Preconstruction and selections

Preconstruction is the phase most people never hear about, and the one that decides how construction goes. Permits, engineering, trade scopes, and the selection schedule all get worked out here. Decisions get made before they can hold up the field.

Permits and review

Review times are set by the jurisdiction, not the builder. The City of Scottsdale reviews single-family plans on its own published schedule, and corrections and resubmittals add rounds. In Paradise Valley, lots in the hillside area also go through the Town's Hillside Building Committee, which reviews grading, heights, materials, and lighting. Community design review in places like Mirabel, Silverleaf, or Desert Mountain adds its own steps before the city ever sees the plans. Knowing which reviews apply to your lot is part of planning the schedule honestly.

Trade scopes

This is when the scopes of work are written for each trade. We use trades we have worked with for years: the plumber, the framer, the tile setter, the millwork shop. They know the standard before they show up, which means a scope can be written around how they actually work rather than learned on your house.

Why selections come early

Cabinets, stone, glazing, and lighting are some of the most personal choices in a house, so they are the ones people put off. The contract carries an allowance for each. When the real selection gets made months later, it often costs more than the allowance, and it costs time as well. Custom cabinetry, slab stone, and large window and door packages can take a long time to make and ship. Choose them late and the schedule waits on them, and a crew waiting is a cost too.

So we set a selection schedule. It says what needs to be chosen and by when, so long-lead items like windows, steel, and specialty finishes can be ordered now and the field never waits on a tile, a fixture, or a window order.

The cheapest place to change a house

Moving an outlet on a drawing costs nothing. Moving it after rough electrical is in means new wire, another inspection, and patching. Plumbing is the same, and usually worse. Preconstruction is the last stage where changes are made on paper, and we treat it that way. Nick calls it the core three: your builder, your architect, and your interior designer, all involved before anything starts. When those three are at the table, most of the decisions that break budgets get made where they are cheap to change.

More on this in what pushes a custom build over budget and how long a custom home really takes.