No, I hate, I hate delivering bad news too right Okay well I'll let you know how it goes
and I'll talk to you soon.
Alright thanks a lot.
Yeah it's always disappointing to get cost feedback that isn't where you thought it would
be.
But, you know that's the reality these are real costs you know we make assumptions and
sometimes those assumptions don't work out.
Okay so one of the most common problems: you're over budget.
What do you do about it?
Yeah so I just wanted to check with you and see kind of what your thoughts were on where
we might start attacking this.
So you were so you were thinking material…you were thinking materials?
Huh.
Now although there's definitely savings to be had here it's less than you might think
and here's why.
When you're thinking about materials and your gonna swap them, you're gonna change them
to something else.
You have to consider the labor that it costs to install that material equally.
So let's say we have a material that costs five dollars a square foot and let's also
assume that it costs five dollars a square foot to install that material.
If we decide to change that material for a material that costs half as much, so two dollars
and fifty cents a square foot, we don't automatically get to deduct half of the labor cost to install
it.
The labor cost is going to be the same, and in some cases it actually might be more.
So if we look at the total cost of our material savings that's only a 25% net total savings
yet we've made a material compromise we have a material that we're probably not as happy
with.
Now to do that on a broad scale on a scale where you'd actually have to do it to save
a big chunk of your budget that's a huge ask, that's not an insignificant task.
To save 50% on the wall finish - and here our wall finishes are only gypsum wallboard
- so it's really difficult to save on that.
Wall finishes, ceiling finishes, floor finishes, everywhere, tile, that's a really significant
job.
Now one of the other places that we found in our project: we have shingles above the
seven foot six level and we have shiplap below the seven foot six level.
Shingles, I know, are very labor-intensive to install so one choice we could make is
to swap the shingles for clapboards.
Clapboards go up very quickly we can have a lot of labor savings there along with the
material savings.
So I don't love that architecturally, but if that's a compromise that the client is
willing to make I think we should put it on the table to discuss.
So I think that knee-jerk reaction to try and save a huge chunk of money by changing
materials is flawed.
Okay so if trimming materials doesn't affect the budget in the way that we had hoped what
does?
Well, reducing scope is where you really want to start it's gonna have the most impact on
your budget.
And when we're talking about reducing scope we're talking about trimming square footage.
There's a couple of things to know about reducing square footage.
The first is: it's not a linear deduction.
Let's just say for our example’s sake that we're able to build - based on this estimate
- for $100 per square foot.
If we trim 100 square feet we don't automatically save $10,000 and this is because as the building
square footage goes down the remaining square footage tends to go up in price and that's
because we have certain infrastructure costs: things like kitchens and bathrooms and a heating
plant and the foundation and these items tend to be relatively expensive.
So as you reduce the square footage the remaining square footage tends to go up in cost.
So if we're talking about a $100 per square foot cost to build we might be able to only
take a $75 per square foot credit back as we're trimming square footage.
Now the other thing to think about when you're trimming square footage is not all spaces
are equal.
Obviously a kitchen square foot is not equal to a hallway square foot.
A hallway may cost 50 dollars a square foot to build while a kitchen costs $500 a square
foot to build so you need to be smart and strategic as you're doing the trimming.
Okay let's compare this with the material savings we were just discussing.
With the square foot savings you're affecting every single line item in the budget.
Saving a hundred square feet means you're reducing roof and wall framing and insulation
and finishing costs and heating costs and foundation costs and site costs.
So you can see it has an outsized impact on the budget.
Now, not surprisingly, this will be a place where you encounter some resistance, maybe
from yourself because you're in love with the design, maybe from your client.
It's natural that we just want what we want but we want it to cost less.
But this is a place to be brutally honest with yourself and your client.
Something has to give in order for the estimate to go down and trimming square footage is
one of the best ways to save.
There are ways to simplify every single project.
You've probably heard of this concept about limiting the number of jogs in your foundation
as a way to save money as a way to control costs and that's not because you know concrete
work is necessarily expensive it's usually not but it has this ripple effect.
By putting a corner in the foundation it means you need to cut the framing at the corner
it means you have trim to put on the inside and the outside it means more labor it means
more finishing costs it means the framing can't just continue along in an uninterrupted
row it affects all the components of the building as opposed to just one singular component.
So simplifying means taking away complexity and a simple building can be every bit as
elegant if you proportion things correctly and if you're smart about your design moves.
Here in our project we can look at eliminating the bump outs, we can look at eliminating
decks and the fireplace storage nooks.
Now these are all things that my client loves and they're part of the thing that makes the
design what it is and so at some point we have to sort of reconcile these ideas and
these cost savings with what we're giving up.
And is that worth it?
And that final calculus is up to your client.
There are some choices that are better for the architecture and there are some choices
that are worse for the architecture and it's your job just to sort of illuminate what those
are for your client.
So naturally in the design process there's gonna be some things that are just out of
your control we have a tariff on imported wood products we have a local labor shortage
there's a couple of huge projects that are drawing big labor, labor pools so there's
a lot of demand in the housing market which again raises prices this is definitely a seller's
market not a buyer’s market.
And those are things you just can't possibly control.
The thing you can control is the flow of information: how you gather information from estimators,
contractors, subcontractors, and present it to your client.
These are real facts, you can't make these building materials cost any less you can only
provide the options and the choices for them to make informed decisions.
And the best thing you can do is have these discussions early.
So we're having this discussion now before all the drawings are finalized before all
the plans are done before the client has spent a huge architectural fee resolving a design
that ultimately they couldn't afford.
So we're doing this in schematic design so we can get a price check and say, alright
are we even in the right ballpark?
And if we're not then we can change the design before we've made all of these decisions hard
and fast, before the client has become completely invested in the design and sure they're excited
about things, these are difficult conversations to have no matter when they happen, but it's
much better to have them here in the studio before a construction crew mobilizes, before
you commit to a huge financial outlay that you’re unsure you can commit to following
through on.
So your job as an architect is to orchestrate all of this work and provide information and
be as dispassionate about it as you possibly can.
Sure you care about the design I want to see this thing built just like my client does
and I'm really invested in the design and the whole process behind it, but it's got
a work for the client on a financial level if they can't afford it it's just not even
a reality.
You have to get good at these things as an architect these are things that don't teach
you in school but you need to figure out how to get your work built and that means from
a financial standpoint, from a technical standpoint, you need to work with your client, with the
contractors, the subcontractors, your consultants; it takes all these parts and pieces and it's
a complex puzzle but it's definitely doable.
So where does that leave this project?
Hey, so what's your…I know you're really slammed here for the next couple of months
but I wanted to kind of check in with you on schedule to see what you're up to kind
of late summer.
Yeah?
Alright, okay, cool…