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Reducing construction costs is usually thought of in terms of
reducing material and labor costs. However, the biggest cost
savings can actually come from only building what you need. More
money can be saved by changing the drawings than by trying to
squeeze lower prices out of suppliers. The following 10 tips are
ways you can save in the planning of your project and in how
you carry it out.
1. Select your architect early before you have bought your land.
Well-designed architecture is fit to the environment. You can
select the land you like and design to it. Or you can create a
preliminary design and seek land that supports it. The same factors
apply to existing buildings. Let the architect help you determine
if the fit will work for you.
2. Have your architect help you define how much space and land you
need. Architects call this programming. They can sit down with you
and help you determine the size of home you really need. Sometimes
homeowners build homes that are larger than they need because they
are used to having to adapt to an inefficient design. Having an
efficient design can allow you to spend more on things which
increase the quality of your home. Quantity is not everything. On
the other hand it is something. Have your architect check to make
sure the land you are looking at is large enough for your project.
Easements, legal restrictions, site conditions, and vehicle access
can limit the practical buildable area of your land.
3. Have your architect review your land purchase. The site
orientation, adjacent conditions, soil conditions, slope, and
vegetation can limit or enhance your project. The interactions of
these factors can be complex and a graphic site analysis might help
you decide whether this is really the right property for you. Or it
may affect your offer for the land. While architects don’t
mind a challenging site, having them assist in your site selection
can save you a substantial amount of construction cost. Your
architect can alert you to hidden expenses that the land you are
looking at will require. Be willing to pay a surveyor or testing
firm for basic information on the site. The seller may have such
information already. If so, pass it along to your architect.
Architects can also perform a preliminary code analysis that looks
at zoning and code restrictions on the property as a whole.
4. Have your architect help you plan out your building and
financing process. Architects are familiar with what construction
of their designs is likely to cost. They can be very useful in
helping you determine not only how long your project should take,
how much it should cost and how it can be accomplished. This might
include building your project in phases or allowing for a later
expansion. Your starter home can grow to be the center of your
dream home. You can start with building the core area and have the
final work completed as your family grows. For financing, an
architect can provide you with a preliminary design and an opinion
of the probable cost (including a contingency). This will allow
your bank to determine for you how the project’s cost compares
to it’s value in the real estate market. Including your
architect’s fees in the construction loan can make using an
architect more affordable.
5. Have your architect help establish the preliminary budget you
should have for your project. Architects can prepare a cost opinion
for your project in as little as 15 minutes with the basic size and
location of your project. Of course such an opinion is rough and
includes a substantial contingency but it is a good place to start.
This allows you to see immediately whether you need to rethink how
big or how complicated your home will be. It is not a reason not to
proceed. It is a guide that tells you your path to your dream home
may not look like your neighbor’s. Once a design has been
established an architect can prepare a cost opinion based on the
systems used in the building. This can include innovative
mechanical and lighting systems, exotic construction systems
(usually for lower cost or higher performance) as well as windows,
doors, fixtures, and finishes. This opinion will take much longer
to prepare and will be specific to your design.
6. Consider buying an existing facility. Construction costs for
similar construction materials were less expensive 20 years ago
than they are now. Making use of that embedded value can add to
your project. It is often less expensive to renovate an existing
building than it is to build a new one. This is true even when the
renovation is extensive. The key is to obtain a structure which is
in good condition (for what you want to retain) and which is a
reasonably close fit.
7. Have your architect evaluate facilities you are interested in.
Preliminary analysis and design may cost you a bit when performed
on structures you have not yet bought. They can however save you
many thousands of dollars. You may find after the analysis that the
structure won’t work well for your intended purpose. It might
be too small or too large or have insufficient clearance for your
equipment. It may have substantial maintenance or structural
issues. The cost of buying the wrong property is more than the
architects fees.
8. Consider recycled materials. If you are considering a high level
of craftsmanship for your project, be aware that vintage interior
doors, hardware, base and cornice trim, ornaments, mantles,
flooring and stained glass are among the elements that can be
obtained used in most urban areas. Antique shops and architectural
specialty shops are the best sources. Using these items judiciously
can allow you to have finely detailed work in your project without
paying for a new creation. Be prepared to have your architect spend
some time detailing how to incorporate such items. You will need to
spend the time to find them. Try and get the shop you are
purchasing these items from to store them for you till they are
needed on site. Negotiate on the asking price. Remember, these
items are only inexpensive compared to making the same item the
original way now.
9. Unleash your architect. Albert Einstein is credited with saying
that the operational definition of insanity is to do the same thing
over and over and to expect different results. If you insist that
your architect give you what everyone else has, it will cost what
everyone else paid—maybe a little more. (Theirs is already
done.) Give your architect some leeway to experiment with low-cost
materials or alternative systems. Have her concentrate on what is
essential and minimize the rest. Don’t be afraid to be
different.
10. Consider selecting a smaller architecture firm. People
often think that a bigger firm is more reliable than a smaller
firm. This is not necessarily the case. A small project in a large
firm may be assigned to a team of only two or three people. A small
firm of only two or three people can easily handle the same size
project. With today’s production techniques a team of two or
three can easily handle a project of several million dollars as
fast and as well as a larger firm would produce. Sometimes, smaller
firms have lower overhead and are able to charge you less. This
varies as larger firms can sometimes distribute their overhead over
more projects and achieve an economy of scale. Still, the project
is likely to be more important in a smaller firm. You could expect
to have your project assigned a higher priority and receive more
attention in the small firm. That may have value even beyond the
cost.
Louis B.
Smith, Jr., AIA, is a member of the AIA Small Project
Practitioners Knowledge Community Advisory Group.
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