Making the Builder/Designer Relationship Work

You're ready to begin creating your custom home. You've assembled the design team, completing due diligence along the way. Now it's important to ensure your chosen home builder and home designer or architect smoothly work together to craft your wishes into a cohesive plan.

There are fundamental issues you, as the owner, must ensure are handled appropriately.

All Must Understand Their Roles and be Involved
You should ensure your builder and designer attends every discovery meeting and can clearly articulate their responsibilities. Whether you choose a residential designer or architect is superfluous; either must be a part of each planning meeting. "We are blessed and fortunate in Charlotte to have a number of good design firms," says Jim Shalvoy of Patrick Joseph & Associates, a high-end custom home builder. Architects are required by their states to hold an undergraduate degree, pass a written exam, and complete continuing education. Designers are free from such commitments but also have a loyal following in the construction community.

Builders are charged with moderating discussions between the home designer and the owner. "We are a guide and a matchmaker," says Shalvoy.

"The builder provides a periodic pulse check," says Doug McSpadden of McSpadden Custom Homes. Builders keep everyone in the real world, especially when it comes to budget. McSpadden stresses that owners must be honest with designers when planning their home. If you can afford 5,000-square feet, then say so up front so the designer will make sure creativity stays within the defined parameters.

A fanciful, engaging design is worthless if it is not practical to build or ignores budget constraints, according to Jim Phelps, president and creative director of Carolina Design Group, a local home design firm. "The best relationship always works when everyone understands what their role is," Phelps.

Be Open to Creativity
Your builder should be open to new ideas. You never want him to rely on the "last set of plans" he specified for a past customer. Both the builder and the designer should take time to get to know your wishes, recognize the individuality of the project, and create a likeminded environment of thinking "out of the box" to create your perfect home. A likeminded environment means the owner, builder, and designer decide on the home's "flavor" together and concur on when to diverge from that design, says McSpadden.

It is the designer's job to put an artistic spin on your expectations, but you should ultimately be happy with the end design.

Establish Trust
All parties involved should be comfortable with each other and trust each other to perform their responsibilities. As the owner, you should ensure good chemistry between the builder and the designer or architect. Take into account each one's personality. Will a go-with-the-flow designer work well with your laid-back approach or the builder's straitlaced, all-business approach? It is important to make a good match up front.

Match Experience and Quality
If you have chosen a builder and designer who match in their levels of experience and customer quality, then they should be able to work together to meet your needs. Designers who design starter homes are probably not a good match for a high-end custom home builder, for example. Builders assure quality construction; designers assure creativity in design. They both should assure you will be happy with the ambiance and functionality of the finished home.

Practice Constant Communication
" Dialogue is paramount," says McSpadden. "Dozens of times owners have come to me with their dream home and they cannot build it." Constant communication between all parties ensure the design is consistent with the construction budget. You can't build a 5,000-square-foot house with $400,000.

Shalvoy takes it one step further and says it is imperative designers and builders really listen to you. They should never take the "I've done this before" attitude, he says. Designers should incorporate all elements you've asked for in the first draft of your plans, and then approach you with design inconsistencies or budget constraints. You can be sure in this instance that your wishes have been heard, even if they ultimately turn out to be impractical.

Professionals warn you have a job to do, too. Be prepared for each meeting with a list of what you want and what you know you don't want. This free flow of ideas and words is the only way to ensure happiness with the finished product.