Philosophy and Integrative Approach

We are best-in-class builders, and we also strive to be leaders in the construction process. Our product is not only what we build but the experience we create for our clients along the way.

We employ the best and brightest craftsmen in the industry and leverage the most effective management tools available. Sophisticated financial reports, Gantt charts, and critical task lists ensure cohesiveness throughout the project. At the end of every project, we conduct an After-Actions Report to analyze performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and establish newly identified best practices. These reports are regularly reviewed to ensure that we learn from our past experiences and continuously progress toward a more effective and efficient organization.

Consideration of New Technology

Part of our mission statement is ‘Newschool Vision’. We live by this! At Newschool Builders, we stay abreast of the latest developments in building science, as well as implement the most cutting-edge management systems.

By consistently pushing ourselves to stay current in building science and management systems, we are able to be creative and efficient in delivering your project. This is how we ensure the highest quality product and client experience that our industry has to offer.

Estimating Process

Our estimating process is not arbitrary. Our systems allow us to maintain accurate historical records of cost-coded expenses on every job we have ever run. We apply this data to the estimating process for new projects, creating a self-correcting system of data-driven cost estimates, allowing us to be as accurate as possible.

We believe that a good general contractor should provide their clients with risk management. As such, we factor in a percentage-based contingency to cover unforeseen expenses within the agreed-upon scope. If we don’t need it, we don’t spend it.

All our estimates are provided with percentage breakdowns to facilitate effective value engineering, should this be necessary at any point.

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

Our budgets are transparent and provide all the necessary information for informed financial decisions throughout the building process. Our schedules are comprehensive, including decision dates, order dates, long lead time items, and critical path information. This ensures everyone understands their role in the project’s overall picture.

Scope changes are a natural part of our work. After providing a clear initial budget and schedule, what sets us apart is our ability to track and illustrate shifts from this baseline throughout the project. We offer a best-in-class change order management workflow, allowing you to approve each scope adjustment in real time, as it relates to both time and money.

Critical task lists are leveraged to make sure that each responsible party understands exactly when their contribution needs to be finalized in order to keep the project on track. Clients, architects, and designers find this tool invaluable for organizing collaboration.

Transparent Invoicing

Open-book invoicing is one of the client’s greatest advantages when working with Newschool Builders. Our invoices show every billing line item and include digital time card data from our labor team on your project. Digital copies of all material, subcontractor, and vendor invoices are also available for review at any time.

In addition to this high degree of visibility, we are also able to project the remaining project expenses on every invoice. This is an invaluable tool for informed mid-project financial decision making, allowing for scope adjustment or selection changes. We aim to provide financial information that is valuable. Clients are encouraged to select the desired level of management service, and adjust as necessary throughout the project’s development.

Relationship Management

You have invited us into your lives and commissioned us to create a beautiful space for you to spend time with the people that matter most. This is an intimate process that we are honored to play a role in, and we do not take the responsibility lightly. Our commitment is that we will end as friends, on better terms than when we started. We have a list of legacy clients who will attest to this.

This is a very specific outcome, and it’s achieved through purposeful methods. We make use of a RACI Matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed) to define roles in our projects. This helps us avoid shared ownership or neglect of critical elements of collaboration. This tool, coupled with our cloud-based management systems, enables early detection of undesirable trends, allowing us to work through challenges before they manifest themselves.

Our Guarantee

We offer an industry-standard one-year warranty on our work, covering workmanship, products, and materials. However, we offer a guarantee of quality that extends well beyond the terms of that warranty. While the requirement for warranty work is infrequent, we have been known to go back to a client’s home years after a project has been completed to make things right at our own expense, long after the warranty period’s expiration.

We live here, we work here, we play here. Newschool Builders has been a staple in the central Vermont community for more than a decade. We will be neighbors once your project is complete, and that’s how you’ll be treated.