Working With People

            Our industry today has gotten more complicated. The days of walking up to the counter of the building department with four pages of blue prints have passed. There are numerous committees that have to approve and make their demands to your project. What use to take a day or two in some unpopulated areas to two weeks in cities of 20,000 now takes mare than a year to get approved. Still while I build a project, I think of things which would improve the design.  I speak with the owner and then upon request I converse with the design team. I say I use a particular architect but in reality, there is another team of professional behind him helping to get the plans completed and approved.  I find that this process is like comparing the book to the movie. I typically enjoy the book more than the movie. I believe it is because when I read, I connect back to my experiences and when I watch a movie, I am directed to view another person’s interpretation of the events.

All that is said to let you know that I do not simply change the architects. I call him and we talk. I explain my concern and voice my opinion and give him the reasoning. I also video call him to show him what I see. He makes the call. He deals with the planning department and gives the needed paperwork to pass the inspections. Building codes are the minimum standard that you may build to, you can improve you project providing that your improvement doesn’t negatively affect another part of the project.

Once I was building an addition to convert a small ranch style house into a two-story Victorian style home. While I was framing the roof I could see the skyline of a distant city and the ocean.  I talked with the owner and explained that if I cut dormers into the roof, they could finish the room our later and take advantage of that view. That view was added value to their home. I called the architect and told gave him my thoughts. He liked them and asked me to give him a few days to work out the calculations and new drawing for the rafters. I do not recall any other structural members having to be added to carry the new load. I do remember the view. The home owner had me finish the room for her quiet space. It had its own custom bath, reading area and area for her creative juices to flow. She ended up prouder of that area than the master bedroom and rooms of the second floor.

A few days ago, I called the same architect and voice my concerns I put us onto a video call so he could view what I was seeing and we changed the window sizes. There were bumps getting the ratings I needed to meet but after a few hours of research and trial and error the window company and I came to windows which satisfied the regulations. I emailed the windows information to the architect for him to be able to add it into his plans.  The plans are the intellectual property of the architect.  I paid for the right to build off his plans. Yes, I hired him to design the build and it was designed for that particular property and location, still the plans are his intellectual property. If in the future I wish to use that design again I will let him know, then he will use those plans to influence the new ones, but the plot plan at least will be different and some of the requirement s if not in the same city.

The sales person for the windows asked a question to which I answered and then made an incorrect statement. I said you can’t real recommend me to your clients. I was told that she could and would if I agreed to sign a form. There is no request for any type of compensation. It is simply network building. The owner has voiced his concerns about those windows for some time now and the advantages of downsizing them are huge for the overall structure. The owner come out daily to look at the progress and can not hold his pleasure back, and now his windows meet his lifestyle and they flow with the decor of his existing house.

The owner is pleased, the architect plans have the changes I felt should have been made and the logic behind the changes. I have a design that has proven itself in the area and the possibility of referrals from the company where I purchased the windows. There are advantages to working with people. New technologies come and go and we need to remain open minded and adapt our techniques to accommodate some of them. I heard that years ago a cake mix in a box was introduced which the public refused to use because they didn’t believe it could be that simple. The company change their product and added adding the eggs in their instruction and that company is still thriving today.  Just because the method is hundreds of years old doesn’t means that it can’t be improved or approached from a different perspective. Working with people will help you improve your skills. Providing a needed service to the public will grow your business and help you become successful.

Note: Images on this blog site are from a free source or taken by the author. No image or group of photos is intended to represent the people the author serves. The author does not care about Race (that is a politically correct term that he does not like because we are all of the same Race, the Human Race. He prefers the term ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender, marital status, disability, genetic information, national origin, source of income, Veteran or military status, ancestry, citizenship, primary language or immigration status.) He is a service provider for all people. We will all rise together when we band together and help one another. Joseph Erwin is a Real Estate Broker, DRE # O2131799, and a CA general contractor # B 696662. He’s a member of the CRMLS and The East Valley Association of Realtors located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.