The Pre-Construction Checklist: 12 Things Before Dirt Moves
The boring list that saves expensive months: 12 things that should be true before an excavator ever shows up on your land.
The most expensive weeks on a custom build are the ones where dirt is moving and decisions aren’t made. This is the boring list that prevents them — the 12 things we like true before an excavator ever shows up.
The checklist
- Survey in hand. Boundaries, easements, and any surprises on paper first.
- Deed restrictions read. What you’re allowed to build, confirmed — not assumed.
- Soil report done. The slab gets engineered from it. Non-negotiable.
- Water answered. Well or tap — decided and priced for the tract.
- Septic evaluated. System type follows the soil; placement follows the site plan.
- Power path confirmed. Where it comes from, how far it runs, who trenches.
- Access planned. Driveway, culvert, and a place for delivery trucks to turn.
- Home site staked. Stand where the porch will be. Watch a sunset from it first.
- Plan finalized. Walk your daily life through it on paper one more time.
- Selections locked. The big ones — before the schedule depends on them.
- Budget signed, openly. Every bid visible, one agreed fee, change process in writing.
- Financing draws mapped. Lender, draw schedule, and builder’s risk in place.
“Decisions on paper are cheap. The same decisions mid-build are the expensive kind.”
Why the boring list exists
Whose job is all this?
Mostly ours — with your decisions. On a Signature build this list IS the pre-construction phase, run with you at the table and priced open-book as it firms up. Print it anyway. It keeps everyone honest, including us.
Keep reading
Want the checklist run for your land?
Bring the tract — we’ll walk all 12 with you and price what they mean, openly.
