Selections, Change Orders & Draw Control
Every client decision the build depends on becomes a dated, owned item with a stated consequence, every change is written and approved before work happens, and every approved change reaches a draw.
- Tier
- Growth
- Build order
- 4th of 7 for custom builders
- Shape of it
- 8 steps, 1 escalation rule
- At launch
- Runs supervised, with you approving what goes out
The problem this solves
Three ways margin goes, all invisible until reconciliation.
Selections. The build waits on a tile, a fixture, a finish, a cabinet decision. The client does not know they are blocking anything, because nobody has told them in those terms. Then the tiler's window moves, and the programme slips.
Change orders. A client asks for something on site. The site manager says yes because it is small and they are being helpful. It is not documented, not priced, not approved, not billed. Ten of those on a custom home is real money, and the owner finds out at final reconciliation with no single explanation.
Draws. The milestone is achieved. The draw request goes out a fortnight later because somebody had to assemble the backup. On a business financing materials and labour, that fortnight is expensive, and it repeats every milestone.
How it works, step by step
Every wait, threshold and branch below is a value we set with you during the build, against your stages and your language. None of it is a default we impose.
- What starts it
- It escalates to a person
Step 1Trigger
Every selection the build depends on is registered with a decision-by date derived from the construction programme, an owner, and a stated consequence.
Step 2
The client sees selections in those terms. "We need the tile choice by the 14th or the tiling window moves to the following month" is a completely different message from "let us know about tiles".
Step 3Escalation
Selections approaching their date escalate: client, then designer or architect if they are choosing, then the project manager.
Step 4
A change request cannot become work without a written, priced, approved change order. Captured on site, priced, sent, approved, then released.
Step 5
Approved change orders attach automatically to the next draw, so billing them is the default rather than a memory test.
Step 6
Draw requests assemble themselves from milestone completion, photographs, lien waivers and approved change orders, so they go out the day the milestone is hit.
Step 7
Trade dependencies are visible: when one trade moves, everything downstream moves with a consequence attached.
Step 8
Anything overdue appears on the exception brief with its cost or schedule impact.
How it gets built
Built inside what you already run
- Buildertrend
- CoConstruct
- JobTread
- Houzz Pro
- Procore
- or whatever your office already runs on
Nothing to log into and nothing to license. If a system needs a record your platform does not hold, we add the field to your platform rather than starting a second one beside it.
This is the actual build order, in the phases its own steps fall into. It runs in supervised mode first, with you approving what goes out, until you are happy with the tone.
- 1
Map
List the selections a typical project waits on, with the project manager and the designer in the same room. The list is shorter and more repeatable than anyone expects.
Nothing is designed until we have looked at what already exists, including the parts nobody officially owns.
- 2
Build
Derive decision-by dates from the programme, not from a generic selections calendar. This is what makes the consequence real.
Built inside the software you already run, against your stages and your language.
- 3
Build
Build the change order path and agree who can approve on site and to what value.
- 4
Build
Connect approved change orders to draws.
- 5
Build
Build draw assembly from milestone data, photographs and lien waivers.
- 6
Build
Build the trade dependency view.
- 7
Prove
Run one full project supervised.
It runs with a person approving what goes out until you are happy with the tone. Nothing sends unreviewed on day one.
What changes after it goes live
How it runs today
Three ways margin goes, all invisible until reconciliation.
After this one is live
Selections stop being the silent cause of programme slip, because the client can see what they are holding up and when. Change orders become billed revenue rather than absorbed cost. And draws go out on the day rather than the fortnight, which is a direct working capital improvement.
How to measure whether it worked
Your arithmeticRun with your numbers, not ours
Three numbers the firm has: change orders performed and never billed, days between milestone completion and draw submission, and programme days lost to late client selections. The first is usually the largest, the second is the easiest to fix, and the third is the one clients cause and blame the builder for.
We agree the baseline before anything is built, and we do not take credit for things that were going to happen anyway. There is no figure on this page claiming what we have produced for somebody else, because there is no verified figure to publish.
What we will not do
This is from the same delivery document as everything above it. It is on the page because a supplier who has not thought about it will not tell you, and you would find out later.
Client privacy is the primary exposure. Custom building clients are frequently wealthy and deliberately private.
- Never expose a client name, address, project value, floor plan or photographs of their home in any demonstration, template or marketing asset.
- Photography and case-study permission is obtained explicitly, in writing, and recorded. A permission granted for one use is not a permission for all uses.
- Several clients will have a confidentiality expectation even where no NDA exists, and some will have an actual NDA.
Contract and lien law.
- Draw requests, lien waivers and retainage are governed by state statute, and the requirements differ materially between states. Any automation touching draw documentation must be built to the specific state's requirements and reviewed by the builder's counsel.
- Change orders are contract amendments. An automated approval flow must produce something that satisfies the contract's own requirements for a valid change order, which frequently means a signature rather than a click.
- Nothing in these systems constitutes legal advice about lien rights or notice deadlines, and no automation should be relied upon for statutory notice timing.
Messaging.
- TCPA and CAN-SPAM apply. Consent per number, quiet hours in local time, immediate opt-out honoured across every system.
- Subcontractors and suppliers are businesses, but the same consent and opt-out discipline applies.
Subcontractors are not employees. Any system that assumes subcontractor adoption will fail. Systems must work with the trades as they are, and where a system genuinely needs subcontractor participation, that must be flagged to the builder as a commercial negotiation rather than a configuration step.
Nothing here is legal advice. State contractor licensing, lien statutes, building codes, contract law and consumer protection rules can each add requirements.
Nothing here is legal advice. Rules in this area have moved more than once recently, and every template that states a commercial term or a guarantee goes to your own counsel before it goes live.
Seven systems forcustom builders.
We build one at a time and prove it moved before starting the next. The tiers are the dependency order, not a price list.
Tier 1Foundational
Nothing arrives late or unowned. These come first because everything above them assumes they are true.
- 1Enquiry Capture & Qualification Before Design HoursProtects design hours, which is the scarcest resource, and captures the architect introductions that currently live in email threads.
- 2Consultation & Site Visit PreparationProtects the most expensive hour in the sales process and calibrates cost before the meeting.
Tier 2Growth
The recoverable money. These work the pools the foundational systems have made visible for the first time.
- 3Proposal Follow-Up & Decision RecoveryUsually the single largest recoverable pool.
- 4Selections, Change Orders & Draw Controlyou are hereStops the margin loss and improves cash through faster draws.
Tier 3Flagship
One connected system end to end, plus what the owner reads on a Monday. Only once the pieces are proven individually.
The tiers are the dependency order for custom builders, not a price list. Most firms do not start at the first one, because the order is a default and the call is where it gets changed.
A note on sequencing this trade
Sequencing note specific to this trade. The build cycle is six to eighteen months, so System 5 cannot be proven inside a normal engagement window. Prove Systems 1 through 4 on live projects, and implement System 5 on projects starting during the engagement with the understanding that its results arrive after it. Say this at the start rather than being asked about it later.
Back to the custom builders overview for the stage map and where these fit.
Is this the oneyou need first?
Often it is not. On the call we look at what is actually costing you most right now, which is frequently a different system from the one that brought you to this page. If there is nothing worth building yet, we will say so.