Home Creation Process
Creating a new home is a lot of work. There are many decisions to make, many factors to consider. Here is a fairly high-level view of what is involved:
There are at least four participants in the home creation process:
- Owner—That's you!
- Architect—The person or firm designing your home and producing the required drawings and documents. Typically the architect would arrange for any needed engineering or speciality design services.
- Builder—The person or firm acting as general contractor for your home. Your builder manages the many tradespeople and craftsmen who construct your home.
- Municipality—The city, township, village, or county government with jurisdiction over building codes and the zoning ordinance for your home site.
The Process Steps table below summarizes the key steps in the home creation process and shows how each participant is involved. One participant is the leader for each step and others may participate. It is important that all the participants agree up front on who is involved and how. Everyone needs to know who the leader is each step of the way and participants have to stay involved or schedule or quality could slip.
Participants | |
---|---|
Own | Owner |
Arch | Architect |
Bldr | Builder |
Mun | Municipality |
Code | Involvement |
---|---|
L | Leads the process step |
P | Participates in the process step |
Legend:
Process Steps | Participants | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Own | Arch | Bldr | Mun | |
Own | Arch | Bldr | Mun | |
Process Steps | Participants | |||
CONCEIVE—Create the vision |
||||
Take the Leap Move from dreaming about building your own home to getting started |
L | |||
FOCUS—Refine the vision |
||||
Seek Help Hire an architect (and here's why) |
L | |||
Pick a Place Select the right property for building your home |
L | L | ||
Capture the Dream What about your new home will be important to you? |
P | L | ||
Check the Books Verify that your ideas comply with the zoning ordinance and building codes |
L | P | ||
Set Some Limits Examine the budget and schedule for your home |
P | L | ||
DESIGN—Give shape to the vision |
||||
Design Process | ||||
Make a Plan Floorplanning your new home |
P | L | ||
Elevate It Visualize the exterior of your home |
P | L | ||
Notice the Details Move from the big picture of your home to basic elements and detail |
P | L | ||
Construction Documents | ||||
Draw it Out Make a complete set of drawings and specifications for your home |
L | |||
Meet the Team Multiple disciplines round out your home project |
L | |||
BUILD—Realize the vision |
||||
Bidding/Pricing | ||||
Price Check Bid your home project to builders and contactors |
P | L | P | |
Award the Job Award your home project and sign the contract |
P | L | P | |
Construction | ||||
Get Permission Obtain permits for your home construction project |
P | P | L | P |
Build It Your home is real now |
P | P | L | P |
Make House Calls Monitor your home construction project |
L | P | P | |
OCCUPY—Live the vision |
||||
Time to Move Moving in your new home |
L | |||
Check the Warranty Follow up on your home warranty |
P | L | P |