Can One Company Handle All Development Needs?

Developers are beginning to take a 360-approach to building and contracting business for new homes. Home builder L.A. Build Corp. has created a 360-degree program to take a project through the process, from pulling permits to hiring contracting teams, scheduling subcontractors, ordering and conducting inspections and orchestrating the trades, according to Ami Harari of L.A. Build Corp. Along the way, the firm supervises all of the work to help ensure times and budgets are met. While the process is focused on residential homes, this is a new trend that has wide-spread potential.

“We created a 360-degree project management concept that keeps the project progressing both on the front line and in the back end,” Harari, president at L.A. Build Corp., tells GlobeSt.com. “At LA Build Corp., we understand the needs of the clients and the needs of the subcontractors and we act as a liaison between them and all the other forces that are needed to build a structure. Not everyone is well versed in construction and we are able to explain to our clients what the process is without making them feel unknowledgeable. While managing the project, we keep complete transparency with our software so that the client may always check their budget, what is being spent, what is in the works and we submit daily logs for each project with detailed activities, inspections, and pictures so if they are not able to be on the job site daily, they are able to track the job from their computer.”

Communication, not only for the homeowner but also for the contractors, is the biggest benefit of an all-in-one management team. “There is less room for things falling through the cracks because there is only one group to answer to,” says Harari. “A contractor does not need to go to the homeowner for design questions, the engineer for structural questions, the civil engineer for the drainage plan-everyone knows to go to us for the RFI and we follow up and not only give the scope of work the answer but then have it in the project file. This means that at any given time, we can pull up all information regarding the project. This also gives us the chance to experience every hiccup that happens during construction, so we keep the information/solutions for the next project and know the answer for when it occurs.”

While more developers and homeowners are opening up to the concept of hiring a management team, adoption is slow. “I believe that homeowners and developers have been hesitant in the past because building was less complicated regarding city ordinances and codes and the use of one general contractor having the ability to build the entire home was more prominent,” explains Harari. “These days contractors are more specialized and stick to one scope of work which means a better product but also means many scopes of work being completed by different companies and this requires a strong management team. Especially with the use of construction loans. Most people are not familiar with the loan management and processing and this is a service we offer if it is needed. This is where we have been able to show both developers and homeowners that a strong competent crew working for your side is always the best way to complete the job on time and within the budget.”

Single-family homeowners have been faster to use a project management team to oversee the development process, but the firm works on commercial projects as well. “This approach is great for both single-family and commercial development because regardless of what a building will be used for, it needs to be built properly and to code and sometimes when there is not an assigned team to supervise everything, it is easy to miss mandatory requirements,” says Harari. “We give our customers a full-service management with the option to pick what they want to use from us. Perhaps a homeowner will be interested in us running the entire job for them from plan check to certificate of occupancy while a commercial development may only need us to run the job and conduct inspections. Regardless of what we do for a client, they are always satisfied and feel confidant knowing that experienced personnel is overseeing their business venture and they don’t need to communicate with multiple people throughout the process.”