Method/Development & Construction
Discipline I
Development & Construction
The owner's side of the table, held for the whole arc of a build.
The Position
Why the owner needs a side.
Every construction project seats three parties at the table: the people who design it, the people who build it, and the person who pays for it. The first two arrive with professionals, contracts written in their favor, and the fluency that comes from doing this every week. The owner arrives with the money. On most projects, the owner is the only party at the table without someone whose sole job is to protect their interest.
We built houses before we advised on them. Twenty-five years of framing crews, change orders, draw schedules, and the particular silence that falls over a job site when the question is who absorbs the cost of a mistake. That fluency is the service: we know what a fair change order looks like, what a schedule is actually saying, and which line items in an opinion of probable cost deserve a second reading.
The engagement is representation, not construction. We hold the owner’s seat from due diligence through closeout — reading the contracts, walking the site, checking the draws, and holding the builder to the standard the documents promise. When the project needs a general contractor, we help you select a licensed one and advise from the owner’s side. We do not become one.
Who This Is For
A Good Fit
- Owners entering a ground-up build or a major renovation who want a professional in their corner before contracts are signed
- Second-home owners managing a project at distance
- Principals who want the budget, the draws, and the schedule independently read
- Families who have been through a difficult build once and will not repeat it unrepresented
Not A Fit
- Projects seeking a general contractor — we do not hold construction contracts
- Disputes already in litigation — we are not legal representation
- Engagements that need a stamped design professional of record rather than an owner's representative
- Owners seeking someone to withhold payment or work against the builder — the work is a fair job, held to the documents.
The Lifecycle
Due Diligence
The site, the documents, the budget, and the assumptions — read before anything is committed.
Pre-Construction
Drawing review before bidding, bids compared line by line on scope rather than price, contract review, and the schedule as it should be.
Construction
Site walks, draw review, change-order review, and a weekly reading of where the project actually stands.
Closeout
Punch list, lien releases, warranties, and a final accounting of budget and schedule — the closing record of the project.
What You Receive
Every week
A written report: the site, the schedule, the budget, and the decisions waiting on you.
Throughout
One decision record, a change-order log, and every invoice read before you pay it.
At handover
The closeout file and a final accounting, budget and schedule against where they began.
Engagement
Retainer
MonthlyStanding representation through active phases — the weekly cadence, held.
Phase Engagement
Scoped per phaseOne phase of the lifecycle, taken on with a defined start, finish, and deliverable.
Principal Hours
By the hourThe principal's reading of a contract, a draw, or a decision — by the hour.
Terms are set out in the letter of engagement.
Every engagement begins the same way.
Begin The DiagnosticAdjacent Disciplines
What This Engagement Covers
Maison de Thu is a design and owner's-side house. We hold design, owner's-representation, and diagnostic engagement contracts.