Welcome to KV Build

We’ve worked hard to streamline the new build process, ensuring well-defined steps to provide you with a comfortable experience from start to finish. This worksheet helps to gather and share information to create the highest level of clarity possible, with the goal of delivering a finished plan and price for the project quickly and efficiently.

1. Sanitary system: No land use or building permit applications can be submitted without a sanitary permit. This is the very first step that needs to be taken for all building projects and is the thing that most often holds up a project. First, a soil test needs to be done and then the sanitary system can be designed and submitted to the State of Wisconsin for approval and issuance of the sanitary permit. Most plumbing companies can provide this service or KV Build can handle setting this up.
   
2. Site planning: The second step in permitting is the land use permit. This requires some basic information about what you are going to build. Size, number of bedrooms, and location are the bare minimum requirements. A land use permit application requires distances from property lines to building, distance from well to building, location of sanitary system, locations of any wetlands. The site needs to be staked to mark locations or proposed locations of everything related to the building application. Many times, KV Build provides this service as part of the planning and permitting process. It is helpful to know early in the planning stage if the Owner will be submitting for the land use permit themselves or if KV Build needs to provide this service.
   
3. Building design: A complete set of blueprints with elevations, cross sections, and detailed breakdowns of building components.
   
4. Project pricing: Everything in the first five steps is needed to provide a bid price. Below are estimated costs for KV Build to provide planning, design, permit submission and pricing for the project.
   
   • Design work: Drawing an architectural and structural design plan for the building.
     Garage – $800 – $1,500
     House – $3,000 – $15,000
   • Permit submission:
     Driveway/culvert permit – $150 plus permit fee
     Soil testing – $1,000
     Sanitary permit – $200 plus permit fee
     Land use permit – $600 plus permit fee
     UDC permit – $600 plus permit fee
   • Permits required:
     Garage – Driveway permit (if none existing), Land use permit.
     House – Driveway permit (if none existing), Soil testing, Sanitary permit, Land Use permit,
     Uniform Dwelling Code permit.
   • Site planning:
     Measuring and marking site for permit applications – $400 plus mileage

Although design work and bidding are closely related, they require different skill sets and expertise. Design work involves creating a plan for the project, including details such as the preferred brand of windows, type of flooring, countertops, cabinets, fixtures, and trims. While the bidding process involves finding the right contractors or subcontractors to carry out that plan, we need a complete design to ensure accurate pricing.

The design process takes time, and we do charge for it. However, this allows our design team to walk you through the many options available and ensure the bidding and building processes are efficient and on budget. Without a completed design, the construction process may take longer and lead to overspending and frustration.

A retainer needs to be prepaid and billed against at $100 per hour for the design work. When the retainer is gone, design work stops until a supplemental retainer is paid. If there is money left over, it will be credited back to the customer. This is an incentive for the homeowner to decide what they want and avoid unnecessary changes. A finished design allows KV Build salespeople to give detailed quotes with real numbers instead of just ballpark estimating. Below is the design process.

Design/Build Process

DESIGN

• Project meeting with customer to review plans, finish overview and discuss budgets
  • Customer goal or big picture for the project
  • Any Customer non-negotiable items
  • KV Build commitment to quality and how this impacts the project
  • Discuss life cycle costs
  • Customer choice of finishes vs price of footprint discussion
• KV Build develops material, fixture and finish lists, window and door schedules

BID

KV Build completes itemized (by project component) pricing for the project

• 2nd project meeting with customer to review pricing, finishes, fixtures, etc., and decide
  on any revisions to project
  • Identify items to revise
  • Set final revised bid date
  • Permitting progress, any plan revisions to make
• 3rd project meeting with customer to finalize pricing, finishes, fixtures and sign contracts

BUILD

• Set up project start date, financing in place or closing date for financing
• Hand project off to KV Build Project Manager
• Weekly updates between project manager and customer
• Project start/customer access to Buildbook dashboard

FINAL DETAILS

• Substantial completion, project walk through, punch list creation
• Final punch list completion, final invoice
• Project review, customer interview, case study writing

The importance of proper planning

A sad story of a new build that died in the planning stages

This is a true story. The names and locations have been changed to protect the reputation of innocent participants while benefiting people working through the planning stages of a new building, addition or renovation project.

The story

In late 2023 Frank contacted KV Build to inquire about the construction of an addition to his home. We asked initial questions to determine if KV Build was a good fit for the homeowner. Frank and his project passed all the initial screening tests. He had a clear goal. His plan would work on the site. He had a budget that seemed adequate. He had initial plans already done, although they were not ready for permitting.

Everything checked out. This was not a customer that didn’t know what they wanted or had unrealistic price expectations. It was clear that even if KV Build did not get the project, this thing was going to be built. So, we proceeded to the next steps.

Discovery time. Nail down what items the owner was going to do and what items we needed to perform or find the correct subcontractor to perform. Get the remaining information and calculations needed to have a plan ready for permitting. Send out plans to subcontractors and get the prices rolling in. Start material take-offs and break the project down into items. Start writing a scope of work.

The problems began when we asked for feedback and clarification on the scope of work and got conflicting information from the owner. He started asking for preliminary item prices and told us that other contractors had already supplied him with figures, some of which reflected different scopes of work.

Then we found out that he had multiple contractors all doing the same scope of work writing and sending plans out to their subcontractors. A picture emerged of hundreds of hours of work being done by multiple contractors and subcontractors to figure out the missing details of the project and get prices together.

KV Build contacted Frank and explained that it was not fair or reasonable to have all these different contractors expending untold hours to complete the unfinished design. We identified two paths to arrive at a finished price. One option was to put pricing on hold and get a finished plan done, which he could send out to multiple contractors to get itemized bids for a clearly defined scope of work. The second option was to pick just one of the contractors, commit to the project, and have the contractor finish the design and planning with his team of subcontractors and then build the project.

We told him we were not going to participate in a process that was, in effect, going to steal time from multiple contractors and subcontractors. Since he did not have a finished plan, we recommended that he pick one of the several reputable contractors he had that were working on pricing and go with that choice. We expressed that there would be more differences in the price of the project resulting from his choices in the multiple plans than in differences in the way the various contractors would price the work. Ultimately, if the quality and components are similar, the price will be similar. There are differences in how each builder will break out the pricing, but by the time the project is complete there would be little difference in the price for similar quality.

We pulled out of a desirable project because of principle. We fully expected to see groundbreaking on this project a couple of months later and eventually see the new addition finished. But the groundbreaking never occurred. The addition was not built. It appears the owner let his goal and dream of the new addition die before it could take off because of the challenges to getting a completed plan before embarking on contracting and construction.

The lessons

Building a new home, adding on to your home, or committing to a major renovation is a very complex process. Many things need to be planned out, sometimes months in advance of any work being done. And the costs can be significant. All these obstacles are further complicated by the fact that most people who engage in this process are doing it for their first time. Doing something for the first time is always scary and intimidating. When starting, most people do not know what they don’t know. You need to find someone to work with that you can trust. After all, you’re going to spend more money with that builder than all the rest of the purchases in your life combined – in most cases, more than your life savings. That, coupled with zero experience, can be a terrifying proposition.

So, how do you navigate this journey without getting derailed by stress and fear or finding that there is no way to fit the build you want into your budget? Plan carefully and completely so that you have a clear understanding of the project you’re about to undertake. A design-build contractor who has experience building the kind of home you are envisioning can advise you. So can a designer who understands the actual costs of construction and can align your dreams with your budget. Next, find a contractor who can bring your vision to life while accommodating your finances, timelines and other top priorities. Remember, home construction is typically a 6 to 12 month-long process that is very personal, so it’s important to find a builder you feel confident in. The right partner can make the process an incredible experience, while the wrong one can make your life feel like hell. Consequently, choosing well in this initial selection will be one of the more impactful decisions in the entire process.