Questions asked before the contract

No, and there is a good argument for talking first. Two parcels on the same street can differ by a large amount in what it costs to make them buildable, and almost none of that difference is visible from the road. Slope, the depth to rock, whether the sewer main is on your side of the street, how far a septic field would have to sit from the house, and whether any part of the parcel falls inside a mapped flood zone all change the number before a single wall is framed. If you have a lot under contract, walk it with us during the inspection period.

It tells us what is under the house and how it will behave when it gets wet and then dries out. In practice that means the soil types by depth, how much the clay fraction shrinks and swells, the bearing capacity available at footing depth, whether groundwater was encountered, and how deep rock sits. The foundation design comes out of that document. Where a report is required or clearly warranted we identify it during the lot evaluation so it appears in your budget as an early line item rather than as a mid-project surprise.

Because clay soils here change volume with moisture, and a house is rigid. A slab sitting on clay that swells under one corner in a wet spring and shrinks under it during an August drought is being lifted and dropped unevenly, and that shows up as cracked drywall, doors that stop latching, and in bad cases a cracked slab. The engineering answers are well understood — thicker sections and heavier reinforcement, a stem wall, or piers taken down to something that does not move — but choosing among them requires knowing what your specific ground does.

It depends on the address. Inside city limits the building department for that city reviews the plans and issues the permit; on an unincorporated parcel the county does instead. Arkansas administers residential construction through the state fire prevention code's residential volume, which is based on the International Residential Code, so the technical requirements are broadly consistent while the queue, the fee schedule and the submittal format are not. A house on septic also needs a separate approval from the Arkansas Department of Health, and that one starts with a soil evaluation.

From signed contract to certificate of occupancy, a realistic planning range for a custom house in this area is nine to fourteen months, and design and permitting sit in front of that rather than inside it. The honest variables are how quickly selections get made, how long plan review takes at your jurisdiction, whether the lot needs unusual site work, and weather during earthwork and foundation. We give you a stage-by-stage schedule rather than a single date, because a single date hides which stage is actually at risk.

An allowance is a placeholder amount for something you have not selected yet — a lighting package, a tile budget, appliances. It becomes a problem when it is set unrealistically low to make a bid look competitive, which is the single most common reason a build finishes over budget. Ours are written with a stated basis, meaning the schedule says what quality and quantity the number assumes. The reliable defence is to convert allowances into real selections before the contract is signed, and we will tell you which ones are worth resolving first.

Payments are tied to identifiable stages of completed work, defined in the contract before anyone signs it, with the triggering milestone written out for each draw. If a construction loan is funding the build, the lender inspects before releasing each draw, which is a useful second set of eyes on progress. We do not ask for the balance of a job in advance and we do not bill for work that has not been performed.

In writing, before the work happens, every time. A change order names what is changing, why, what it adds or subtracts, and what it does to the schedule, and you sign it. There is no category of change we absorb quietly and none we invoice after the fact. A change you did not approve on paper is not a change we perform.

Yes to both. If you bring a plan set we review it against your lot and against current code before pricing it, because a plan drawn for a flat parcel in another state can need real changes to sit on an Arkansas hillside. If you are working with an architect we build from their drawings and coordinate directly with them. If you would rather have drawings and price developed together, that is what our design-build route is for.

It is a routine request here and it is far cheaper to design in than to retrofit. The decisions are where it goes, whether it is an in-slab shelter or a reinforced above-grade room, and whether you want it built to the federal criteria for tornado safe rooms, which is a specific standard with its own detailing. Tell us at design and it becomes part of the foundation and framing sequence instead of a separate project later.

Work in that area stops and we call you the same day. Rock at footing depth where the boring did not show it, a spring, buried debris from a previous structure, or a utility that is not where the locate marked it are all things that happen on real parcels. We show you what is there, explain what it means, and price the change in writing before proceeding. The budget carries a line for what can reasonably be anticipated on a site of your type, and anything past that becomes a change order you approve first.

A superintendent runs the site and is your point of contact for anything happening that day. Trades come in on scheduled windows and are coordinated by that person rather than by you. You get one name and one number, not a rotating cast to chase, and the schedule is something you can look at rather than something you have to ask about.

Little Rock, North Little Rock, Conway, Benton, Bryant and Maumelle, plus the unincorporated ground between them where the county rather than a city reviews the permit. Little Rock is our base, so scheduling there is the most flexible. If your parcel sits at the edge of that range, call and describe it — the answer depends more on the size of the project than on the mileage.

At closeout you receive written documentation covering the workmanship warranty period and the separate manufacturer warranties on equipment, appliances, roofing, windows and materials, with registration information for each. The specific terms are stated in your contract rather than advertised here, because they belong in the document you sign. {{FILL_BEFORE_LAUNCH}} — confirm the workmanship warranty period stated in your standard contract before publishing.