Developers are typically seeking to understand the impacts on cost, timeline, and quality resulting from the utilization of a prefabricated building envelope package, and typically need to understand whether their goals or the goals of potential buyers or tenants require and benefit from the approach that Collective Carpentry takes, including considerations of health, sustainability, building certifications, and affordability.
1. Initial Conversation
We use an initial conversation to understand the constraints and opportunities that led you to consider prefabricating the building envelope, and help clarify the differences between the super-insulated, airtight building envelope panels we provide and other prefabrication options available on the market. We discuss scope, timeline, and capacity and whether the needs of the project and our capabilities are a good fit.
2. Choose Your Paradigm
We encourage developers to consider the advantages of optimization of the prefabrication process over customization typical of our custom home projects. While we offer fully custom solutions matched to your specifications, we also offer an optimized Collective Carpentry Building System, as well as a collection of pre-designed panel approaches offered in collaboration between Collective Building Systems and our partners. The advantages of design speed, production efficiency, and consistent quality from optimized systems offer clear advantages for cost, timeline, and affordability.
3. Assembling the Right Team
Whether you work with architects or builders in our partner network or bring your own to the table, the next step is often identifying what key members of the team we need to assemble. You might choose to have your architect or contractor handle further conversations with Collective Carpentry, or you might remain involved in some of the pricing and design questions as you seek to find the right solution for your build.
4. Define Our Scope of Work
Define which elements Collective Carpentry will prefabricate, and which will get completed by the site contractor. This involves weighing the advantages of a fully locked-in building envelope package vs. a limited scope that involves just the walls of your building, or anything in between.
5. Send Your Designs
Once you’ve made progress on your designs, you’ll send them to us and we’ll produce a 3D model of your building in order to start breaking up the building into prefabricated sections. We’ll return to you or your general contractor a detailed quote, ready to discuss at your convenience.
6. Contract Signing
With a 10% deposit and a signed contract, we’ll agree to a rough timeline for your project and enter the first official phase.
7. Review Drawings & Production
Our design team meets and finalizes the design through a review process with the architect and structural engineers on the project, and we produce a set of shop drawings for production. A revised estimate reflects any changes to the structural or other requirements. With a 50% deposit, your project goes into production as soon as scheduling allows, even if your project won’t get installed for another few months. Staying ahead of the production schedule is often the key to keeping a smooth transition between site work and panel delivery.
8. Delivery & Installation
Once your foundation preparation is complete, our shop team loads your panels, and our install team arrives at your project to complete the install in a carefully sequenced process involving structural and airsealing quality control, and a mix between methodical preparation days and intense and productive crane days. A 30% payment is due at this time.
9. Installation Review
We review our install with your site team and set them up for success in maintaining the integrity of the building envelope as they take the project into window installation, plumbing, electrical, and finishing stages. It is at this time that the final 10% payment is made.