To select a builder, begin first by thinking about yourself. Which style of builder will best meet your needs? Builders and their products fall into three broad categories: production, semi-custom and custom.

While exceptions exist, the descriptions below will give you a general perspective and some pluses and minuses of the three main types of builders who might build your home.

Production Builders
Production builders organize their companies for high-volume construction. They offer a collection of floor plans, each with a choice of two or more exterior designs or elevations.

Advantages. Models provide an opportunity to study the quality of the builder’s work. Pre-priced options mean it’s faster and easier to make selections. The cost of your selections is known quickly, making final decisions easier.

	Think carefully about your project and your needs before you choose a home builder.

Through repetition, the builder has worked bugs out of floor plans. The time to build is shorter than with a new design — construction personnel are familiar with the plans. Suppliers stock regularly used items, making material delays less likely. High-volume work offers an advantage in scheduling trade contractors and can result in significant cost savings. A well-planned and well-built subdivision often is extremely prestigious.

Disadvantages. Excitement over your new home may turn to frustration when you find that the builder’s selections may not include items you want. And because structural changes (those involving components that hold up the weight of the home) require re-engineering and resubmission of plans to the building department, production builders resist them.

Other purchasers have your plan. Production builders usually work in subdivisions where they own the lots rather than on individual sites. If you want one of their homes, you must select a site in one of their subdivisions.

Custom Builders
Custom builders start with a blank sheet of paper or computer screen and create a unique home. They tend to be small companies, both in the number of homes they build and the number of employees they have.     

Advantages. Custom builders create one-of-a-kind homes. Their operations revolve around your active involvement in the process. Often they have established relationships with trade contractors who perform specialized work, such as stained glass insets or copper roofing. And their systems and personnel are organized to build on isolated, scattered sites.

Disadvantages. Expect a significant investment in time and dollars for the creation of blueprints and specifications. Since alterations are possible throughout the process and choices are virtually unlimited, costs can rise dramatically unless you exercise self-discipline. You lose the economies that large volume builders enjoy. Custom-built homes typically take the longest to complete.

Semi-Custom Builders
These builders combine the characteristics of production and custom building. They work with preexisting plans, each with many possible variations. Semi-custom builders are flexible regarding changes, including those that require engineering and building department approval.

Advantages. Revising existing plans is normally faster and less costly than creating new blueprints. Semi-custom builders are flexible about building location. They work on individual sites or in subdivisions that include the work of several builders.

Disadvantages. Fine-tuning a house plan takes time and money. You lose the economies of large-volume work and the resulting prices. Crews need more time when building from unfamiliar plans. Semi-custom builders are more open to plan changes than production builders before construction begins but less willing than custom builders to accept changes once construction is under way.

Final advice: Resist hiring a builder who operates in one style, thinking that you can coax the company to alter its culture. Systems, procedures, and even documents are designed around their chosen operating style.  Believing you can change all that can result in frustration, conflict, and dissatisfaction. Look for a builder whose operational style and quality can meet your needs.

This article cannot be reprinted without permission from the author.

Adapted and reprinted with permission from Carol Smith, Building Your Home: An Insider’s Guide (Washington, D.C.: BuilderBooks,com, National Association of Home Builders, 2005), pp. 25-29. Copyright 2005. Available from www.BuilderBooks.com, or call 800-223-2665. [ return to top ]