How can you create a process in your project that will help your home design be on budget and simpler to build?

Let me introduce you to the PAC Process.

The traditional design-bid-build model of designing your new home or renovation, then going to tender to a selection of builders, is fraught with issues and often disappointing.

Because after that investment of energy, emotion, time and professional fees, you can discover the design you’ve fallen in love with does not meet your budget.

Hello, this is Episode 201.

In this episode, and actually across the next few episodes as well, I’m going to dive into detail into what I call the PAC Process, or the P – A – C Process.

This is a process where you, as the homeowner, bring a builder on board to be Paid As a Consultant (hence the P-A-C initials).

You bring them on to be Paid as a Consultant during the design phase, and they work collaboratively with you and your chosen designer (be it an architect or building designer), whilst your design is being developed.

There are a range of processes like this floating about in the industry, however the PAC Process is a specific process that my business partner in my other business, Live Life Build, and I have created and we also teach to builders inside that business as well.

My business partner in Live Life Build is Queensland builder, Duayne Pearce. If you’re a long time listener of the podcast, you’ll be familiar with Duayne from his interview in Season 4, and as my co-host in Season 7.

He and I are both really passionate about this PAC Process being THE way to avoid so much drama as you design, build or renovate your family home.

It’s a process Duayne has used and improved over several years in his own business. We’re seeing other builders, designers and homeowners having great success and far more enjoyable projects with it as well.

That’s why we’ve actually crafted and documented it as a proper, formal process, so there’s clarity around what it is, and what it includes.

And it’s why we teach it to builders inside Live Life Build.

I’ve spoken about the PAC Process a few times on Undercover Architect.

If you’re a member of my online programs, you’ll most likely have heard me talk about it in more detail there.

As I said, it stands for Paid As a Consultant, and it is a specific process where the builder gets Paid as a Consultant to work with you and your designer or architect collaboratively during the pre-construction phase.

Put simply, the builder is another team member on your design team.

They work directly for you as the homeowner and their client, they’re contracted to you independently, and they collaborate with any other team members you’re using for your design, including your designer or architect.

And they’re paid for their involvement.

We see a lot of building coaches telling builders to charge for quotes, to get paid for planning, and to stop quoting for free. And there’s some good operators as well as shonky operators jumping on the bandwagon of doing this, and in teaching builders to work this way. 

However, not all methods are being executed or taught in a way that serves the homeowner or the process well. 

There are also builders that package up other services in an effort to get paid during pre-construction. 

In Episode 197, I spoke about Design-Build or Design-Construct, where you work with a building company from the start of your project, and they handle the design process in-house, or with a designer, architect or draftsperson that they sub-contract. 

We see lots of builders offering this to clients in an effort to deal with the problem they often experience: that homeowners come to them with designs that are over their budget. 

These builders see that offering design-construct is a way of solving this problem. 

I encourage you to listen to Episode 197 to hear what problems and risks you can experience with Design-Construct, and it’s worthwhile for both homeowners and builders to listen to that episode. Design-Build or Design-Construct is not the same process as the PAC Process.

There are some builders that are charging a small fee to do a one step quote or estimate for your project, and give you a super simple document, with prices against it, as an indication of what your project will cost, based on whatever information you can provide them. I’ve seen builders do this early in a project, right through to charging for the quote they do for you at the tender stage. This one-step review based on limited information is not the PAC Process either.

Now, the PAC Process as we teach it, is a charged process. 

So the builder is Paid As a Consultant. We see however, some builders charging a fee to be involved early in the project, and then deducting the fee for this service from the building contract, largely to incentivise homeowners to do it, and to reduce the perception of this being an extra charge. 

However, that’s not what the PAC Process is. 

The PAC Process is a separate service, a separate agreement and a separate fee. It’s not a deductible on your contract sum if you go ahead with using the builder for your project. The PAC Process is a standalone, valuable contribution to your project.

There’s lots of other processes floating around there, and I know homeowners have specifically asked for the PAC Process, and been told “oh, yes, we do that”, and then a different process is actually pitched to the homeowner and then used.

And that’s why I want to take a few episodes to outline the why, the what and the who of the PAC Process.

And I also want to share with you what it is NOT. 

Let’s dive in here to the WHY of the PAC Process: Why is it so beneficial for your project, and how can it help you create a home design that’s on budget and simple to build?

Listen to the episode now.

RESOURCES:

Episode 202 | Episode 203 | Episode 204 | Episode 205

Access my free online workshop “Your Project Plan” >>> FREE WORKSHOP

Learn more about the Design-Construct process and what to know before you work with a Design-Build or Design-Construct company >>> LISTEN TO EPISODE 197 HERE

Check out what you need to ask any potential builder in this mini-course >>> CHOOSE YOUR BUILDER

Access the support and guidance you need to be confident and empowered when renovating and building your family home inside my flagship online program >>> HOME METHOD

Are you a builder who would like to use the PAC Process in your business? Learn more about how to do that here >>> PAC CHALLENGE