Hiring a non-local builder as general contractor?

10 years ago

Hi,

We are in the dreaming stage of building a new home, and have already found a specialty builder that we wish to use.

This builder specializes in both energy-efficient homes and timber frame homes, which is perfect for us. They also have a plan that we really like, which only requires minor tweaking -- a couple rooms need to be a little larger.

This builder offers general contracting service in several states, including mine. Ideally, we would want to have them do everything (because they specialize in this type of houses), but they are 300 miles away from us. So they would have to sub-contract certain work out to contractors in our state.

The concern is, how would they manage the job site on a daily basis, given the long distance? Is it a bad idea not to hire a local general contractor?

We do know that this builder will build the entire frame (wall panels with windows/doors, roof panels, floor systems) in their workshop, and ship it to the building site. Their own crew will come to the building site to erect the entire frame, and make the house weather tight. (If we don't use this builder's general contracting service, their work could stop here.) After that, the local subcontractors will come in to finish the interior and the exterior, including roofing, siding, flooring, cabinets, built-ins, etc.

We could go and ask the builder directly, "as a GC, how do you manage building sites that are not in your home state?"

However, before doing that, we would like to see what the knowledgeable GW-ers think of this.

Thank you!

This post was edited by ILoveCookie on Fri, Jun 14, 13 at 12:08

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Comments (7)

lazy_gardens
10 years ago
My advice is: go and ask the builder directly, "as a GC, how do you manage building sites that are not in your home state?"

They probably have several local firms they do a lot of business with that they trust because of past jobs.
_henry Henry
10 years ago
A competent local GC will know the better subs in town, and also know their rates. They will also be more familiar with the various distributors. I think this gives a local builder a great advantage.
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kirkhall
10 years ago
Additionally, in my state/city you cannot hire a GC who isn't licensed in the state AND have a business license with the city...
jenswrens
10 years ago
I think it really depends on your town and their building requirements/restrictions, the degree of difficulty involved in the process of getting appropriate approvals, and your specific lot/property and any encumbrances it may have.

If you live in one of those places like Texas or parts of Tennessee, where getting a building permit takes about five minutes and involves little more than standing in line at City Hall with some plans and getting a stamp, then by all means, go this route. But if you live somewhere where the process is long and involved, and requires variances, board of adjustment review and critique, historical commission approvals, board of health approvals, possible state environmental approvals, or extensive site-work, you definitely want to go local.

Two years ago, we were going this same route with a non-local company (factory-built modular shell, site-finished house), and got really far along in the process before we realized the truth of what henry said above. Although the company built great houses, and even used local subs for sitework, overall it was a huge cluster, because they had no idea about how extensive the approval process is in our town. It can take 6 months to a year or more to get a building permit in my town. This company was totally clueless.

Bottom line here is, the houses in my town that get built and get the fastest approvals are the ones that are presented to and defended before all the required Boards by the local architects, local engineers, and local GCs. We thought we were saving money by looking outside of our "zip-coded" zipcode, but in the end, we actually wasted a ton of money trying (and failing) to go the non-local route.

Before you even ask the company how they handle it, you should find out or know more about how your town handles the building permitting process. Your answer will be there.
ILoveCookie
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you so much for the replies.

We are on the east coast, and don't already own land, so we don't know exactly in which town we will build. But I guess the permitting process would not be easy in our area, because buildable land is scarce. I will try to get a better idea by talking to people in the towns nearby.

The only experience we've had so far regarding permitting process was with the solar system installation. The local solar company handled all the paperwork. It was smooth but lengthy. After the entire system was installed and tested, it took about 5-6 months just to get the township's approval to turn on and use the system.

Maybe we could hire a local GC and a local architect, and have them work closely with the specialty builder to deliver what we want? In that case, I guess we'd need to purchase the plan we like from the builder, and hand it over to the local architect? We are not sure how this works.

Would I need to ask the specialty builder to "train" the local GC and the local subcontractors, so that the local subs don't do something in the wrong way without knowing?

This post was edited by ILoveCookie on Fri, Jun 14, 13 at 17:29
Brian_Knight
10 years ago
It seems a good approach might be to find a local GC that would be comfortable having the specialty builder handle the building shell. It might be possible to hire the specialty builder as a consultant or third party inspector although being upfront with the local builder is obviously important.

It could be difficult finding a local builder that would be ok with that but one that is younger or interested in expanding their high performance building skills should be more open to the idea. If you like their plan I dont think its necessary to get a different one locally although hiring a local draftsman familiar with the building dept could be a smart move for handling the changes. Most local builders should know somebody and might help build some trust.
virgilcarter
10 years ago
This situation can be common when an owner desires some "specialty" construction, such as heavy timber framed buildings, that is not common in the owner's area.

IMO, the biggest potential issue is the responsibility for the work. Will there be "single-point" responsibility, or will there be "split" responsibility for different aspects of the work? "Split" responsibility has an inherent finger-pointing potential when a problem occurs.

Owners will have to decide how best to handle responsibility for the work, if they are set on some "specialty" type of construction. Due diligence is the key.

Forget about using one's project as "training" or :"expanding a local builder's skills", unless one is in the non-profit, educational business.

Good luck with your project.