1
Research phase
Reserve a time for production
Welcome to Mandala Custom Homes! This is the research phase for your dream home. Gather enough information to be ready to commit to a reservation and design process.
Production Reservation
Ensure your home is ready to move into when you prefer by reserving a place in our production schedule. This reservation ensures you receive your home components at a time that synchronizes with your project calendar.
The Production Reservation is a flat fee: ($5,000 for homes up to 2500 sq ft, $8,000 for homes over 2500 sq ft, and custom for commercial or public spaces). This amount is applied to your eventual Production Contract. If your project does not proceed to production, the following refund schedule is applied:
91+ days prior to start of production quarter: 100% less $250 admin fee
61 to 90 days prior to start of production quarter: 50%
31 to 60 days prior to start of production quarter: 25%
30 days or less prior to start of production quarter: 0%
2
Design phase
Design services agreement
You have decided to move forward with the design of your dream home. At the end of this phase you will have a finished floorplan and a detailed quote to facilitate moving into the production phase.
Design Process
Mandala Custom Homes is known for its caring and curious designers. Their careful attention to your wants and wishes during the design process results in a home you will appreciate every day. Your home will flow with your lifestyle, be comfortable and nourishing to live in, be in relationship to the land and last for generations.
We offer a number of existing floor plans as a “jumping off point” for designing your new home. By choosing one of these plans and customizing it to your needs and wishes, your design process can move quickly to create a design that reflects your values and lifestyle.
Whether you start with an existing floor plan and adapt it to suit your needs or work with your designer to create a fully custom home, the design process unfolds in the same manner.
Once you have reviewed and signed the Design Services Agreement, you and your dedicated in-house designer will begin to flesh out all your desired home features. Your designer will review with you MCH’s extensive Client Questionnaire to establish the basic requirements and qualities of your home. From your input, your designer will create the plans and 3D images using 3D architectural software.
The design process will define such things as:
- Site considerations: slope, view opportunities, access, sun studies, site features and constraints
- Architectural design: effective and efficient floor plan, basic structural concept, and building code considerations
- Sun and wind study: Our 3D design software can produce an accurate sun and wind simulation for the specific location. This allows the design to be adjusted to achieve maximum benefit from solar heat gain while avoiding overheating during summer.
- As the design evolves, you will receive updated Initial Estimates for the cost of the package.
Design Services Fees
The fees for Design Services are calculated as follows:
- $3.50 / sq ft based on initial floor plan
- $1.25 / sq ft is a non-refundable design royalty fee
- $2.25 / sq ft is a retainer that is invoiced at the rate of $95 / hr
Any retainer amount remaining after design is complete is applied to the Production Contract or refunded. If the retainer is insufficient to complete the design, you will be invoiced at the rate of $95 / hr until the design is complete. This rate will also apply if further design adjustments are required after the completion of the design phase.
3
Production phase
Production contract
Now you have a design that represents your dream home, and you know its cost. You will review and sign the Design and Final Cost Proposal as well as the Production Contract. You will make arrangements to pay the Production Contract Fees.
Production Contract Fees
- 1. Materials Deposit and Document Set Fee
- 10% of total home cost:
- Less the Production Reservation
- Less any remaining Design Retainer
- Plus the Document Set Fee of $3.00 / sq ft
- Due 120 days prior to the start of production or upon signing the Production Contract, whichever occurs first.
- For the Document Set Fee, your designer will:
- Prepare the permit plan set
- Prepare the construction documents
- Prepare the Assembly Manual
- Coordinate the engineering review
- Note: The cost of the engineer is your responsibility
- 2. Production Start Deposit
- 40% of total home cost, due 30 days prior to the start of production.
- 3. Final Payment
- Final 50% of total home cost, placed in escrow via an Escrow Agreement, due 15 days prior to the start of production.
- During production you will receive an Escrow Release – Direction to Pay form to release the escrow. The Escrow may be disbursed to MCH in multiple payments as shown on the Escrow Release form. All money must be disbursed prior to shipping.
Create Construction Documents
MCH is now producing the construction documents and building the home package to be shipped to your location. Your contractor is prepping the site and you are making material choices.
Your designer will produce the building permit drawings for engineering approval. The permit is required to make sure that the building meets health, fire, structural and general safety requirements.
The designer will send plans to an engineer, who will supply the professional engineering certificates (stamps) for your permit application. In addition, trusses, joists, support columns, beams and fasteners are designed and approved by a structural engineer. The engineer will invoice the engineering fees directly to you. You, or your contractor, will take these to your local building authority (municipal or regional) to apply for the building permit.
Assuming all relevant information has been submitted, the building permit review process can take anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks, depending on the scope of the project and the workload of the building department. The Building Inspection office calculates the fee for a permit application and a building permit based on the value of the building.
The final construction drawings will help your contractor to prepare for the home assembly and for the interior finishing once the building shell is assembled. These include: Detailed footing and foundation plans, interior wall framing plans, and any additional construction details.
Produce Home Package
Now your home is actually being built, piece-by-piece, gathered into packages, marked and labeled for transport. Your designer is now preparing your customized Assembly Manual. Once construction drawings are made and materials, such as windows, have been ordered, any changes may result in increased costs, and possibly a change to the production schedule. To ensure we understand the changes and their impact, we require a Change Work Order, for major and minor changes, allowing you and MCH to keep track of and agree to all changes.
Ship
The components of your home are prepared in packages with a detailed packing list, to be loaded on a truck(s), or into a shipping container. If for some reason your site is not ready, or other project issues prevent you receiving the components when we are ready to ship, short-term storage may be available at our facility for a fee.