Large homebuilders face an increasing workload due to the need to provide accurate and more detailed design models and drawings.  With growing skills shortages in their own markets homebuilders are increasingly looking for Partner companies to support their workload, usually by looking for international support.

Why Outsource?

A reliable and capable partner company can relieve some of the workload for homebuilders by being integrated in their design workflow.  An Outsourcing Partner can help a company:

• To overcome skills shortages
• To increase their team size quickly
• To meet spikes in demand
• To focus on other core activities
• To reduce management overhead
• To reduce the cost of the overall design process

Selecting The Right Partner

Adding a homebuilding design partner is a strategic decision and homebuilders need to satisfy themselves of the skills, experience, professionalism and capability of a design partner.

By undertaking thorough and comprehensive due diligence checks a homebuilder will narrow down his choices and ultimately decide upon a partner that is likely to be a close match.  Effective due diligence will involve a review of the following:

• Local market experience – experience in the homebuilder’s market with experience of working on similar projects.
• Software utilization and experience – does the partner use the same software version and is their experience relevant to the homebuilder.
• Financial standing – does the outsourcing partner possess financial stability and have adequate resources to grow with the homebuilder.
• Resource turnover – ideally, staff turnover rates should be low which is an indicator of motivated, well rewarded and therefore more productive employees.
• Cultural fit – understanding how the outsourcing partner interacts and communicates internally and externally and how that compares with the homebuilder.
• Office environment – visiting the outsourcing partner and reviewing the office layout and resources at first hand will provide a useful insight.
• Staff attitudes– by meeting key members as well as technicians, a homebuilder will appreciate the views of staff at all levels.
• References – speaking to customers of the outsourcing partner will provide reassuring information about experience and response of the partner.

A Typical Conversation Between A Homebuilder and XS CAD

Homebuilder

1. Do you have experience of working in our region?
2. Which software does your company use and which services do you provide?
3. How does the outsourcing process work?
4. How will you adhere to our strict quality standards?

XS CAD

1. Yes, we have an experience of working in the US, UK, Canada and Australia and we understand the local building codes for these regions.
2. We use the latest versions of Revit, AutoCAD and ArchiCAD and we provide design models, construction drawings and rendered images to homebuilders.
3. First, we understand your design process and design workflow and jointly identify the elements that you wish to outsource.  We then familiarise ourselves with your standards and output preferences.  We will typically undertake a pilot project to iron out all aspects and then we’ll set up a team just for your projects.
4. We’re an ISO 9001 quality certified so we take quality seriously.  Nothing leaves us before it is checked independently and all of our employees are constantly trained to be efficient as well as being effective.

Core Services Provided By XS CAD

• Schematic and Concept Design – BIM models and drawings
• Design Development – BIM models and drawings
• Construction Documents – BIM models and drawings
• Rendered images for sales purposes

The Top 5 Considerations When Selecting An Outsourcing Partner

1. Local housing experience
2. Software experience and compliance
3. Quality assurance standards
4. Effective communication methods and systems
5. Cost effective

Homebuilding Facts

• Globally, the housing sector is growing by 12.5% per annum with an expected value of $5,468bn by 2018. (www.researchandmarkets.com)
• Design fees (including drawings, models and rendered images) constitute 5%-8% of the homebuilding market (value of $273bn – $437bn)
• The top 100 homebuilders in the US had a combined revenue of $70.4bn in 2015 (Source: Builder)
• The top 100 builders in the US created more than 1mn jobs in 2015 and this will grow by the end of 2016 (Source: Builder).
• Britain’s construction industry makes up about 6% of the economy. (Source: investing.com)

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