Building Procedures
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Choosing The Right House For You
A free consultation with no committment is scheduled, where you decide if Maxim Enterprises, LLC is a fit for you. If so, we look through existing plans, or go to an architect who can design the house of your dreams. At that point you make any modifications or materials changes, and get final pricing. Up until this point, no committment has been made. Once that is done and you want to go forward with your new house, a lot is chose, and a purchase contract is written, with a deposit. Behind The Scenes After plans and specifications are prepared and approved, the balance of your earnest deposit is due to Maxim Enterprises, LLC. More behind the scenes activities are underway. Your plot plan is sent to our engineers for staking and your plans are sent to the permits and inspection division that has the jurisdiction over the area your home is built in. It may take up to 2 additional weeks for the building department to issue the permits necessary to build. Meeting At The Job Site Upon receipt of all necessary building permits, your lot will be staked and your plans and specifications will be processed by the construction office and placed in line with the subcontractors that will be involved. A pre-excavation meeting at the job site is arranged to discuss several items. The following items should be discussed at this time:
The average time needed to build a home is 180 days. Naturally the weather and personnel are the greatest factors affecting this time. The Omaha area has been prospering and the availability of quality subcontractors is limited. We feel we have put together the very best subcontractors in the area to build your home. These same subcontractors work for other builders in the area and we may have to wait for their services. The wait is well worth it. We will not compromise quality for availability. As the excavation, foundation, and framing of the home commence, you must begin the homework provided to you. A document titled ?SELECTIONS? will be provided to you at the acceptance of plans and specs. It will provide a detailed description of the selection process. As you visit the various suppliers and make your selections, it is very important that you get a ticket signed. Please return a copy of that signed ticket and the coordinating signed ?SELECTION? sheet to the construction office. Framing Framing the house is most important. Make sure that the homework we indicate to be completed is turned into our office by the date designated. Reminder: We need a minimum of 2 weeks to process change orders. All changes or credits must be agreed upon by the buyer and the builder. The change order must have the signature of both to be put into effect. The builder has NO obligation to honor any VERBAL change orders or UNSIGNED change orders. All change orders are to be paid in full(unless added to loan) before execution of such and are non-refundable under any circumstances. And as they say, ?the show must go on?, so we cannot delay construction for decisions regarding change orders. Change order request forms will be provided with your ?SELECITON? sheets at the acceptance of plans and specifications. Rough-Ins Plumbing The rough ins will start soon after the home has been framed. If you choose to make any changes to your plumbing faucets or fixtures, we must be notified before framing is completed. Order time for most items is approximately 2 weeks. Special order plumbing can take longer. Supply lines, waste lines, enclosures, valves, etc. are installed at the rough in stage. Reference spec sheets for vendors. Heating The heating and air conditioning rough in will also begin at the same time as the plumbers. Generally there are few changes from the original specs, but if changes are desired, signed change orders need to be executed before framing is completed. The HVAC vendor will be installing units that are sized and engineered specific to your house unless changes are made by the buyer, and change orders are made. Electrical The electrical rough in stage is time consuming. Many decisions are made prior to our electricians pre-wiring the home. We install the wiring, outlets and switches according to the electrical code. The placement of these will be done according to building codes and will be placed at the discretion of the electricians unless otherwise directed. The electrical code requires an electrical outlet every 12? and no more than 6? from each doorway, a switch is required for a light or ½ switch plug into each room. 1 GFI (Ground Fault Interrupter) plug at each vanity, 1 plug on kitchen island, 2 weatherproof plugs, 1 front and 1 rear. In the case of a walkout basement, the rear plug will be placed at the walkout level. The air conditioner will be located per plans (This location is approximate, and may be moved for conditions). You will be provided with a reduced sized plan for you to mark the location of the fixtures, fans, recess cans, etc. You must indicate whether these fixtures are wall mounts or ceiling mounts. Maxim Enterprises, LLC will use this information and price any overages or credits according to the price sheet provided to you. You will then receive a written final copy with the cost adjustments for your approval. We suggest you use this copy to make your light fixture selections at your lighting vendor. We provide the rough in and installation for the number of ceiling fans indicated in your contract. When choosing ceiling fans, remember to pick extension rods for the high ceilings. Also indicate on the plan any requests for additional outlets, special locations for outlets or any special placement of the fixtures. If no special locations are designated we will place them as needed. We will also provide 10 outlets total (mixture of phone, cable, and networking). More information will be provided later with your selection sheets. Walk Through #1 A formal builder/buyer walk through will be held after the electrical rough in state. The on site superintendent will conduct a walk through meeting and will use a standardized punch list for the agenda. Questions, concerns and the like may be addressed regarding what has already been completed and the remaining steps required to finish your new home. All selections must be turned in to the construction office prior to this walk through. Insulation/Drywall The drywall installers will follow the insulators and this takes anywhere from 2-4 weeks to complete. The ceilings will all be textured splat like our model home unless indicated otherwise in your specifications. Cabinets The layout of you cabinets(as your plan shows) will be provided by your project manager for you to review. A trip to the cabinet shop is needed to discuss all options that are available as you may want to add/delete and/or make some changes. These changes must be made at the framing stage of construction or well before the framing stage if any wall or window movements will be necessary. Remember the rough in plumbing and electrical layouts in the kitchen are determined by the final layout of the cabinets so any deviance from the plans must be made before framing and rough in stages. The cost to make these changes raises significantly if done later. Trim Carpentry & Cabinet Installation Trim carpenters and cabinet installation will follow. Different floor coverings require different preparation. Again, we will follow the plans and specifications if no change orders were issued at least 2 weeks prior. Remember, stained woodwork and painted woodwork require different kinds of wood. Therefore, once the cabinets have been started(when drywallers begin), the trim order is put together, and it is too late too make changes. The house will be locked at this time and no key will be given until after the trim carpenters have completed. A construction key is available from the construction office by signing a waiver of liability release and providing a $100 refundable deposit. Painting Of House One interior color selection is included in the price of your home. Additional colors are $90(cleaning fee from painter) each. One exterior body color and one trim color (front side of home only) are included. A third color on the exterior choice is an additional $90. Please have the trim colors detailed on a miniature elevation plan which we will provide. There are additional charges for certain paint colors (very dark or very light). Check with the construction office for specific information and pricing. It is the painters responsibility to provide adequate coverage on all painted surfaces. The stain color is a very critical choice you make. Our painters will apply a sample at your house, and with your approval, we will proceed. The wood floor(if applicable) is normally color matched to your cabinet stain. This again, is a choice made by you and must be completed along with your paint selections. As with your woodwork, you will approve a wood floor stain sample before the painters will begin. The construction office will not monitor your color selections and will apply your paint and stain colors as you direct. They may also have to be approved by your subdivision or convenance. It is our recommendation to purchase small quantities of paints and apply them on a similar surface to see for yourself the outcome of your selections prior to us painting the house. I n most subdivisions, covenants govern your exterior selections. They must fall within acceptable boundaries. Floor Coverings Hard surface floor coverings will follow along with wall tiles, countertops, mirrors, shower doors, and accessories. These products are all supplied by the floor covering vendor. These should be picked out early. Selections over spec price will incur a change order. Other vendor?s besides the one used by Maxim Enterprises are not allowed. Electrical Finish The finish electrical will be done following installation of hard surfaces and prior to carpet installation. The rough in plans provided to us will be used to finish the home. We will Install all the fixtures you have selected from your lighting vendor. If selections go over allowance, a change order is made for the extra difference. No person is allowed to make changes to electrical at any time before closing. Plumbing Finish The plumbing finish takes place at approximately the same time as the electrical finish. The selections have all been made prior to the rough in so no further information will be needed. Fixture warranty will be handled through Maxim Enterprises, LLC, and they will schedule necessary visits. Sprinkler Systems This is coordinated near the end of construction. If you original plans did not call for a sprinkler system, and you would like to add one, contact us early enough so permits and rough ins can be done. In case of a completely finished basement, there will be more expense incurred if this is not done before basement finish. Retaining Walls Retaining walls are necessary on most walk out lots and on many other lots as well. The quantity of retaining wall cannot be predicted until after excavation and the foundation is completed. We do not price any retaining walls or window wells in our bids or contracts. An allowance can be added to the purchase agreement to cover the costs via a change order. Cost estimates will be provided from an approved retaining wall contractor to provide for adequate draining only. Building codes may require minimums, and as an attempt to save you money, this will be the cost estimate we quote. More elaborate retaining systems are available. If this is of interest, please notify our office with your ideas and we can provide estimates. Final Walk Through Prior to closing and after the construction cleanup, Maxim Enterprises, LLC will conduct another buyer/builder walk through. Under normal situations a representative from our warranty department and the on site job superintendent will conduct the walk through. Many orders of business take place here. First and foremost we will explain the hows, whys, and wheres of the house. Secondly, this is your best opportunity to point out items that need to be addressed. This is not to imply to save all previous concerns until this time. The sooner we know about problems or trouble areas, the easier we can correct them. Paint touch ups and door adjustments are typical and expected. Your punch list may be long or short, but in the end our goal is simply to get it right. Maxim Enterprises, LLC reserves the right to substitute any subcontractor or suppliers at any time. |
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