Questions and answers

Design-build means one company designs and builds your project under one agreement. The people drawing the plans work alongside the people who price and build them, so cost and buildability are considered throughout the design.

In the traditional route, the drawings are finished before builders price them, which can reveal a budget problem late. Design-build prices the work as it is designed. Both routes can produce excellent houses; design-build usually gives earlier cost certainty and a single point of responsibility.

No. The design phase is a separate, fixed-fee agreement. You own the drawings and can take them to another builder if you choose.

After design development we issue a line-item fixed price built from trade quotes, with stated allowances for anything not yet selected. You see what each part of the project costs.

An allowance is a budget for an item not yet chosen, such as a light fixture. If your final choice costs more or less, the difference is added or credited in writing.

Every change is priced and approved in writing before the work is done. We do not proceed on verbal changes, which protects both sides.

Yes. Tell us the budget at the first meeting. We design to it and show you the cost of each option, so you can decide where to spend and where to save.

Yes. We prepare and submit permit drawings, respond to reviewer comments and schedule inspections. Review times vary by city and season, so we plan around current published times.

We prepare the drawings and material samples your architectural review committee needs and build their review time into the schedule. The application is usually made in the homeowner’s name.

Texas licenses plumbers, electricians and HVAC contractors individually. Those trades on our projects hold the required state licences, which we would show you before work starts.

For a kitchen or bath, usually not. For a whole-home renovation, usually yes for the main construction period. For additions, most work happens outside the house until the final connection.

One site lead is your contact. You get a weekly site meeting, photographs and a shared schedule showing what is next.

Floor protection, dust walls with zipper doors, negative air machines where needed and a daily clean-up of the work area.

A full walkthrough, a written punch list completed before final payment, and a handover binder with finish schedules, manuals and warranty documents from manufacturers.

Yes. Hallvane schedules a check-in visit about a year after completion to adjust doors, check caulk and grout joints and look at anything that has moved as the house settled. Warranty terms for a real company would be set out in its contract.