The Clear Creek Way
What happens after you call.
The worst part of a construction project is usually not knowing what comes next. Here's how yours moves from an idea to a set of keys, in five phases.
Discovery
A conversation about what you want to build, where it's going, and what it needs to do. No pressure. We'll tell you honestly whether it's a fit for us and roughly what it takes.
Preconstruction
Cost estimating, value engineering, constructability review, scheduling, and funding requirements. Your budget and schedule get set in this phase, while everything is still on paper and changes are cheap.
Design
Working with our design partners, the project takes shape with real construction pricing attached at every milestone. What you approve on the drawings is what you approved on the budget.
Construction
Our supervision on your site, local trades we trust, and reporting you can actually follow. On design-build jobs the phases overlap, so we're in the ground sooner.
Closeout & Beyond
Punch list, documentation, warranties, turnover. Then you have a builder who still picks up the phone three years later, because we'd rather keep a client and a reputation than win an argument.
Design-Build vs. The Old Way
Why owners choose a single team
One contract, not three
Owner to Clear Creek. That's the whole org chart, and it's why the architect-versus-contractor argument never happens on our jobs.
Phases overlap
Sitework can start while the finish details are still being drawn. That overlap is most of the reason design-build gets done sooner.
Price locks early
The budget gets set and managed from preconstruction, so bid day isn't the first time anybody sees a real number.
Questions Owners Ask
What is the difference between design-build and design-bid-build?
In traditional design-bid-build you hire an architect, wait for finished drawings, then send the project out to contractors and find out the real price at the very end. In design-build the designer and the builder work as one team under one contract, so pricing, constructability, and schedule get managed from the first sketch onward. Industry studies have consistently shown design-build projects deliver faster and with fewer change orders.
How long does the preconstruction phase take?
It depends on the size of the project. A few weeks is typical for straightforward commercial work, longer for complex or federal jobs. It's also the most valuable time you'll spend on the whole project, since a week of planning on paper routinely saves several weeks in the field.
Do I need to have plans before contacting you?
No, and earlier is usually better. Bring us an idea and a budget and we can shape the project around both from day one. If you already have plans, we'll price and build them, or review them for constructability first if you'd rather do that.
Ready for phase one?
Discovery is just a conversation. Tell us what you've been thinking about building.