again, we may need to give recommendations regarding how to achieve the project requirements, without potentially damaging adjacent structures.

It turns out that this Schedule D is almost never required and it had been some time since the company had even completed one. So this would complicate matters a bit.

Meantime, our contractor, Econ moved forward to nail down the costs for construction. They suggested that we hire an independent cost estimator (we had never heard of this before). This person would review all of the plans, set the price for low/moderate/high and then detail the costs for each portion of the construction. In the end this price would be what both Econ and we would be held to. This seemed like a good option for us and would help avoid any unwelcome surprises down the line (for both ourselves and Econ). The cost was approximately $2,500.

There were two ways to schedule the interviews: one way was to contact each company (we had four to interview) individually and make an appointment; the second was to send out a joint invitation which went to everyone (thus each company would know who they were competing with. We decided to be transparent about the process and have a level playing field. Thus everyone was copied on the email inviting them to come for an appointment – everyone got the same information and we would see what they would do. We also invited Kevin to sit in on the interviews.

It proved to be an interesting approach. For example, only one contractor took the time to come out to see the property before the appointment and ask to meet with the architect beforehand. This was a good example to us of someone genuinely interested in working on our project; doing their homework before the meeting. 

It was the second week of the New Year and we now had to make a decision. As mentioned, all the companies had a good track record so it was not an easy decision. Of the four companies only one had a 12% management fee, the others had a 10% management fee and that extra 2% put that company out of the bidding, but then what factors could help us decide who to hire? For sure references would be important, and we were very diligent about checking references but we also figured that the companies would not be giving us references that weren’t going to give glowing recommendations so that wasn’t perhaps as much help as one would think. 

Two companies brought with them a cost estimate of how much it would cost to build the house. The cost estimates were lower than the now $1 million we had thought it would cost to build the house, which was good news on one front, but not on another. There were a number of features that the architect had built into the house that without a more detailed review of the plans and discussion with the architect the companies would not have been aware of. Thus, these estimates had to be taken with a large grain of salt, and really were very premature. We were actually pleased that two companies had not brought an estimate with them and we believed the estimates had to be low-balled and we preferred to wait and get a more comprehensive estimate that would also be more realistic.

In the end the deciding factors were included in our letter to the three contractors we didn’t choose:

Thank you very much for taking the time to come out to meet with us and discuss the building of our new home and for your patience while we made our final decision. We have decided to go with another contractor, Econ, but sincerely appreciate having the opportunity to consider your proposal. As I am sure you know, the quality of work from all of the contractors that we interviewed was not in question – your company, and the others had examples of excellent work and the references spoke highly of your work. So in the end, our decision was based on a few criteria:

1. The level of enthusiasm for working on this project – we were looking for someone who was truly passionate about building this home, not just to have it up on their website or to promote their company but to really be excited to build what will be a beautiful house, and under challenging circumstances.
2. Although not the primary consideration, we were obviously concerned about finances and we were looking for a company who was willing to agree to a fixed management fee so that if we did upgrade something (e.g., flooring) we were not paying an additional percentage just because we wanted to upgrade to a slightly more expensive material that would not have meant any change to the actual labour costs.
3. The idea of pre-fabricating some of the work was very appealing to us as it meant that we could reduce construction time and the materials would be built in a factory environment without wood/materials standing out in the rain etc. for extended periods of time. 
4. We also were interested in having the contractor’s team be involved in the framing, finishing work etc. (as opposed to sub-contracting out everything) as we felt that this provided us with a little more security/accountability regarding the work to be done.

So, we now had a contractor as of the end of January. Now for the building permit and a more accurate cost estimate.

Contributor: Laurie, the Homeowner

Well, we were too optimistic – the drawings were finished on time, but the structural engineering review was taking its time and it also needed to get the energy rating review as well. We used the time in November to review and comment on Kevin’s detailed drawings. It was also important for us to understand what was and was not included as part of these drawings and what could be done once a designer came on board. Hmm, a designer? We hadn’t thought about that. Did we need a designer? What would they do? 

Well, it turned out that they would do a lot - here’s a sample of the emails that went back and forth…

We have mapped out the counter space in the kitchen and looked at spaces for drawers and cupboards etc. Where you have the dishwasher and sink we would like make some small changes. We think that if you were to locate the sink approximately 10 inches from the counter where the cooktop is located it would allow us to put in a larger corner cupboard under the counter. If you put the dishwasher to the left of the sink then that would allow for a drawer and cupboard underneath to the left of dishwasher.

All this detail design of the kitchen is beyond the scope of this package of drawings. The idea for BP drawings and construction set is to have a workable layout that is then given over to a Kitchen designer to work out all the particulars. The millwork people we use will help with this. These folks are the experts on the minutia of kitchen design and can make everything work and they’ll propose things you haven’t even thought about!

As could be expected most of the questions were around the kitchen ☺ which was (and still is) the source of most of my concern. We were also having to make decisions about windows…

The window above the cooktop is great – just need to make sure that it is high enough above the cooktop to avoid getting grease splatter on the window. To note as well, that since we are both quite tall we would like to ensure that the countertops are the same height that they are now in our current house – 38 ½ inches from the ground to the top of the countertop. We thought it was important that the window be high enough from the top of the countertop to allow for the backsplash and would take into account the height from the ground that countertop would be.

Good to know about the 38.5” height. I’ve showed the standard 36”. I’ll change. My original thought was not to have a window under the cabinets at all since the window by the island was huge and throws in ample light. We could do a window between the uppers and lowers if you’d like. It will look very cool for sure. I’ve attached a couple 3D images so you see the two options. In both schemes you have an operable window. You definitely wouldn’t want a backsplash for such a layout. You’d want the counter to run straight back to the window frame. It would look far better - in fact it’s the only way it would look good since the window would get too small otherwise.

In the end we scrapped the window idea as I was realizing that we would lose too much cupboard space and the window over the main counter was very large. 

We are not sure what happened to the wet bar idea in the multi-purpose room/guest room? With the Murphy bed against the wall where the bathroom will be would there be any room to put in a wet bar? Another thought was that perhaps in the corner of the den that is indent – the space behind the sink –it would be useful to put a wet bar there as well – thus to add some plumbing for a bar sink. The space is hard to use otherwise - and we could still have glasses there above the bar sink as we do now … but wanted to check to see how the plan was working re: having it upstairs?

We worked all that out - the Murphy bed wouldn’t be shown on the architectural drawings since it’s an independent item and the wet bar might be included in that millwork item. All the servicing will be coming up through the bathroom wall and the plumber will be instructed on site where to put it, etc. once the exact Murphy bed has been picked. 

Okay, we were getting the message. We would have to hire a designer! 

December was here, Christmas planning was underway and no final sign-offs in sight. However, Kevin felt that the drawings were in sufficient detail that we could start to interview and choose a contractor.

Credit: Laurie, the Homeowner

Kevin started working on the detailed drawings at the beginning of October and we also needed to choose a structural engineer. We obtained several quotes and there was a vast difference between quotes – all from excellent companies. One company was suggesting that we go with a new technique that had recently been approved for Canada. They felt that using CLTs would greatly reduce construction time and that the solid wood panels would offer a lighter and economical alternative to concrete. We were interested and we did a fair bit of research on the topic, but weren’t convinced enough to go with the product given also that their fee was approximately three times that of others. 

We contacted also spent a lot of time looking up and contacting pre-fab/engineering companies. The idea of pre-fab was appealing to us as a way of reducing construction time. The construction cost of the pre-fab did not represent a cost savings, rather it represented an opportunity to save on construction time and thus reduce the length of time we needed to borrow the money (and thus saving money in that way). 

There were a number of pre-fab companies in the US that seemed interesting, but we were looking for a Canadian company. We did find one company, based out of Alberta that sounded promising; however they could only do widths of 8 feet, 16 feet or 24 feet. When we told them we needed 16 feet and 11 ¾ inches they couldn’t do it. Another company believed that the narrow road to access the property was a drawback and didn’t feel comfortable making any commitments. 

Thus we ended up choosing a company that had an excellent track record and was very used to doing work on the North Shore.  Cost approximately $4,000. Kevin would get the drawings done by the end of October and the drawings could go to the Structural Engineer at the beginning of November. Things looked hopeful for going to the District for the actual building permit before Christmas. Thus, one year after we started this project. 

Contributor: Laurie, the Homeowner