Just about any custom builder will tell you the days when new-home buyers were satisfied with a television in the den and a stereo in the living room are long gone. Clients planning custom homes are now likely to ask for a variety of electronic upgrades, from waterproof speakers in the shower to a dedicated home theater. Staying ahead of that technological wave during an extended design and construction schedule can be a challenge, requiring builders not only to know the right specialists but to keep track of what they’re doing as well.
Home systems often include plasma televisions, complicated controls for lights and mechanical equipment, whole-house sound systems, and home offices complete with local area computer networks. Some features require complicated custom-made cabinetry, and linking all these components together requires enough cabling to leave even experienced designers agog. Minnesota–based architect Dale Mulfinger of SALA Architects is still amazed at how much extra wiring is required even though complex electronic systems are now routine. “The amount of spaghetti is truly amazing,” he says.
Builders and architects can feel lost when it comes to recommending and installing the kind of hardware that buyers ask for. As a result, system installers are often invited to join the planning process, ideally before construction has actually started. These specialists can offer valuable advice to clients while overseeing the installation of special cabling and hardware. But with construction often taking a year or more, good communication, detailed planning, and clearly defined roles for everyone on the jobsite are essential for keeping problems at bay.
Start with a plan Builders, architects, and installers themselves are universal in suggesting that planning for electronic systems start early. “The biggest thing is that you need to get in on the ground floor, in the beginning, because all that pre-wiring needs to go in when the house is being wired,” says Joe Stanton, a Rhode Island custom builder and owner of JMS Builders. “It’s much cheaper to go in and pre-wire rooms than it is to go back in and try to retrofit something later. So even if the people didn’t think they wanted to have the latest and the greatest for networking and computers, it’s much easier to run big cable and have the option to do all that.”
Even when clients don’t appear interested in extensive home entertainment systems or lighting and HVAC controls, installing the cabling allows them to change their minds later. And it probably will make the house more attractive when owners want to sell.
Stanton connects his client with a specialist he knows he can count on, then suggests that his clients sign a separate contract with him. That saves Stanton from fielding weekend calls later about a balky television or light control panel. “I make the connection and I recommend who they could use,” he says, “but they write their contract direct and I stay outside of it. It’s no different than me recommending an appliance store where they can pick out their appliances. They don’t actually buy them from me.”
Other builders may sign on a specialist but still prefer a closer connection with the work. For example, Matthew Beardsley, a custom builder in Bozeman, Mont., relies on an outside specialist for the installation, but wants to handle any trouble calls once the client has moved in. “We typically do everything,” he says. “If the client has a problem, they call us, and we then contact the appropriate person. It’s part of our way of keeping the client happy.” One advantage of his approach is that it makes it easier to spot areas where planning or construction could be improved next time.
From the builder’s point of view, shifting responsibility for these complex systems to another vendor may make sense. But it also increases the potential for a communications breakdown that can slow construction and leave everyone on the job with frayed nerves. Bigger and more complicated electronics packages have also increased the number and scale of building components needed to house them. Home theaters are often separate rooms that not only have special lighting and audio needs but features like automatic window shades. Hidden televisions need special cabinetry, and whole-house audio components may have to “home-run” to a central room where system hardware is installed. Unless a systems installer is careful to consult with the architect and builder, jobsite relations can become strained.
Steve Hayes, owner of Custom Electronics in Falmouth, Maine, knows all about ruffled feathers. “One-third of our revenues last year came from projects that other people had screwed up,” he says. “Almost always it’s about the relationship, and it’s about the initial contract that happens between the builder and the architect and the installer and the client. It’s who’s going to do what, who’s responsible for what, how clear are the expectations, what are the mark-ups that are going to be allowed for management fees—all that conversation.”
Broken relationships occur when that system fails. Earlier this year, he was about to embark on a salvage job, picking up an installation project in midstream after the original installer was booted. According to Hayes, the electronics contractor refused to copy either the builder or the architect on change notes or scheduling issues. The first that either one would learn of alterations in the building plan was when they walked on the jobsite and saw something they weren’t expecting. “And it would drive the architect crazy, and the builder crazy,” Hayes says. “Well, eventually that animosity grows and if you don’t manage it, it grows, and the client gets trapped in the middle. Finally that relationship peters out in a fit of anger and the person’s gone, the [audiovisual] company is gone.”
Order early Discussions about any special needs for electronics should start right away. Mulfinger says that on a job lasting 18 months (six months for design and another 12 months for construction) some initial decisions about home automation and entertainment equipment should be made within the first eight weeks. “Usually, once we’re going down this path, once we hit the tech head for a client, we already know we better make sure we have some sense of where all this stereo equipment is going, that they’re going to centralize it somewhere,” he says. “We’ll have some very early discussions and be thinking about that… The one thing you know about anything that’s high tech is that it’s going to change tomorrow. You just know it’s going to change.”
Mulfinger has come to accept the inevitability of change in houses under construction. As clients see a building taking shape, they realize it’s not so easy to conceptualize what they’ve already seen on paper. “The homeowner is going through an intense, complex education in the process of designing and building their house,” Mulfinger says. “They can’t foresee everything. The sheer amount of stuff they have to make decisions on is huge, and they don’t always get fully into all aspects of it up front, when you’d like them to.”
He sees the process as “part of the fluid nature” of design and building: “Rarely are we or our contractors surprised by that phenomenon. Usually the homeowner is fearful about asking for changes. But it’s part of the deal, that’s just normal for this gig.”
Yet wholesale changes in a design strategy—such as deciding to add a home theater midway through construction—are unusual. Clients more often tweak designs. Tech-savvy home buyers also may keep an eye out for new audiovisual hardware during construction. In an 18-month span, it’s inevitable that something new will be introduced, but Hayes says that many electronic components can be switched without causing a problem.
“Our notion is that technology changes so fast you can’t keep up with it,” he says. “But a speaker is a speaker is a speaker. An amp is an amp is an amp. Even though people get all nervous about it, there’s not much to worry about.”
Moreover, Hayes is convinced that most buyers don’t really care what kind of equipment they get. Committed technophiles aside, most buyers get as far as visualizing a feature they want, such as music in the kitchen, and leave it at that: “What we’ve found is that people don’t care about the equipment,” Hayes says. “They don’t ask us about brands. More of the conversation is about function and budget… Very seldom, never, do they ask what brands I’m putting in because they don’t care.”
One piece of equipment that can cause a problem is the television. Not only do televisions come in all sizes, but they are often fitted in specially made—and expensive—cabinets that must be ordered months in advance. “We should know whether a 42-inch or a 50-inch plasma is the choice,” Hayes says. “We should know the brand of it before the first 2×4 gets cut. We should know the exact dimensions. We should know where the plug is. We should know where the cables are running to and from. We should know what doors are going to cover things up long before the cabinetmaker is ever talked to.”
Locking in specific makes and models of televisions or other unique electronic components helps avoid expensive change orders later. Hayes and Mulfinger also suggest making cabinetry and electronics closets as flexible as possible so that some changes in hardware can be accommodated without expensive rebuilds. “We ask that they start designing media centers that are flexible,” says Hayes. “Don’t give me a rigidly built cabinet that I can only fit one size TV in. Give me a cabinet with pin shelves and vertical stanchions so I can move them. I don’t want to throw that cabinet away in two years.”
Mulfinger avoids burying equipment in inaccessible places. He favors hardware cabinets that can be opened from the back, possibly from an adjacent room or closet, to make equipment changes easier.
Get paid for extra work Builders who turn over electronics work to another vendor still have to make sure the work gets done and the house is finished on time. That may require extra management, and extra time. Stanton typically charges 10 percent to 15 percent on those contracts to cover extra work he’ll devote to the project. Customarily working on a time-and-materials basis, Beardsley adds a 15 percent general contracting fee to any cost associated with construction—including audiovisual installations. But he doesn’t look for a separate markup on any materials or equipment he orders for the client.
“I probably don’t make as much money as some others,” Beardsley says. “I don’t take my lumberyard package and add something to it and then at the bottom, at my fee line, add it again. There are many ways to cut that up, but when somebody looks at one of my bids or estimates and sees my general contracting line, that’s all the money I make. It’s very obvious. It’s pretty open and honest.”
Hayes doesn’t offer any financial incentives to builders who may call him, but he does suggest they mark up labor and equipment proportional to the project management that will be required. “They should be paid for all the time they’re spending making sure the thing gets done right,” Hayes says. “I’ve never, ever, run into a homeowner who says, ‘There’s no way I’m paying that.’ They all go, ‘Of course you’ll get paid for your time.’ The weird part for me is how many builders are reluctant to have that conversation with their clients.”
With planning, even complex jobs can be executed smoothly. Stanton’s last job, for example, was an 8,700-square-foot house on Long Island Sound that included eight televisions, a home theater, two 400-CD changers in the basement, and plenty of other gadgets. The project took 21/2 years to build. Months after moving the clients into their new $3 million home, Stanton was finishing up construction details. He had handled a total of 54 change orders.
How many of them were connected with the electronics installation? “Not too many,” he says. “As I say, a lot of that is pretty straightforward. You’ve worked it out ahead of time.”—Scott Gibson is a freelance writer in Steep Falls, Maine.
Checklist for a smooth installation
