The new home building process is titanic in nature. You will be asked hundreds, perhaps thousands of questions by your architect and builder. The thought of this alone scares some people to the extent they avoid building a new home. Those that do decide to stroll down the new home building path may twist an ankle or even dislocate a hip if they begin to modify decisions that were made months earlier in the process. If you want to avoid the pain associated with injury, then by all means do whatever is necessary to avoid change orders.

Change orders in new construction are like flies at a picnic. Change orders aggravate just about everyone invited to the party. Most builders detest them, sub-contractors become frustrated and homeowners feel they are being taken advantage of. Rarely is there a winner in the change order game.

Imagine you are a builder. Your project is running smoothly and you are on schedule. The finish carpenters are on the job and the painters are not far behind. You have several other customers who are anxiously awaiting you to start their jobs. But one or more of your current customers calls you one morning to say they would love to have the family room window one foot wider. The customer says they understand there will be a cost to change it and are willing to pay for it.

But does the customer really understand what is involved? You are going to have to spend hours to calculate the cost of the change and then administer it through all of the stages. The window they want may take you six or more weeks to get to the jobsite. The exterior brick must be carefully cut so as not to reveal the surgical procedure required to enlarge the opening. The rough carpentry opening has to be enlarged. Your electrician may have to be called in. Drywall repairs will be necessary. In other words, the finish date of the job will be delayed. You will be distracted taking care of this pesky change order when you should be focusing on your other jobs that this current customer knows nothing about. In other words, this change order becomes a pain in the you-know-what.

The homeowner's perspective is very different. After all, you are no expert. You looked at the plan and saw a window opening and the view of the window on the plan elevation, but you had no idea that there would be so little glass area. The builder tries to convince you - because he does not want to change the window - that you will get used to it. In fact you heard him mumble, "Heck, I will not be able to see that window from my house." How hard can it be to change a silly window. What? It costs THAT much!

Now, imagine this situation replayed 25 or even 50 times during the building process as you discover both little and big things you want to change. One of two things usually happens:

1. You break your personal bank or credit line with your self-imposed cost overruns.

2. Your builder blows one or more head gaskets and your relationship deteriorates to where neither of you speak to one another.

Believe me, I have seen both happen. It is an ugly sight. The process of building your new home was supposed to be fun and filed with happiness. Instead, change orders turn it into a dark place full of animosity.

You can avoid change orders fairly easily. Doing so will allow you to frequently stay on budget and complete the job on time. You need to open the lines of communication early in the process. Do not be embarrassed to say you do not understand how something will look. Do not hesitate to ask for a 3 dimensional printout of what each room will look like. Inexpensive computer software is readily available that will allow you to see your new home. In fact, it will even allow you to easily build a scale model of the home with all interior and exterior walls with the finishes on them!

Be sure to see actual samples of hardware, faucets, lighting fixtures, etc. Do not rely on a photograph in a catalog to make your final decision. Select all products and finishes in the planning stage, not the building phase of your job.

How would you like me to build your new home? It's probably impossible for me to fit your job into my schedule, but I will gladly share hundreds of my tricks and building secrets with you and your builder. Check out my New House Specifications.