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Glossary

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Allowance

When there are several things that are still unknown at the start of the project, Allowances are used as placeholder numbers until the unknown becomes the known. For example, the owner may not yet have a flooring product chosen, and so the contractor will have this line-item in the Schedule of Values marked as an allowance. As you can imagine, this can lead to an apples-to-oranges bidding process, especially if there are no set amounts provided by the architect for all the bidders to use. When this happens, the bidders may have allowances for Home Depot faucets when the Owner really wants Jado, and let the change orders begin! They don’t do this because they are bad people, they do it because of how they are incentivized in a competitive process. The Constructability Review meeting should clear this issue right up.

Alternates

When this term is applied to a scope of work for a construction budget, it means something that you are considering doing, but may not, usually for budgeting purposes. Solar Power, heated flooring, lighting upgrades, etc. are all good examples and are an important part of the Value Engineering process. See “Options” for more.

Change Order

A legal contract addendum that requests or approves additional work by the service provider. Must be signed and dated.

Conceptual Boilerplate

These are 2D sketches every architect and engineer accumulates over the years to cut and paste into their 2D drawing products.  Very quick and easy for them (which can mean a lower cost for the client), but can also create confusion for the Builders who may or may not take the time to decide (and confirm) what part of the Boilerplate applies to their project and what does not.  As usual, “one size fits all” rarely fits any very well.

The bad news here is that whatever savings may have been realized on the front end is paid for many times over during construction, leading to errors and Change Orders.

The good news is that 3D models don’t use them, since they are always project-specific, and the drawings move away from “vague intentions” toward “specific instructions”.  A win for everyone, especially the client, who would do well to contractually preclude their use..

Construction Review

A very important meeting between the owner(s) and the architect, builder, and sometimes the engineer. It’s primary purpose is to ensure that all specifications for scope and finishes have been discussed, all potential COs are discussed and understood, etc. See our Vista Paper on this meeting agenda.

Cost Plus

One of the 5 pricing structures. The provider’s costs plus an agreed-upon mark-up. If their costs are $100, and the contract mark-up for the project is 20%, the price to the Owner is $120, netting the provider a 16.6% profit on that line item in the project Schedule of Values. See “T&M” for more info.

Costing

The process of arriving on an agreed amount for a contract price and the document used to communicate these numbers to the client.

Design-Build

A single firm offering both pre-construction (design) and construction services in one firm. The advantages are potentially significant, but can easily be replicated by requiring costing during design in the architect’s contract and other contractual arrangements.

Destructive Investigation

Making holes in things to uncover their true nature. A type of discovery.

Digital Native

Everyone’s digital experience, expertise, and comfort level is somewhere along a spectrum with Digital Natives (those who started using computers as toddlers) on one end and Digital Aliens (those who may be challenged by all the things the phone app does) on the other end.  In between are the Digital Ex-Pats and Digital Tourists.  

Knowing where you are on that spectrum and communicating it clearly to your project team members will help you set up your own information management systems- File Cabinets or Dropbox?  Pencil sketches or digital tablets?  Sketch up or Revit?

No right or wrong here, just important to know what you offer as a service provider or what you can receive as a client.

Digital Twin

Either an object *within* a 3D model (couches, sinks, or flooring), or the entire model itself.  Either way, the objects can easily be modified by the 3D software to create something new, or just literally dropped into the model, placing it quick and easy.

Having a 3D digital twin of a home or commercial building means that both Discovery and Design can be much faster and MUCH more accurate, saving on expensive design or construction errors or Change Orders.

Discovery

Investigation of the building site or any associated documents, online research, or interviewing persons regarding the project.

Exclusions

Every contract for services should include a list of what it includes for the price given. A good contract will also give a list of what is not included to ensure clarity. These are called exclusions.

Fixed Cost

One of the 5 pricing structures. A fixed cost for a fixed scope of work. Nothing needs to be tracked by anyone, and change orders are absolutely allowed.

Incentivization

The working assumption is that most providers will act exactly as they are contractually (and monetarily) incentivized to do. Understanding how different contract clauses incentivize providers to behave is the key to looking for “contractual conflicts” between providers.

Latent Physical Defect

Defects to a building that are usually unforeseen and perhaps unforeseeable, unless by intended discovery. These can be a significant cause of change orders, and should be carefully considered by both the builder and the architect.

Matterport

An online platform used as a basis for virtual walk-throughs and other products.  The scanners are cheap but not accurate enough for precise architectural work.  They simply weren’t made for that.  

But they absolutely excel at easily visualizing structural pathways (dollhouse view!) or embedding data into website for real-estate sales, facilities training, or remote viewing of construction jobsites where accurate measurements are not the criteria.

Not-to-exceed

One of the 5 pricing structures. The cost for the project will never be more than “$X” (unless there are change orders), but it could be less than that, and if it is, the savings will be passed on to the client. The builder must have a VERY good tracking and reporting system to deliver on that promise.

Options

When this term is applied to a scope of work for a construction budget, it means something that you will absolutely do, but you may entertain different options for doing it. This is usually applied to finishes like flooring, countertops, plumbing fixtures, etc. An important part of the Value Engineering process. See “Alternates” for more.

Phasing

Typical Residential Property Phasing: Doing most of the project now, using resources, then doing some later in Phase 2 or even Phase 3 out of cash flow. Best Practice: At the end of any given Phase, the property should be able to sell (because reasons) at an acceptable ROI. The Phase just completed should not degrade the property, making it a “fixer-upper”.

Typical Commercial Phasing:  The CFO has supplied projections to the CEO that outline a long term development plan where increased profit from Phase 1 helps pay for Phase 2, and so on.  Best Practice:  Start with the “lowest hanging ROI fruit” and keep debt to a minimum (but you knew that… ;)

Platform

Zoom.  Google Docs and Sheets.  PayPal.  Health Portals.  These are all places you can online to get things done, track important metrics, or save data.  The “working” platforms almost always have a monthly fee, although many (like Zoom) have a free version.  Quite a few are natural extensions of something else (like your bank) and so are always free.

The problem in the 2020’s is “Platform Proliferation”, and the monthly fees can really add up, especially for professionals who rely on them to create products for their clients.

Platforms

An online account like Microsoft, Adobe, Google. In the late 1900’s you could buy and download all your software and store everything on your local machine. In the 2020s, you pay monthly and often store your data on their cloud service. This is especially true for architectural, project management, and costing software. It’s also true for Spotify, Netfix, your bank and credit cards, etc. Getting all the project team members on all the same platforms (like Zoom) and getting those platforms correctly configured has itself become increasingly specialized, and is usually best done by a “digital native”, well-versed in these infrastructures and their configurations.

Pre-Construction

Everything that happens between “Maybe we should do that project we’ve been thinking about!” and the first day of actual construction. This can take from 2 months to 2 years, depending on the size and scope of the project, and includes design, discovery, costing, engineering, permits, etc. Pre-construction costs can range from approx. 5% of construction costs on larger projects of several million dollars to 20% of smaller projects in the few hundreds of thousands.

Property Scan

A portable device like a very large camera scans the building, the property, the neighboring property, the crawlspace, the attic, whatever is needed to create the set of plans for the project. The site data is then downloaded onto a local computer, where it is transformed into a 3D model of the property, which can then be modified to create new designs and drawings for the permit and the builder. The scanner cannot “see through” objects, only what the eye can see. The main advantage in using a scanner is cost savings, speed, and accuracy that is simply not possible when measuring “by hand” with a tape measure or a hand-held laser. This accuracy easily translates into fewer mistakes and lower costs.

Provider

Any person or firm providing services to the owner, such as architecture, engineering, construction, etc.

ROI

Return on Investment

Scaleable

“Drawn to scale” means that you can discover how long or wide or high something is just by using a special ruler laid on the drawing and reading the measurement.  This tech goes back thousands of years. 

Professional-grade digital scanners produce virtual models that produce the same utility, but are in 3D instead of 2D.  

It can take several person-days to measure out a property, especially if they are doing the grounds as well, where nothing is square or straight.  

Scanners take only hours, and produce FAR more accurate AND scalable 3D models. Scales can be easily adjusted to fit the required output for the Owner, Architect, Builder, or Municipality.  Because, you know, computers.

Schedule of Values

A line-item breakdown of the construction contract price. A single number(because they don’t know how to use excel??) just says ”It will never be less than this.” 10 numbers just looks like maybe someone gave it a little thought, but not much. 30 numbers is better, but you can’t actually DO anything with them. 200 numbers represents a VERY well-thought-out budget, and it’s thorough review should be a part of any well-crafted Constructability Review because it inspires both questions from the Owners. Useful utility for Value engineering begins at a mean average of around $1,500 per line item for projects under a million, $2,500 for projects at 2 million, and so on. However, the Builder may not wish to show these numbers if they are not committed to full transparency or do not provide Value Engineering services.

Smartsheet

An online platform that has a typical spreadsheet interface, but can quite easily produce templated reports, views, filters or other minimal data-base functions. It’s not intended to be a spreadsheet or a database, but to provide data manipulation for non-coders, especially useful as a Gantt Chart for quick project schedules.

Strategic Partner

Vista Foundry works with several trusted Strategic Partners for highly specialized services like Financial Planning and Legal Services. We have NO fiduciary relationship with them, and they contract directly with our clients.

T&M

Time and Materials. One of the 5 pricing structures. The “Time” portion may or may not be “fully loaded” with payroll taxes, worker’s compensation insurance, employee benefits, and a mark-up for profit. The Materials may or may not have a mark-up for profit. These are all good questions to ask before signing their contract. See “Cost Plus” for more info.

Trades

Plumbing, Electrical, Roofing, etc. are collectively known as Trades.

Value Engineering

A Process, (not a product) that is intended to work within the design team to use the project budget to inform and guide the project design. This can be complex, but pays for itself MANY time over in reduced construction costs. It’s exactly how bridges, hospitals, freeways, and skyscrapers are designed. Why would anyone not do that?

Verify in Field (VIF)

An acronym you’ll see on almost any set of plans. It means that the architect is noting that this information is either not currently known or known elsewhere, and noting the knowable or eventual truth is not in their scope of work, often for very good reasons. Unaddressed, VIFs can lead to unfortunate mistakes and cost overruns. Reviewing each one should be an agenda item on every Constructability Review meeting, along with a clear accountability of exactly who will be doing the verifying.

Congratulations on taking an important step toward your remodeling or construction project!

Whether you’re just thinking about starting a new project or are running into issues with your architect or contractor, you’ve found the right place for guidance to save time, money, and headaches.

We support clients in every step of the plan-design-build journey, including:

  • Budget Alignment
  • Permit Legalization
  • Contract Review
  • Value Engineering
  • Strategic Sequencing
  • And much more!

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Vista Foundry is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and operates nationwide.

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