Contractors
Dirty Little Secrets

5 tips before you build.

Construction runs on silence, assumptions, and hope.
These are the uncomfortable truths of our industry.
We believe saying them out loud is the first step to doing it better.

1. What’s Missing
Cost the Most

The biggest risks aren’t visible they’re unpriced.

Budgets often appear solid initially, but clarifications reveal missing details: drywall may be standard Level 4 without recessed backing, flush doors, or baseboards; plumbing may assume floor-mounted fixtures, excluding wall-hung toilets or rainheads, which change framing and costs; electrical pricing may be based on typical units without chosen fixtures, zones, controls, or dimming systems. These gaps aren’t obvious until later, so it’s essential to understand the process, define what’s included, and clearly state assumptions to protect yourself.

A precise, transparent approach, like simulating every detail in advance, turns these unknowns into certainties.

2. Approved Plans ≠ Construction Drawings

Permits don’t mean you’re ready to build
they’re just one step.

Some people may assume “approved plans” mean construction can start, but city-approved drawings omit many details, finish schedules, basis of design alignment, MEP coordination, shop drawings, and specialty elements like lighting, AV, or millwork. This gap isn’t an architect’s fault, it reflects industry practice, where design sets intent and builders coordinate before execution. Bridging this starts with a fully coordinated digital model, like a Digital Twin, that aligns drawings and construction.

Permit sets grant approval; coordinated documents deliver a building with precision and trust.

3. GMP: The Illusion of Safety

Guaranteed Maximum Price
feels secure until it’s not

GMP contracts are promoted as risk management tools, but they often lock in inflated pricing due to unresolved design, extra contingencies, and unclear scope, trades quote conservatively, overlapping scope is priced multiple times, unknowns are covered with stacked allowances, and design gaps are filled with high assumptions. This can make GMPs 10–15% more expensive than open-book structures, without preventing change orders, and many lack clear processes for cost validation or time impact analysis. Without resolved design and clear procedures, a GMP becomes merely a sales tool that conceals problems until you pay for them.

True protection comes from building transparency into every step, from digital simulation to onsite execution.

4. Oversight ≠ Control

Someone’s watching but do they really
understand what they see?

Most projects claim to have oversight, but tracking submittals, updating schedules, or filing paperwork isn’t true quality control or coordination. Real oversight requires ownership, someone who understands sequencing, tolerances, specs, and consequences, and can make decisions under pressure in real time. Ask whether the person is managing a contract or managing construction, and whether they inspect work or just update a dashboard. Progress reports don’t build projects; people do, and not all “project managers” can manage a jobsite.

It’s about caring enough to lead with depth, turning challenges into seamless action.

5. No Project is Easy

Complexity’s normal. Chaos isn’t.

Every project has unknowns; design evolves, products are delayed, and human error occurs. That’s normal; what isn’t is letting those changes cause confusion, blame, or panic, which happens without a structured process. A good team detects problems early, escalates them quickly, and absorbs them calmly. You don’t need a team that avoids challenges, you need one built to handle them with control, not improvisation.

Building it twice, first digitally then onsite, makes the complex feel intentional,
like an act of love for what matters most.

Contractors
Dirty Little Secrets

5 tips before you build.

Construction runs on silence, assumptions, and hope.
These are the uncomfortable truths of our industry.
We believe saying them out loud is the first step to doing it better.

1. What’s Missing
Cost the Most

The biggest risks aren’t visible they’re unpriced.

A precise, transparent approach, like simulating every detail in advance, turns these unknowns into certainties.

2. Approved Plans ≠ Construction Drawings

Permits don’t mean you’re ready to build
they’re just one step.

Permit sets grant approval; coordinated documents deliver a building with precision and trust.

3. GMP: The Illusion of Safety

Guaranteed Maximum Price
feels secure until it’s not

True protection comes from building transparency into every step, from digital simulation to onsite execution.

4. Oversight ≠ Control

Someone’s watching but do they really
understand what they see?

It’s about caring enough to lead with depth, turning challenges into seamless action.

5. No Project is Easy

Complexity’s normal. Chaos isn’t.

Building it twice, first digitally then onsite, makes the complex feel intentional,
like an act of love for what matters most.

CONTACT US

What are YOU imagining?

ContractorsDirty Little Secrets

5 tips before you build.

Construction runs on silence, assumptions, and hope. These are the uncomfortable truths of our industry. We believe saying them out loud is the first step to doing it better.

1. What’s Missing Cost the Most

The biggest risks aren’t visible they’re unpriced.

A precise, transparent approach, like simulating every detail in advance, turns these unknowns into certainties.

2. Approved Plans ≠ Construction Drawings

Permits don’t mean you’re ready to build they’re just one step.

Permit sets grant approval; coordinated documents deliver a building with precision and trust.

3. GMP: The Illusion of Safety

Guaranteed Maximum Price feels secure until it’s not

True protection comes from building transparency into every step, from digital simulation to onsite execution.

4. Oversight ≠ Control

Someone’s watching but do they reallyunderstand what they see?

It’s about caring enough to lead with depth, turning challenges into seamless action.

5. No Project is Easy

Complexity’s normal. Chaos isn’t.

Building it twice, first digitally then onsite, makes the complex feel intentional, like an act of love for what matters most.

CONTACT US

What are YOU imagining?

Contractors
Dirty Little Secrets

Construction runs on silence, assumptions, and hope.
These are the uncomfortable truths of our industry.
We believe saying them out loud is the first step to doing it better.

1. What’s Missing
Cost the Most

Permits don’t mean you’re ready to build
they’re just one step.

Guaranteed Maximum Price
feels secure until it’s not

Someone’s watching but do they really
understand what they see?

Building it twice, first digitally then onsite, makes the complex feel intentional,
like an act of love for what matters most.