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Core Values:
Beliefs
of Creative Design Associates
- CDA must add value to property, and value to clients.
- CDA's responsibility is dedication to our clients goals,
not ours.
- The client's budget must be respected. Any capital
improvement represents the expenditure of considerable financial
resources. When it is a residence, it is more than likely the
family's largest asset. When a business property, there is a cost
to benefit analysis. Creative Design takes this responsibility
very seriously.
- Attention to all the little details ensures that the
significant items are never forgotten. There is an old adage
which applies "if you have ten minutes to cut down a tree, spend the
first nine minutes sharpening the saw." There is too much emotion
and money at stake to "just wing it."
- Superior projects start with superior construction
documents. Shoddy drawings imply shoddy work is acceptable.
- Teamwork results in the best projects. The Owner,
Architect, and Contractor(s) working together produce results that
are on-time, on-budget, and well designed.
- Contractors should be empowered to provide valued input and
to demonstrate the best of their trade expertise.
- General Contractors are not as expensive as believed.
Subcontractors give better prices to General Contractors than they
will to an Owner directly. The GC provides their marketing and
steady repeat work. Owners are one-time buyers. Thus GCs
make their money on the spread between the price quoted to the GC and
the Owner. The subs perform in a more timely fashion for GCs for
the very same reasons.
- The most important project decision is selection of
the right General Contractor. The GC is going to disburse 90% of
the project funds. Selection of the GC should be based on
personal interviews and past client referrals. Price can always
be negotiated, quality of performance is far more difficult.
- Bidding for the lowest price is the best way to ensure
going over budget and a nightmare project.
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