Design/Build

Building a custom home is a complex undertaking — one that doesn’t become routine, no matter how many times you’ve been through it. At Lockie Homes, we understand that every client and project is unique. Our streamlined seven-step process ensures a smooth, tailored, and transparent building experience, with clear communication at every stage. As our priority one, you’ll have a dedicated project manager who maintains close, personal, and proactive communication, ensuring you are supported and informed throughout. We also proactively manage risks, such as delays or unforeseen costs, by maintaining open dialogue, providing detailed updates, and building contingencies into our planning.

Step 1: Initial Contact

Your journey begins simply — a phone call or a quick message on our Contact page. Within 24 hours, we’ll contact you to schedule a first conversation. After we’ve talked, we’ll send you a short questionnaire about your property, your home and your plans, so our site meeting is efficient and focused on your project.

Step 2: Site Meeting

We’ll meet you at your property to discuss your project in detail and review your complete questionnaire. This meeting allows us to assess the site, understand your specific needs, and define the project’s scope. You’re welcome to bring ideas, house plans, or site information. If you don’t have an architect, we can recommend an experienced one we’ve worked with successfully. If you already have a complete set of plans and engineering, we review them with you and move straight to permitting and pricing.

Step 3: Feasibility, Design and Permitting

This is when we sign our Feasibility and Construction Agreement (FCA) — the document that governs both this planning phase and, if you move forward, the full construction. Your architect reviews the FCA too, before or after you do, whichever you prefer, so all three parties are aligned on roles, responsibilities, and how decisions get made. Your architect gives input but doesn’t sign it; the agreement is between you and Lockie Homes. Naming your architect in it isn’t just a formality: it puts our commitment to build to their design intent and specifications in writing, so they know exactly what we’re accountable to from day one. The FCA covers how costs are tracked and disclosed, how change orders are handled, how the final budget is confirmed, and what warranties you receive at completion. Your project manager walks you through every section before you sign anything.

Pre-construction services are billed hourly, against a pre-construction retainer paid when you sign the FCA. Part of the retainer is a non-refundable minimum fee that reserves our time for your project. It’s credited toward your first hours, so you’re never charged twice for the same work. If you decide not to build before construction starts, any unused retainer above that minimum is refunded.

From there, we work alongside you and your architect as the plans develop. We give you cost feedback as the design takes shape, flag buildability issues early, and coordinate engineers and permit specialists, so the design stays feasible, cost-effective, and compliant while your architect’s vision stays intact. Plan on this phase taking four to eight months, and possibly longer for larger or more complex homes.

Early on, you, your architect, and Lockie Homes decide together who will handle permitting. Whoever takes the lead, we help wherever we can and keep you informed through plan review and corrections.

Step 4: Budget

Once the plans are developed enough to price (more than concept sketches), we give you a preliminary budget. When the plans and engineering are 100% complete and approved by you and your architect, we bid the work and deliver your Bid-Backed Budget, typically six to eight weeks later. We use an Open Book Cost-Plus model. That means you pay the actual, documented costs of construction — labor, materials, subcontractors, consultants — plus our overhead and profit, both disclosed as separate line items. Nothing is buried in inflated material costs or padded into a lump-sum estimate you can’t see behind.

The number we work toward is your Bid-Backed Budget — a line-item budget built from real bids by our licensed subcontractors and suppliers, not general estimates. You review and approve it before we break ground. If the final build comes in under, you keep the savings. If scope changes, we talk about it openly before anything moves.

For clients financing their build — as most do — the Bid-Backed Budget is also exactly what your lender will require for construction loan approval. Banks need specifications, a detailed budget, and a construction schedule. Your client portal keeps all of it organized and accessible, so when your lender asks, everything is ready.

Step 5: Pre-Construction Planning

Pre-construction planning runs alongside design and permitting. With your FCA in place, you’ll have access to our secure Online Client Portal, a user-friendly tool designed to keep you organized and informed. The portal sends updates via email, text, or both, based on your preference, ensuring you stay connected to your project. Your dedicated project manager will personally guide you through the process, maintaining open communication via in-person meetings, phone calls, or the portal, treating your project as our top priority. Through the portal, you can review or refine plans, select materials (e.g., fixtures, finishes), track project milestones, and provide input from anywhere. The portal helps define detailed Custom Home Specifications, which, paired with construction drawings, form the basis of your project’s scope: Construction Drawings (Quantity) × Custom Home Specifications (Quality) = Line-Item Construction Budget (Cost). If you prefer alternative communication methods (e.g., email or phone), our team is happy to accommodate. The portal ensures timely decision-making to maintain the project schedule.

Step 6: Quotation and Approval

We prepare a detailed Open Book Cost-Plus quotation, outlining all costs (materials, labor, permits, and contingencies) and a project timeline. You’ll review:

• Itemized costs and our disclosed overhead and profit.
• Payment schedule tied to milestones (e.g., monthly or upon completion of key phases).
• Allowances for items like fixtures and contingencies for unforeseen issues (e.g., soil conditions).
• Project timeline for completion.

Your project manager will personally walk you through the quotation, answering questions via phone, in-person meetings, or the portal to ensure clarity and confidence. The portal provides easy access to the quotation and related documents, sending updates via email, text, or both, so you’re always in the loop. You’ll approve the specifications, schedule, and quotation, asking questions to clarify details. We then finalize all documentation, including an action plan for regular updates (e.g., weekly emails, texts, or site visits). If changes arise during construction (e.g., upgraded finishes or site issues), your project manager will promptly provide written change orders via the portal, email, or text, detailing cost and schedule impacts, giving you time to make informed decisions.

Step 7: Construction and Handover

With the contract signed and a start date confirmed, we begin building your custom home. Your architect remains the designer of record throughout construction, and we bring them in on any question of design intent. Your project manager will maintain close, personal communication, providing updates via in-person meetings, phone calls, or the Online Client Portal (with notifications sent via email, text, or both), ensuring you feel prioritized and informed. We monitor progress against the action plan to stay on track. Upon completion, we conduct a thorough cleaning, perform a final walkthrough, and hand over the keys. The portal provides access to final documentation, such as warranties and completion reports, for your convenience. Upon receiving your Certificate of Occupancy, your 2-10 Home Warranty activates — one year of workmanship coverage, two years on mechanical and distribution systems, and ten years on structural integrity. It’s backed by a third-party warranty provider and transfers with the home. Your project manager will follow up personally to confirm your satisfaction post-handover.

How Our Agreement Works

What is the Feasibility and Construction Agreement?
The FCA is our core project document — it covers both the feasibility and planning phase and the full construction if you choose to proceed. Your architect reviews it too, before or after you do, so everyone is aligned from day one. Learn more →

What does cost-plus mean for me?
You pay actual, documented construction costs. Our overhead and profit are separate, disclosed line items — not hidden in marked-up materials or buried in a price you can’t verify. This structure means our financial interests are aligned with yours: we have no incentive to cut corners or use cheaper materials.

What is the Bid-Backed Budget?
Before construction begins, we build a final budget from actual bids by our licensed subcontractors and suppliers. You review every line, ask questions, and approve it before we break ground. It’s not an estimate — it’s a real number backed by real quotes.

What if I want to change something during the build?
Every change goes through a written change order — reviewed and signed before any work starts — so there are no surprise costs or schedule impacts. We walk you through exactly what a change will cost and how it affects your timeline.

Client Decision Points

To keep you informed and involved, here are key moments where your input is critical:

• Step 1: Complete the questionnaire we send after our first conversation.
• Step 2: Provide ideas or plans during the site meeting.
• Step 3: Review and sign the FCA; work with your architect and us as the plans develop; decide the permitting path together.
• Step 4: Review the preliminary budget, then the Bid-Backed Budget once plans and engineering are complete.
• Step 5: Select materials and finalize specifications via the client portal.
• Step 6: Approve the Bid-Backed Budget, schedule, and contract.
• Step 7: Participate in the final walkthrough and raise any concerns.

Risk Management

We prioritize transparency and preparedness to address potential challenges, such as construction delays or unforeseen site conditions. As our priority one, you’ll have direct access to your project manager, who ensures proactive communication through in-person meetings, phone calls, or the Online Client Portal (with updates via email, text, or both). Our team mitigates risks by:

• Building contingencies into budgets and timelines.
• Maintaining open communication with you and the architect through multiple channels.
• Promptly addressing changes with written change orders and updated schedules.

For any questions, your dedicated project manager is always available to make your custom home-building experience seamless and rewarding.