Budgeting for Residential Construction...6 -- Quality Trade-off Levers
When I see a home that exudes quality I feel an instinctual sense of grace in its presence. I don’t think people need a lot of education on quality, when they see it they know it. I’m not sure why that is the case. It may be that we all naturally share an inherent sense of order and harmony that when properly translated in the physical world evokes immediate recognition and appreciation. I think the ability to pull that off successfully is one of the greatest rewards of home building for both the builder and the homeowner.
Obviously, quality doesn’t just happen. It’s the result of many hours of thoughtful reflection and the investment of significant energy in design, materials selection and execution. It is also the result of a homeowner’s willingness to invest financial and emotional capital in the endeavor. The most challenging home construction budget trade-off task for most homeowners is to come to terms with the level and type of quality they want to build into their house given available financial resources.
New home construction and renovations are essentially a group of building sub-assemblies married together to produce the whole structure. For each sub-assembly, decisions are made concerning the quality level of its construction. At times the decision is made by the homeowner but often it is made by another player in the value chain. A very important role of your General Contractor is to be aware of all of these decisions and to oversee them on your behalf, so the overall quality level desired is achieved. Perhaps one of the most common problems homeowners confront in major home construction projects is the discovery that the builder cut corners or compromised quality to save a few dollars in construction costs.
Even the most basic sub-assembly components are subject to a quality-budget trade-off examination. For example, wall assembly costs can be reduced by using new framing techniques that have the benefit of reducing the quantity of framing material and the labor to assemble it, since fewer parts are being assembled. Depending on your point of view, the lighter framing may or may not be a significant quality trade-off issue. According to industry research the lighter framing does not sacrifice structural integrity (quality) and it has the added bonus of being consistent with the LEED for Homes Materials & Resources Guidelines, so it’s green compatible (a quality plus.) For many people the quality neutral-to-plus trade-off for lower framing costs would be a convincing quality/budget trade-off argument. However, the building trades are very conservative when it comes to adopting new methods. There have been some notable disasters such as urea-formaldehyde insulation, polybutelene pipe, among others, that have made builders slow adopters. Hence, in this case the justifiable (and possibly ill-informed) builder quality concern with structural integrity may trump the other benefits of light framing, leaving the homeowner to pick up the tab, often without their knowledge.
The ability to deliver cost-effective quality requires the builder to possess a range of demanding capabilities that lead to a quality mindset. These capabilities include: a craftsman’s sensibility and appreciation of quality, an up-to-date knowledge of the inputs that create quality, a disciplined process to oversee its execution and, finally, a sense of integrity to deliver it, even at the risk of some financial sacrifice. It’s understandable why quality is difficult to deliver consistently in the building trades, which tend to be production-oriented and cost conscious to a fault.
There are four quality trade-off levers: architecture, materials, detailing and fit & finish.
The architecture lever refers to the form and structure of the various building components. While form deals with aesthetics and complexity, structure addresses how the form is translated into a building component. The wall assembly discussion above is a good example of the architecture-structure trade-off.
The materials lever addresses trade-offs that are made around material aesthetics, performance and availability.
The detailing and fit & finish quality levers deal with trade-offs around the level of finish detail included in the building assembly and the level of craftsmanship that is employed to execute it.
Green building is an important dimension of quality that was alluded to above but not explicitly included in the trade-off levers. My next blog post will discuss how this aspect of building is incorporated into our trade-off thinking. I will also discuss some of the quality levers in more detail.
Obviously, quality doesn’t just happen. It’s the result of many hours of thoughtful reflection and the investment of significant energy in design, materials selection and execution. It is also the result of a homeowner’s willingness to invest financial and emotional capital in the endeavor. The most challenging home construction budget trade-off task for most homeowners is to come to terms with the level and type of quality they want to build into their house given available financial resources.
New home construction and renovations are essentially a group of building sub-assemblies married together to produce the whole structure. For each sub-assembly, decisions are made concerning the quality level of its construction. At times the decision is made by the homeowner but often it is made by another player in the value chain. A very important role of your General Contractor is to be aware of all of these decisions and to oversee them on your behalf, so the overall quality level desired is achieved. Perhaps one of the most common problems homeowners confront in major home construction projects is the discovery that the builder cut corners or compromised quality to save a few dollars in construction costs.
Even the most basic sub-assembly components are subject to a quality-budget trade-off examination. For example, wall assembly costs can be reduced by using new framing techniques that have the benefit of reducing the quantity of framing material and the labor to assemble it, since fewer parts are being assembled. Depending on your point of view, the lighter framing may or may not be a significant quality trade-off issue. According to industry research the lighter framing does not sacrifice structural integrity (quality) and it has the added bonus of being consistent with the LEED for Homes Materials & Resources Guidelines, so it’s green compatible (a quality plus.) For many people the quality neutral-to-plus trade-off for lower framing costs would be a convincing quality/budget trade-off argument. However, the building trades are very conservative when it comes to adopting new methods. There have been some notable disasters such as urea-formaldehyde insulation, polybutelene pipe, among others, that have made builders slow adopters. Hence, in this case the justifiable (and possibly ill-informed) builder quality concern with structural integrity may trump the other benefits of light framing, leaving the homeowner to pick up the tab, often without their knowledge.
The ability to deliver cost-effective quality requires the builder to possess a range of demanding capabilities that lead to a quality mindset. These capabilities include: a craftsman’s sensibility and appreciation of quality, an up-to-date knowledge of the inputs that create quality, a disciplined process to oversee its execution and, finally, a sense of integrity to deliver it, even at the risk of some financial sacrifice. It’s understandable why quality is difficult to deliver consistently in the building trades, which tend to be production-oriented and cost conscious to a fault.
There are four quality trade-off levers: architecture, materials, detailing and fit & finish.
The architecture lever refers to the form and structure of the various building components. While form deals with aesthetics and complexity, structure addresses how the form is translated into a building component. The wall assembly discussion above is a good example of the architecture-structure trade-off.
The materials lever addresses trade-offs that are made around material aesthetics, performance and availability.
The detailing and fit & finish quality levers deal with trade-offs around the level of finish detail included in the building assembly and the level of craftsmanship that is employed to execute it.
Green building is an important dimension of quality that was alluded to above but not explicitly included in the trade-off levers. My next blog post will discuss how this aspect of building is incorporated into our trade-off thinking. I will also discuss some of the quality levers in more detail.
Posted by Stewart Lade at 10/24/2011 1:18 PM 
Categories: Building Economics:Budgeting for Residential Construction
Tags: Budgeting for residential construction budgeting general contractor quality trade-off triangle. architecture materials selection detailing fit and finish craftsmanship green building
Categories: Building Economics:Budgeting for Residential Construction
Tags: Budgeting for residential construction budgeting general contractor quality trade-off triangle. architecture materials selection detailing fit and finish craftsmanship green building
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