What to Expect When Building Along Florida's Coast: A Guide for Homeowners

Florida Coastal Construction Your Home Team: Roles & Responsibilities Staying On Time & On Budget

Florida Coastal Construction

Building in Florida’s coastal areas can be uniquely challenging – especially on barrier islands like Anna Maria and Longboat Key where flooding and hurricanes are high risk.

Flood Zones & FEMA Rules

Homes with lower level living space are subject to FEMA Rules. That means you can only spend less than 50% of the value of your structure (not the whole property) on remodels and repairs. Revisions made during the project also cannot take the costs over 50% of the structure value.

Impact Building Products

Florida has very strict regulation on exterior products in coastal regions. The higher quality, impact resistant products increase costs on windows, exterior doors, siding and roofing compared to other parts of the country.

State and Local Building Codes

Local code requires structures to be more heavily engineered to withstand flooding, waves and high winds. Also, building codes, setbacks and lot coverage ordinances likely have changed since your house was built, so these codes must also be taken into account when designing and permitting your remodel.

Local Building Boom

Property investment in the local coastal areas have increased in the past decade placing demands on skilled trade labor. While we do our best effort to keep costs as low as possible and projects moving, this shortage can impact both labor costs and schedules.

Existing Structure Issues

Older homes, especially in the extreme heat and humidity of Florida, often have unforeseen issues (including rotting, warped framing, old electrical and plumbing problems, foundation problems, etc) that need to be corrected both for your safety and to meet current building codes.

These issues often aren’t discovered until work is already in progress.

Pro Tip: Expect the unexpected. Keep a 20% cushion in your budget for unforeseen issues or be prepared to be flexible in your design.

Your Home Team: Roles & Responsibilities

01 ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM

Pete Dospel
President & General Contractor

The GC spends 70% of his time in the early stages of your project – new client meetings, working with designers and engineers on planning your project to meet complex local building code, estimating and budgeting, and permitting.

Once the build starts, he hands off day-to-day project oversight to the Job Site Supervisor. The remaining 30% of his time is spent managing the build – dealing with emergencies, submitting permit revisions, acting as liaison between clients, subcontractors and city officials with periodic site and client visits, hiring (and firing) subcontractors, and paying for job costs.

Finally, he ensures you have high quality build that is up to code and warranted for one year.

Ariel McGill
Corporate Administration

Ariel is responsible for managing client accounts, including working with subcontractor bids, client estimates, writing contracts, compiling, notarizing and submitting permit documents, billing and job cost tracking and reporting.

02 SITE TEAM

Job Site Supervisor

The Job Site Supervisor is both the top skilled carpenter and job site supervisor. He is an independent subcontractor that supervises day-to-day job details, including supervising carpentry crew, ordering building material, calling inspections and working with the GC to schedule subcontractors.

The Job Site Supervisor is in daily contact with the GC and crews and works directly with clients.

Carpentry Crew

The carpentry crew are independent subcontractors that range from the lead carpenter to carpenter helpers. They work on your project from site prep to completion, performing everything from demo to framing to detail work.

03 THE EXPERTS

Subcontractors

Trade subcontractors, with the exception of carpenters, typically have a very limited scope on your job. The major trade subcontractors – electrical, plumbing, HVAC, roofing and masonry – are tied to the permit and must carry a professional licence in the State of Florida.

Dospel Construction uses a team of trusted, quality subcontractors that are experienced with the challenges of island construction.

Suppliers

Dospel Construction orders material and building supplies from vendors that carry high, quality products that meet Florida Building Code Standards.

She is the client’s resource for product selection, billing and other related questions. She works with Pete and John on scheduling, ordering material and researches job specific questions from vendors and subcontractors.

04 THE HOMEOWNERS

As the client, you are the integral part of the team – working with the designer and GC for a build design that is both within your budget and, if required, the FEMA budget requirements.

You work directly with design-related subcontractors for your selections and to review job specific details. By communicating your concerns, timely and in writing, to the GC, Accounts Manager, and Job Site Supervisor, you help your build smoothly progress to successful completion.

Staying On Time & On Budget

Know your contract and the costs in your scope of work.

For most remodel projects, we work under a Cost-Plus Agreement. The Estimate and Scope of Work in your contract are for determining your deposit and draw payment schedule and to help determine your budget.

Your draw payment is used to pay for the costs on your job. Once the draw is spent, you will receive an Job Cost Invoice that shows the expenses paid, the project management fee, and a copy of all receipts paid during that period.

Pro Tip: To stay within budget, understand the material allowances in your contract so you can either make selections within that budget or make an informed decision to increase your budget if it is not constrained by FEMA Rules.

Understanding your Cost Estimate

Hard Bids

Bids from major trades, like roofing, electrical, plumbing and masonry are typically hard bids. Work performed under a hard bid will be done strictly within that scope and you will be invoiced the amount shown in the contract. If the scope changes, the subcontractor will usually provide a Change Order to the bid.

Soft Bids

Subcontractor bids on exterior windows and doors, cabinetry, countertops, and flooring estimated in your contract’s scope of work may change based on your selections and/or the final onsite measurements once the phase is ready to begin.

Allowances

Since all remodel work has its unique challenges, some portions of your project cannot be hard bid and are, therefore, allowanced. This is especially true for carpentry and demo labor and material (including dumpster fees).

Allowances are also made for some selections, including interior doors & trim, plumbing & lighting fixtures (not included in subcontractor bids), tile/flooring where no selection made at time of contract, outdoor features like landscaping, pools/spas and decking/pavers.

Pro Tip: Even seemingly small changes to your design and scope can dramatically increase the cost of your remodel. Check with your contractor regarding costs before making a final decision on revisions.

Scheduling

Your remodel is done in phases (i.e. foundation, framing, electrical rough in, etc.). After each phase by a major trade subcontractor, the work will be inspected by the building department. We then schedule the trade subcontractor needed for the next phase.

Due to subcontractor availability, it is not unusual to have brief periods with no workers on your job site.

Avoidable Delays: Client revisions to plans after permitting, delayed selection decisions or changes, and late payment of your draw or job cost invoice.

Unavoidable Delays: Inclement weather, product backorder, subcontractor schedule backlog and revisions due to unforeseen conditions of structure.