2002 Custom Home Pacesetter Awards

Custom Home, Nov-Dec, 2002 by Meghan Drueding, Leslie Ensor, Bruce D. Snider

CUSTOM HOME proudly presents the winners of the eighth annual Pacesetter Awards program. Co-sponsored by CUSTOM HOME and the National Association of Home Builders' Custom Builders Committee, the award honors professionals who have demonstrated the highest level of performance and the strongest commitment to excellence in six areas of the custom building business: management, customer service, marketing, design, innovation, and production. Each of the 13 custom builders honored this year offers a powerful example of custom building at its most successful. Their stories, which appear on the next 12 pages, show what it takes to be the best in the business.

Production

Chris Thompson

Chris Thompson and his employees at On the Level base their production procedures on a simple, elementary-school principle: Learn from your mistakes. Over the past two years they've examined the hiccups that have slowed them down or caused extra expense, and addressed them in smart, effective ways. Take the company's relationship with subcontractors, for example. Its dealings with them had always gone just fine. "We tend to keep the same subs for years," Thompson says. "It's a lot easier for them to talk to one another when they already know each other." But while the lines of communication among the subs were open, those between them and On the Level project managers weren't. Mistakes were happening, and the managers wondered if they or their subs were to blame. So they started using a quarterly evaluation form to track back charges and service problems. They grade each subcontractor on an A to F scale, sit down with each one to talk about their rating, and keep the form on file for future reference. "If nothing else, it gives you a chance to sit down and communicate with them," Thompson says. "You can tell them what they're doing wrong, and they can explain how you can help them do their job better. It helps us both--it's not just criticizing." * On the Level has also taken to posting customer selection sheets on site, which cuts down on mistakes and change orders. And it has improved internal communication by instituting a post construction recap. "Everyone in the company participates in the recap," Thompson explains. "Staff carpenters, designers, field managers. We go over the whole project." * Taking digital photos at every step during construction has streamlined the process in many areas. "We take them before backfill so we'll know where the final grading has to come up," says Thompson. "We also take every wall and ceiling so that we know where all the mechanical outlets are in case any get Sheetrocked over." The photos generally facilitate any future changes the clients may want. "The digital camera has been wonderful," says Thompson. "It just seemed like it made sense."--M.D.

On the Level
Carver, Minn.
Type of business: design/build
Years in business: 17
Employees: 11
2001 volume: $6.25 million
2001 starts: 5

Design

Luis Jauregui

When architect Luis Jauregui opened his design/build practice in 1981, he was not exactly met with open arms. "Back then it was really looked down on from the architectural industry," he says. The establishment view among architects held that combining design and construction constituted a conflict of interest. Others were skeptical too. Due to the high failure rate among architects who did venture across the divide into construction, suppliers were reluctant to extend credit. But Jauregui was so convinced of the efficacy of design/build that he became his own first client--in a four-unit spec project--even with interim financing at a dizzying 18 percent. "That's how badly I wanted to do it." * Twenty years later the world seems to have come around to Jauregui's way of thinking. Increasingly popular with construction professionals and clients, the design/build model now even enjoys the AIA stamp of approval. And Jauregui Architect-Builder keeps 32 employees busy designing and building custom homes for clients at the very top of the Austin, Texas, market. Combining design and construction shortens the communication chain. "You can be lighter on your feet," he says. * It also lets Jauregui put his work in front of the clientele he wants to serve. His company is a perennial standout on the local Parade of Homes circuit. "It gives me a great opportunity for people to see our product. They see the architecture--and they see the pricetag." The architecture, whose Spanish, American Southwest, and Mexican influences reflect Austin's natural and cultural environment, finds a receptive audience here. And as avidly as Jauregui sells the design/build process, it is his design that sells the jobs. As Jauregui readily admits, while clients are buying both a process and a product, it's the product that they keep. "It's not because it's design/build; it's because of the finished product."--B.D.S.

Jauregui Architect-Builder
Austin, Texas
Type of business: design/build custom home builder
Years in business: 22
Employees: 32
2001 volume: $10 million
2001 starts: 10 homes