EIGHT RULES
EIGHT
RULES.
This is how the work runs on every engagement, whether you are a homeowner with one bathroom or a committee with a building. Nothing here is aspirational. If one of these stops being true on your job, say it out loud and I will fix it.
THE OWNER GETS THE BAD NEWS FIRST.
A slip you hear about late is a slip you cannot do anything about. Every problem goes to the person paying for it the day I see it, before it has a fix attached. You would rather have four days to decide than a clean report.
STAGE IT BEFORE YOU NEED IT.
Twenty-five years of Army logistics comes down to one habit: nothing on site waits on a delivery. Materials, submittals, permits, and inspections get ordered backwards from the date they are needed, not forward from the day somebody remembers.
A NUMBER WITHOUT A SCOPE IS NOT A NUMBER.
Bids that differ by forty thousand dollars usually differ by scope, not by price. Everything gets leveled to one written scope before anyone compares anything. Money people think they are saving is often work somebody quietly left out.
PERMITS ARE PART OF THE JOB, NOT A DELAY IN IT.
Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield, and Hanover each move at their own speed, and all four are knowable. The permit goes on the schedule as a task with an owner and a date, same as framing.
WALK THE WORK. PHOTOS ARE NOT A WALK.
You cannot read a subfloor from a phone. Site visits happen on a set cadence, in person, with a written note the same day: what got done, what did not, what is about to become a problem.
PAY FOR WORK IN PLACE.
Draws get checked against what is actually installed, not what is invoiced. Materials on site are not materials installed. Getting ahead of your own money is the single most common way an owner ends up with no leverage and no recourse.
MY FEE DOES NOT MOVE WHEN YOUR BUDGET DOES.
Flat hourly, always. A percentage fee pays your representative more the more your project costs, and you should never have to wonder whether that is why the number went up.
I WILL TELL YOU WHEN YOU DO NOT NEED ME.
Some projects are small enough, or clean enough, that hiring a representative is a waste of your money. I would rather say that on the first call than bill you for the privilege of finding out. That is the rule I would want from someone I hired.
None of these are new. They are what a hundred-plus Richmond renovations and twenty-five years of moving materiel to a date will teach anybody who is paying attention and paying for the mistakes.
Want these run on your job?
First response inside one business day. Nothing bills until we have agreed there is an engagement and you have seen the estimated hours.
Rather talk it through? Call or text (804) 720-1286.