How do you choose the right team for your renovation project?

HOME Method members, Louise and Zane, share how they’ve set up the PAC Process with the right team, as they get started in the design phase of their Californian Bungalow renovation and extension.

Listen to the episode now.

Hello! This is Episode 354, and in it, we’re getting an update from HOME Method members, Louise and Zane, about their renovation project. 

If you’re curious about what the early parts of a project experience are like as you choose your team and commence work with them, this is going to be super helpful information for you.

We first met Louise and Zane in Episode 317 and Episode 318, when we heard about the early preparation they were doing before choosing their team and commencing their project.

In this update, Louise and Zane talk with me about how things have been going since they assembled their team together. They’re using the PAC Process, or Paid As Consultant Process, with their team. 

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW.

In the PAC Process, the builder is involved during pre-construction in a preliminary agreement, advising on cost and buildability, plus also assisting in pre-construction investigation work for the site and existing home.

Their selected builder and architect haven’t worked together previously, and sometimes that can be a concern for clients, as they worry whether the collaboration will work well when those two professionals are getting to know each other and work together for the first time.

We discuss this in more detail, and we also talk about the selection process itself (which took 2 to 3 months to do), and how the Brief Builder template they accessed inside HOME Method was super helpful in formulating a brief and communication document they could share during this process.

Louise and Zane share some great insights about how they’ve set up their project communications, how they’re talking with their team to iron out assumptions and ensure their wishes and wants are understood, and what they’re doing to stay true to their design goals whilst managing their budget.

When you’re early in your design process, it can be tempting to delay the difficult decisions or culling area to bring your project into alignment with your budget. 

I watch homeowners feel they can delay those tougher choices, and that perhaps, with more detail resolution of the design, and as the cost firms up, they’ll potentially be able to afford those items, spaces or rooms that are pushing the budget limits in the early stages of their design.

So, please understand this: it is super rare that your project gets cheaper as your design progresses if all you’re doing is massaging things and resolving details.

And early in the design process is the perfect time to be getting really ruthless and intentional about what you’re including in the overall footprint of your home. Before you’ve made a bunch of consequential decisions because of it, or mentally moved into the home design itself. 

Early in the design is when you need to be reducing square meterage, culling whole rooms and getting clear on what are your most significant priorities. 

If you’re hearing that your design is still $50,000 or $100,000 over in these early design concepts, that’s the point at which you need to remove entire rooms or sections of the home. You won’t get that saving through the selections you make in another 6 or so months when you’re further into the process. 

So keep that in mind if you’re early in your design phase so you can make the necessary changes now, and not be dealing with big redesigns and disappointments down the track.

Now, let’s dive in!

This is the transcript of my conversation with Louise and Zane about choosing the right team for their renovation of their Californian Bungalow in Melbourne …

Amelia Lee
Well, Louise and Zane, it is fantastic to have you back. I’m really excited about hearing your updates and where you are in your project. Of course, the last time that we chatted, you were at that point of, I think, pretty much at the end of that episode, I said, “Okay, now is the time. You need to start looking for architects and builders, and you can do that knowing that you don’t necessarily have to hit go as soon as you found them, but understanding that they will potentially have timelines that you might need to adapt to, and you know that you can start getting your ducks in a row in that regard.” And I know that you’ve definitely made progress since our last conversation. So, I’m looking forward to jumping into understanding where you’re at in your project and hearing more about that. So, thank you so much for being here. I’m wondering if we can kick off by you updating us on where things have developed to, in terms of, I suppose, what next steps have you taken since our last conversation, and how you’re seeing that unfold for where you’re at in your project right now?

Louise
Yeah, great.

Zane
Cool.

Louise
Do you want to kick off?

Zane
Sure. So as you said, yeah, we were right at the, I guess, precipice of choosing a team, and maybe not knowing if we were ready or not. But it was nice to get that encouragement to say, “Go find a team and we can close the loop on it.” But that was probably a good two to three or more month exercise just to start talking to people. And it’s, as you know, it’s not just about their capability. It’s about their mentality. It’s about their willingness to collaborate. We’re trying to take this on in a different way, I guess, than some would be accustomed to. Others are really excited by the way we’re proposing to work. So that whole exercise was actually a really enjoyable one, to meet some really great people, and sometimes people we didn’t proceed with, we’re really inspired by. There’s just certain reasons why maybe they’re not the best fit for our team, and that’s completely fine.

Amelia Lee
Can I just dive into that a bit? How were you sifting and filtering as you were having those conversations with people and figuring out how that aligned with, I suppose, you would have had an inherent criteria of what was ticking the box? So how were you navigating those conversations generally?

Zane
I think first step’s always rapport. It’s like building any team. It was just about the dynamic of how we engaged as a trio. Because that individual needs to be able to work alongside Lou and I, and we need to have a really good dynamic among the three of us, let alone bringing the fourth being the architect or the builder into that mix as well. 

So they’ll each come with their own personal ambitions and even business propositions too to say we want to be really known for healthy home high performance houses. And if that is their really strong bent and desire, when I said we walked away really inspired, there were some people in that Passive House space that were probably just further along the continuum than we were able to go from a budgetary point of view and just getting the balance of our priorities right. So, sadly, there’s a few that we met that we’re like, “Oh, we’d love to work with you, but you’re on a journey that we’re really inspired by, but can’t go with at this point in time.” And then, I think it was about, particularly in the architects that we met, just meeting that continuum of those who are really more on the engineering side and obsessed with the more engineering and structural components, and then the real artists, and then people all the way in between. And we know what we bring as well. So, we wanted to just work out, how do we find someone who’s got that right kind of design sensibility that matches us but also brings knowledge where we’ve got none at all. And, they’re all more expert at their jobs than we are theirs. So, it’s also just about just trying to listen and look for cues. 

And in the builder space, try and recognise that there were some really excellent carpenters that have got 15, 20 years of experience and really strong craft, but have only owned and run a business for a couple of years. And as much as you can see the depth of their talent, when you jump online and see their work, there’s still that question mark around we’re entering into a really expensive, important relationship, and if you’ve only ran a business for a year and a half, what do you look like when things go wobbly? Because we know what we look like. 

I think they were all the variables we were just trying to weigh up. And then, it’s a team, so trying to get the complement as well to say… We actually probably zeroed in on the builder first, and then we’re like, “Great, if this is our builder, then what kind of architect complements or completes the team?” So, having our builder in mind definitely played a bearing on choosing an architect, because it was about cohesion. And really, pleasingly, one of the really nice parts about the tail end of the process was we were confident with our builder, and we were really personally confident with our architects. But the builder said, “Why don’t we just go out for breakfast and coffee without us?” Which was really great to hear that they just went off and caught up and came back and said, “Yeah, we’re aligned with the way we would each aspire to work.” 

So, yeah, that was the process at a high level as to how we got to where we did.

Amelia Lee
And so the builder and the architect weren’t known to each other? They hadn’t worked together previously?

Louise
No, we found both of them through connections. So, for example, every time we would interview a builder, we would say, “Do you have any architects that you would recommend?” and vice versa. So we found both through that connection pathway, but the builder that recommended our architect, we decided not to go with him, and vice versa. So, there’s pros and cons, I think, to going that way. 

Ideally, I think we probably would have chosen an architect and a builder that had worked together in the past, just to fast track that relationship. But, at the same time, it isn’t a downside, I don’t think, to having them not know each other, and having us stay in the centre of the relationship as well. So yeah, we tossed up whether we should have gone a different way, but ultimately, it’s worked out really well. So far, anyway.

Zane
And we were actually fishing in the Live Life Build pool as well, because we knew that there would at least be less time explaining the way we’d like to work. And it was interesting to meet a few different builders who said, “Oh actually, we’re based a long way from where you are, and may not be suitable or may not be available. But now that I’ve heard the way you’re describing what you’re trying to do, I’m really happy to introduce you to some of my friends, because they’d love to work with you.” So, those referrals were helpful too, and, yeah, gave us some really good lead-ins, I think.

Amelia Lee
I think it’s interesting. I know that a lot of homeowners can be a bit concerned about pairing together, particularly when you’re seeking to create that collaborative team from the outset, and you’re wanting to do the PAC Process, or at least get builder involvement on giving you some costing and buildability feedback as you navigate pre construction. Homeowners can be nervous about pairing up professionals that haven’t worked together, but I think your observation of those conversations and seeing how open minded a professional is to the thought of working with a team that they haven’t worked with before, and if there’s a level of curiosity, all of those kinds of things bode well generally in how they’re going to collaborate with you, as much as another professional that they might be working with. 

And I think that it’s when you can identify professionals that are curious and are excited about the opportunity to do your project, the opportunity to work with new people, and as you said, seek out “Let’s go out and have a conversation with each other as potential team members and see how we get along and that we’re potentially aligned and those kinds of things.” Then I think that all feeds really well into a longer term working relationship. And everybody has to start getting to know each other for the first time somewhere. It was clear from our initial conversation that you were thinking really clearly about the goals that you had for this project. And then that extends, then, to okay, who can help you deliver and achieve those goals, and how are we going to find somebody who’s aligned with our values and our priorities and really can support us in making this a reality? And then when you find two different professionals that you see are in alignment with you, and then they can also then have that conversation together, I actually think that’s really quite exciting, because I feel that’s where you can start to get some really lovely professional tension, which I actually think does really well in projects. 

I think that that as long as there’s mutual respect and a collegiate approach where the project is king or the project is queen, in terms of that your vision is the thing that is being brought to life through their work, then there’s this fun in how they can push each other, in how they can really extend what’s possible and how they can really draw out the best in each other. And sometimes, I find when an architect and a builder have worked together for a really long time, yes, there can be a shorthand in their communication, but you can also sometimes find that then the architect only draws what they know that builder will be able to build well, rather than really pushing that builder to potentially do something different. So, I think that there’s pros and cons either way, and I love that you’ve really hung on to what your goals were, and you sound like you’ve done a really thorough job. The fact that this took two to three months to have these conversations and arrive at the decision that you did, I think bodes really well for your project. 

And what I see work best for homeowners in this is that they do take some time. They’d be really intentional about who they bring on board, and then also, they start paying attention to how that work is going, and noticing if there are red flags, and calling those red flags to account. So it’s not just a set and forget, but it’s a, “Okay, let’s see how this is going. Let’s make sure that we keep communicating. Let’s speak up when we feel that this isn’t going how we thought it would. Let’s make sure that assumptions are ironed out, that we’re not leaving anything on the table, and we’re not waiting to speak up if we’ve got a concern about something”, and really ensuring that you’re proactive in that relationship management and your involvement as you go forward. 

How do you feel about your ability to speak up with these people? Do you feel like there is that part of your selection process when you were chatting to them, you thought, “Actually, no, I think that I could have a pretty candid conversation with somebody like this. I don’t think that they’re going to take it super personally or be super defensive about it. I feel comfortable that we can have really open communication.” Did you feel that, or would you feel it was still a little bit early for you to assess that in the way that you were chatting with them?

Louise
Well, I definitely felt it. I think, that was from memory. I think we actually spoke about that in our deliberations after we’d met each architect and builder. First and foremost, it was about our comfortability in actually having hard conversations, and would we feel comfortable in pushing back? And how do we think they would react when we said something that they didn’t want to hear? Or we actually had that conversation with each other, and yeah, both of them, we felt as though would have our project as king or queen. I remember, initially, in the first couple of conversations we had with our architect, he was at pains to say, “I don’t worry about rounds and the amount of times you can give me feedback on something, because I want to give you the outcome that you want.” And a couple of architects that we met, they were very clear on their process. In round one schematic design, you get three feedback sessions, and then we move to the next, and you get two feedback sessions there. 

And that was a bit of a red flag for us, because we didn’t really want to work that way. We wanted to be able to feel comfortable at the third or fourth stage to say, “Actually, can we go back to that schematic process? Because I think I want to change this, now that I know this piece of information.” We wanted that flexibility. So for me, that was certainly one of the main reasons I was drawn to the architects that we eventually chose.

Zane
Yeah, I think what they all had in common was… And I think that the builder brief was really valuable through the process, just as feedback for you, that builder brief, because it had a house vision and goals, and not necessarily features, but lifestyle and our intended way to use the home and what it represents, probably attracted the right people. Because people who we now have in our team said, “I’ve done this type of work and then that type of work, and I’ve done commercial and I’ve done this and that, and now I’ve gravitated towards building homes, and homes is what I get something out of, because I’ve got kids myself this age and that age.” 

And it’s just interesting, you start to build very like minded people at similar life stages, too. And I think because of that, that depth of connecting with what it is we’re aspiring to for our family, means that there’s a transparency there upfront, and also a very practical transparency about us saying, “This is how much money we can spend.” And not holding information or drip feeding information, just being very transparent about “We’re trying to achieve this with that in this time frame.” I think it’s just set us off on the right path that if, at any point, something comes through that’s not what we thought we’d spoken about, you can just call. 

I think, probably, the thing that we’re in the midst of at the moment is just trying to understand, as a team, is everyone copied into everything, or are there certain conversations that are just critically important between ourselves and the architect that the builder can catch up on? I think, if anything, at the moment, we’re overly collaborative and transparent and copy everyone into everything. And literally, as we speak, there’s a soil tester in our backyard doing the soil test now, and we’ve got messages saying, “Oh, I’ve just been chatting with him, and I’ll be on site shortly.” It’s really good. But, I think, as we refine, we’ll start to understand, you need also the joy of missing out. You don’t have to be part of every conversation. But at the moment, we’re very all in. 

But to your question, I don’t think there’s any discomfort I’ve got in being able to say, “This isn’t what we need”, or, “This isn’t what we expected”, or, “This isn’t what we discussed.” So far, so good.

Amelia Lee
Awesome. Well, to your point about the communication, my suggestion is that, yes, you just CC everything to everyone. Because it’s always hard to gauge, I suppose, in advance knowledge of what might be coming, what piece of information might be valuable to somebody that they could need to know in the future. And the safeguard of that is that the architect, the builder and you just get CC’ed on everything. That may mean that there’s a lot of comms, and it may mean that you then need to learn the art of discernment of what do you let go through the keeper? What do you go, “Okay, well, that’s a conversation that the architect and builder are working out as being my team and the professionals that I’ve employed, to help navigate this.” 

But I see it go pear shaped more often than not when the architect and the builder are making decisions about what they won’t communicate with each other on. And so inevitably, then, it’ll come to the point of pricing in the future, and there’ll have been an email three months ago where you and the architect have been liaising about something, and you’ve come to a resolution about it. The builder hasn’t been part of that conversation. And then something comes up, and it’s like, “Actually, three months ago, we discussed that and we decided yada yada yada.” And what I see for professionals doing the PAC Process for the first time, that’s the thing that they struggle with, is because, yes, it does mean that there’s a lot of communication. It does mean that there’s a lot of emails going backwards and forwards. I think, as professionals get better practised at this, what happens is they start to understand what they need to bring to meetings and how to have those conversations, that table that then create outcomes and actions inside the context of those meetings, rather than a lot of project decision making being handled in email communication. 

And the thing is, if you’re having regular design meetings, the builder and the architect should both be in attendance. And I know that there’s lots of PAC Process builders that either don’t feel that they need to be at every design meeting, or the architect or the designer doesn’t feel that they need to be there, and they’ll just brief them when the design reaches a point of resolution. However, my experience is that you get better outcomes if the builder is just sitting at the table for every design meeting. Now, that means that the builder has to have a business that they can actually not be on site or not be managing their own team whilst they’re sitting at your design meeting. And so that can be a hurdle for some PAC Process builders. 

So, there’s a lot of systemic stuff that can need to be in place in order to make this work as well as it can. But in the interim, I would definitely just be CC-ing all communication to all team members. And then, it will be a lot for you to begin with, just because it’s going to be bedding down a lot of quite foundational decisions and information. And like you’re saying, the soil test being there, all of that kind of stuff, it’s great that the builder can be involved in that, because they can be directing, particularly with a renovation and an extension, they can be directing where that soil test needs to be done to be getting the right context of information into the process that, of course, is going to inform the structural engineering. It’ll help the builder understand more about the conditions of the site. 

It can feel like lots of little things, but it’s quite surprising how pivotal some of those little things can become big things down the track. So yeah, and I think, for your part, just if you can scan them and say, “Okay, where do I think this might impact cost, and where do I think this might impact the livability of our home? And where do I have questions? Where do I not understand something?” And just make notes of that. And so then, the next meeting you have, you go, “Look, is this something I need to be concerned about or provide input on?” And also, see if any of it fleshes out for you where you might be making an assumption. Because I think that’s the most dangerous thing for homeowners, is that you make lots of assumptions about things, and it doesn’t get verbalised, and then it’s not down the track where you’re standing on site, and a contract’s been signed, and you’re going, “Hang on. But I assumed that when this was happening, that you would have done X, Y and Z.” 

Inside HOME Method, we talk about assumptions being big holes that money can fall into. So it’s that thing of ironing out where do you see yourself, assuming that next steps are being taken, or thinking that there’s going to be a consequence for whatever’s being brought up. Now, I know, given that this is your first time doing this kind of project, I know you’ve done stuff in the past, but doing this kind of project, it can be tricky. But if you can just stay self aware to that, and just remember, you can never ask too many questions, all right? That’s the job of the professionals is to field your concerns and questions about that. 

I think I’d encourage you, just if you do see lots of stuff coming out, that you just try and get aggregated all into one, whether it’s a fortnightly email or something like that, depending on the pace at which you’re moving, to bring all of that communication together to say, “Look, these are the things that are just outstanding for us. Let us know if these are things we don’t need to worry about just yet, things we need to make decisions on, or things you don’t need our input on.” And that kind of stuff you can start to then sift and filter. Does that make sense?

Zane
Yeah, that’s come up a few times. Like, even just in spatial planning, there’ll be certain elements that you’ll look at. And we had one last night where we just weren’t crystal clear from a two-day flat plan, which way a stacker door was opening, and even where appliances are, which you know may not be absolutely crucial at this stage, but we tend to just say to the architect, “Is this question a good question for now, or is that a good question for later?” And most of the time it’s been, “It’s a great question for you to say out loud so I can hear it, because now I know you find that important, but that is way down the line. We’ll talk about that at the right time. But I think we’re just trying to, even if it’s just posing the question to say, “This is on my mind. Should I be asking this now, or is it irrelevant?” And sometimes we get an answer, and other times it’s like, “Hold on to that question. It’ll be important when I give you elevations.” 

So yeah, we’re just trying our best to verbalise and, I think in terms of staying connected ourselves, we took one of the little tips of just setting up a house email account. So instead of builders and architects writing to Lou or Zane, they write to the house. And that way, they know that they’re getting consistency out of us as well, which is good. It’s a nice little accountability piece for Lou and I, to make sure that if you’re going to write a response into the house email, that we’re aligned on it, that we agree.

Amelia Lee
Yey, I love that. Yeah, one of the worst things, as a professional, I mean, it can become part of the process, but it’s that mediation because a couple aren’t having the conversation with each other, and they’re using the professional to settle an argument. That’s where it can get quite difficult and it can hold things up. So, I love that you’ve got that mindset about it, and seeing that you’re all serving the house. Like, this is all about, all of you as a team, serving the house, and ultimately, you as the clients, have the vision for the house, but everybody is bringing their expertise, including you, to serve the future of this house. So, it’s a really great approach. 

You mentioned the brief builder and how helpful that was in terms of pulling together the right team and really communicating that vision for your lifestyle. And when we spoke last time on the podcast, you guys were really clear and very intentional about the kind of lifestyle you wanted this time to deliver. And it was lovely to hear that it wasn’t about we need this number of rooms and all of that kind of stuff. 

So can you talk through, I suppose, you chose this architect and this builder, how did then the process kick off, in terms of that brief builder and then the next steps, in, I suppose, moving into the designer putting pen to paper and starting to actually create some design concepts. What did that process look like for you, particularly around marrying together your budget and your brief?

Louise
Yeah, well, that’s definitely been the most difficult part of the process to date, which I’m sure is unsurprising. It’s marrying together the budget and the brief. So, our architect, and I have to say, proud moment for us, he said it’s the best brief he’s ever seen.

Amelia Lee
Yay!

Louise
So yeah, we met initially with him and went through the brief page by page. And he was just sense checking all of our answers, and we were putting a little bit more color to the words. And then, he went away, and produced his response to the brief. And he gave us two options, because at that initial stage, we weren’t sure whether we wanted to build a second story or whether we wanted to stay single level. And we put that to him to say, “You’re responding to the brief so you tell us what you think is best.” And so, he came back initially, and he had actually both options, and that’s when we really realised that our brief did not match our budget. So, from there, it’s really been a process of being really clear with what we want this house to achieve for our family, and not having to have single-use rooms. I think that’s been our major learning of trying to make each room and each part of the house work really hard and perform. In some rooms, several different elements of what we want. 

So, yeah, it’s been a process of refinement. And our builder has been just so critical in helping us understand the broad base of how much a house of that size would cost to build. And working on a pretty blunt instrument, at the moment, of square metre rates. But that’s all we’ve got to work with at the moment. But that process of our builder saying, “You’re x100,000 over your budget at the moment.” And us going, “Oh God, we’ve got a bit of work to do then.” And it’s a good discipline to have to then sit down and say, “Okay, what do we actually need to make our vision come to life? And what is really not that important? What’s nice to have, and what do we actually really need?” So, yeah, that’s been the broad process to date, and we think we’re pretty close to that final square metreage and spatial plan at this point.

Zane
Yeah, like, a really pointy example would be something we’ve always liked, and I don’t know that it necessarily marries with the era of our house, but we’ve always liked the feeling of sunken lounges. So that’s a good example of leading with the goals. A sunken lounge is a feature, but it provides a particular feeling. So when we looked at trying to achieve that, we would have either had to get under the house and dig out below the house to allow the second lounge to lower, or we’d have to get to a certain point in the house and step up, which then meant that when we got to the sunken lounge, you could step down. Both quite expensive undertakings, and really good to then step back and say, “Well, if that’s the feature that brings a feeling, how do you achieve the feeling?” Because we could then start having conversations about, “Let’s not sink it, because it’s feeling like a really expensive decision to make.” But particularly, in that room, we might actually paint it a particular moody color, and you might even paint the ceiling as well, which creates that hug that you want when you’re going into that space, to have that moment with your friends. 

So, that’s been really useful, just to use the brief builder to sort of say, “Well, we never started off wanting X amount of rooms and certain types of features. We were chasing a way of living.” And that can be done multiple ways. And with your architect and builder bought into that, it breeds creativity. Because, particularly, I think budgets are excellent for creativity, because the moment you can’t do it the expensive way, you try to work out how to achieve it other ways. And yeah, we’re trying our best. I think we’re doing relatively well at not being too prescriptive, but continuing to say, “Well, this is what we’re hoping to achieve. How might it be done?” And we’re learning week by week. There’s 50 ways to achieve the feeling, if you’ve got an open mind.

So, it’s been good in setting the team off on the right path, but it’s been equally good in allowing us to be a bit open minded about how to get to the end goal. 

Amelia Lee
I love that saying, because it’s such a testament to your thinking about this project, and the way that the both of you are staying open. I think that a lot of people can become so attached to a particular outcome that ends up being to a disservice to them. And because they’re attached to that, they’ll often then let a lot of other things slide, or be really, I suppose, possessed about this particular thing, and it then be to the detriment of the overall performance of the home and the project. And so that sunken living room, for example, yes, to achieve that, in a pragmatic sense, means level changes and digging out or building up, and that kind of stuff. 

But I love that you identified how do we disassemble what a sunken lounge room provides in terms of a contextual feeling and a space to occupy? And how can we imbue a space that’s built more affordably with those same features that can then elicit a similar feeling? And sunken lounge rooms have often got a type of carpet on the floor, a comfy plush carpet, they’ve often got built in furniture, all of those kinds of things are able to be achieved. And you can do that with every single room of your home. So, I love that you’ve taken that approach, because it’ll serve you really well as you do need to manage that budget. When you’ve been having those conversations with the builder about the budget, you said the builder has been really good at going, “Well, a house like this has been around this.” Have you seen the builder benchmarking that? What kind of evidence has the builder given you to help you trust that you’re getting realistic costing feedback at this point in the game?

RESOURCES:

Check out Louise and Zane’s previous episodes on the podcast:

• Episode 317 ‘Where to Start When Renovating, with Louise + Zane’ >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/podcast-where-to-start-when-renovating-louise-zane/
• Episode 318 ‘Beginning a Californian Bungalow Renovation, with Louise + Zane’ >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/podcast-beginning-californian-bungalow-renovation-louise-zane/

Access the support and guidance you need (like Louise and Zane) to be confident and empowered when renovating and building your family home inside my flagship online program, HOME METHOD >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/courses/the-home-method/

Learn more about how to interview and select the right builder with the Choose Your Builder mini-course >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/courses/choose-your-builder 
Access my free online workshop “Your Project Plan” >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/projectplan