DESIGN-BUILD PROCESS
We, at City Decks Inc., understand that expanding your home into an outdoor living space is new territory for most of our homeowners. Regardless of the size of the space this is something that will enhance your lifestyle for years to come.
To help you become familiar with the process we’ve come up with this simple guide.
1.Make the first call: Call our office at 267-318-7776 to make an appointment for an estimate.
2.The initial appointment: Design ideas will be talked about, lifestyle, materials, budget and measurements will be taken.
3.An estimate will be created and sent to you via email in approximately 5 working days. It takes time and research to secure the proper pricing for your specific project so please be patient.
4.Included in the estimate are the costs for Structurally Sealed Architectural Drawings. The City of Philadelphia requires any structural builds to have a Structural Seal from an accredited architectural. We work with one of the best.
5.Also included in the estimate is the cost for us to manage the L&I process to obtain the proper building permits and zoning approvals. If your home is listed on the Historical Registry or in a historical neighborhood within Philadelphia we walk the applications through the Historical Commission for Staff Approval.
6.Once we finalize the contract details and the contract is signed we ask for a 1/3 upon signing and any special order materials cost such s a spiral staircase. The following payments are broken down into two more payments and outlined in your contract. Each payment schedule is different and subject to change based on the scope of work and length of project.
7.We then send line drawings of your project to our architect for him to create the drawings and site plan needed to submit an application to License and Inspection for Building and Zoning permits. Timing depends on the complexity of the project.
8.Once we have the sealed architectural plans they are submitted to L&I with the applications.
9. The review process could take 21 working days. We can only expedite (5 day review) projects that are over 500 Sq. Ft and over $25,000.00. This doesn’t mean your approval comes through in 21 days, it just means the plans reviewer or engineers are required to review the application within 21 days. This is not meant to scare you, by any means. We very often get approvals within 2 weeks.
10.Every project runs the risk of being refused for zoning. What this means is that you will need to obtain a variance on your property to build your deck. If this happens City Decks will help you through the process for an additional fee and there is also a filing fee. The entire process can take 2 months and we will need to appear before your local RCO Zoning Committee and the ZBA.
11. Once we have secured the building and zoning permits for your project you will be slotted on our production schedule with a tentattive start date.
12. You will recieve an insurance rider from our insurance carrier before we start work on your property stating that your home is covered for the duration of time we are on your property.