The decisions · Fixed Price or Cost-Plus
Fixed Price or Cost-Plus
The contract type decides who carries the risk of the unknown, and both answers are legitimate. What is not legitimate is a fixed price on drawings that cannot support one.
Bring the drawings at whatever stage they are. An honest range and the decisions that move it, before anyone quotes.
Licensed
General contractor, licensed in the state of Florida
Self-perform
Dewatering, SOE and deep foundations in house
Leadership
Delivered Fifth Avenue and Central Park West interiors
Open book
Where the contract is cost-plus, the books open
A fixed price on an unresolved set is a fiction
Owners want certainty, so they ask for a fixed price. If the drawings are not resolved, the builder either loads the number heavily to cover what they cannot see, or prices it thin and recovers the difference through change orders. Both are bad, and the second is worse because it arrives as a series of arguments.
What each suits
- Fixed price: a fully resolved set, selections made, minimal unknowns.
- Cost-plus with a GMP: an evolving design where you still want a ceiling.
- Open-book cost-plus: maximum transparency, requires trust and attention.
- Fixed price on unresolved drawings: the worst of all available options.
- Whichever you choose, the allowance schedule matters more than the type.
How we handle it
- 01Assess honestly whether the drawings support a fixed price.
- 02Where cost-plus, define the fee, the open book and the reporting.
- 03Where GMP, define what is inside and outside the guarantee.
- 04Set the allowance schedule with real numbers, not round ones.
- 05Agree the change order process before it is needed.
A guaranteed maximum price with an open book is the structure that suits most luxury residential work, because the design keeps developing and the owner keeps making choices. It gives a ceiling without pretending the drawings are finished.
Said plainly
Where we stop
If you insist on a fixed price against a schematic set, we will decline rather than pad the number. Someone will take that job; the outcome is predictable.
FAQ
Common questions
- Which is cheaper?
- Neither, systematically. Fixed price on complete drawings and open-book cost-plus on evolving ones both land in similar places. The mismatched combinations are what cost money.
- What is a GMP?
- A guaranteed maximum price — a ceiling on a cost-plus contract. It suits luxury residential well.
- How do I know the drawings are ready?
- If selections are unmade and details unresolved, they are not ready for a fixed price. Any builder should tell you that.
- Is open book real?
- It should be — actual invoices, actual subcontracts. Ask what you get to see, and how often, before signing.
What we build
Custom Homes
A custom home is the only project where every decision is still open, which is exactly why it is the easiest one to lose control of financially.
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Waterfront Construction
On a waterfront lot the building is often the straightforward part. The water table, the seawall, the flood elevation and the permitting are what decide the program and a large share of the cost.
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Whole-House Renovation
Renovating an existing house is harder to price than building a new one, because a meaningful part of the scope is behind finishes nobody has opened.
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Historic Restoration
In a historic district the approval process governs the design, and it operates on a timescale that has nothing to do with construction.
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Additions & Second Stories
An addition is constrained by a building that was designed for a different life. Whether the existing foundation and structure can carry the new load is the first question and it is not always answered yes.
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Guest Houses & Accessory Structures
A guest house is a small building governed by disproportionately complicated rules. Zoning, not design, determines what is possible.
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More the decisions
Choosing a Builder
Three builders will show you three beautiful portfolios and three numbers that differ by a lot. The portfolio tells you what they photograph, not what they are like to build with.
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Allowances & Selections
An allowance is a placeholder for a decision you have not made. A contract full of them is a contract whose final number has not been decided.
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The Program
Every owner is told a number at the start and most projects take longer. The gap is usually permitting, long-lead items and decisions — rarely the building itself.
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Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.