The Compass · IBG’s Design + Build Process

Most builders give you a checklist. We give you a compass.

Seven phases, one continuous path — from the first thing you read, to the day, years from now, you still call us first. Here is the whole journey, in the open.

PHASE 07 · LIFETIME PARTNERSHIP · NO END DATE · FOR AS LONG AS YOU LIVE IN THE HOME · A 45-DAY CHECK-IN · AN 11-MONTH WALKTHROUGH · ANNUAL TOUCHPOINTS COMMUNICATION TRANSPARENCY EMPATHY SERVICE NESW 01 02 03 04 05 06 07

Phase 07 · Lifetime Partnership · no end date · for as long as you live in the home

Seven phases, one path — and every one of them closes the same way: with something in writing.

01
Phase 01 · Education
Led by · The whole team

Before we ever talk.

Read our cost guides, the evaluation workbook, and the process overview. Learn what a real remodel costs before you ever pick up the phone.

You walk away withAn informed perspective. No sales pressure. No obligation.
It opens with
The Real Cost GuideFree to download
It closes with — in writing
Your five answersBuilder Evaluation Workbook
Read Phase 01 →
01 / 07
The seven phases

The whole journey, at a glance.

The “Hartwell Residence” artifacts below are an illustrative composite — real document formats, sample data — shown so you can see exactly what you’ll receive at each gate. For completed work with real names and addresses, see the portfolio.

The phase & process
Who owns it
What kicks it off
The closing gate
Follow the path
01
Education
Before we ever talk.
The whole team
Cost Guide
Free guide
The Real Cost GuideFree to download
Eval Book
5 answers
Your five answersBuilder Evaluation Workbook
See what we publish — free →
02
Discovery
Our first conversation.
A principal
Intake
Hartwell Res.
Your Prospect IntakeThe Hartwell Residence
Agreement
Hartwell Res.
A signed Design AgreementHartwell — retained
A written answer in five business days →
03
Design
Bringing your vision to life.
Your design lead
Brief
Hartwell Res.
Your Design BriefThe Hartwell Residence
Selections
Hartwell Res.
The Selections Sign-OffHartwell — 142 selections
Bringing your dream to life →
04
Pre-Construction
From signature to site.
Your project manager
Contract
Hartwell Res.
A signed fixed-price contractHartwell — day zero
Mobilization
Hartwell Res.
Materials on order, home protectedHartwell — ready to build
What happens after you sign →
05
Build
On the ground, on the record.
Your project manager
Schedule
Hartwell Res.
Build Schedule + mobilizationThe Hartwell Residence
Completion
Hartwell Res.
Completion WalkthroughHartwell — punch underway
How we build — and keep you in the loop →
06
Delivery
The walkthrough, the handoff, the keys.
Your PM, then Service Lead
Punch List
Hartwell Res.
Our internal pre-walkPunch List — Hartwell
Close-Out
Hartwell Res.
The keys + Close-Out PackageHartwell — delivered
The keys, and everything with them →
07
Lifetime Partnership
For as long as you live in the home.
Your Service Lead
45-Day
Hartwell Res.
Your 45-day check-inWarranty Check-In
Annual Log
Hartwell Res.
An annual visit — for lifeAnnual Touchpoint Log
A relationship, not a warranty →
The proof, in writing

This is what our process looks like.

Before anyone talks price, every Icon client receives a written Discovery Summary — what we heard, the scope as we understand it, an investment range anchored to our published numbers, and exactly what happens next. In writing, within five business days. This is the document itself.

Read it the way a client does: two sheets, eight sections, a candid Go / No-Go, and a range that only becomes a price once the trades who will build it have bid the drawings.

See what Discovery delivers →
Where it sits · Phase 02, between the two documents above
IntakeHartwell Res.Your Prospect IntakeOpens Phase 02 SummaryHartwell Res.The Discovery SummaryDay 5 · this document AgreementHartwell Res.A signed Design AgreementCloses Phase 02

A composite for the “Hartwell Residence”: Icon’s real format and language; the client, the house and every figure marked illustrative are invented. The published numbers are the Real Cost Guide’s.

Icon Building GroupThe Discovery SummaryPhase 02 · Discovery
Prepared for

The Hartwell Residence

Kitchen, family-room wall, pantry and mudroom — what we heard, what it will take, and what happens next.

Walkthrough
Day 0 · sixty minutes in the house, with a principal
Issued
Day 5 · in writing, as promised
Prepared by
A principal — an owner of the firm
Document
DS-0421 · Rev A · chapter 02 of your build binder
You are here Phase 02 · Discovery Our first conversation.
01What we heardIn your words, ranked
  1. 01“Two cooks, one island, and a Sunday crowd — the kitchen is the whole reason we called.”
  2. 02“Open the wall to the family room. We are not giving up the pantry to do it.”
  3. 03“A real mudroom off the garage. The back hall has never worked.”

What we did not hear: a deadline. We asked. “Right, not fast” — and we have planned to that.

02Scope as we understand itRead it the way we will build it
Kitchen · fullFamily-room wall · structuralPantry · relocatedMudroom · newBack hall · reworkedPowder room · refresh

One bearing wall comes out; everything else is finish and flow. Nothing in this scope touches the second floor. In the Real Cost Guide’s terms, this is a multi-room / full-floor project.

03Your investment rangeAnchored to published numbers
ScaleThe published band, end to end
$200K$300K$400K
Published bandMulti-room · The Real Cost Guide
$150K$500K
Your range today IllustrativeOne walkthrough — not a quote
$260K$340K
In DesignTrades bid the final drawings
Narrows here
At the Selections Sign-OffEvery choice locked and priced
One number · fixed
What moves it up
  • Behind the walls. A 1964 house: wiring, a galvanized supply line, or asbestos found at demolition. We test and document before we price.
  • The beam. A longer span, or a footing under it, if the load path says so.
  • Finish level. Frameless European boxes and slab stone sit at the top of the kitchen tiers.
What brings it down
  • Keep the stack. Move the pantry, not the plumbing.
  • Semi-custom cabinetry in the Premium tier; quartz over slab.
  • Existing windows stay; the second floor is untouched.

Where the numbers come fromThe Real Cost Guide multi-room band and its kitchen tiers (Premium $120–185K, Luxury $185–290K); what comparable Icon kitchens with a structural opening have cost; one honest read of your house. A range we will defend, then narrow.

04Where the dollars goShares of your range · illustrative
Cabinetry & millwork24%
Carpentry, drywall & paint17%
Structure & the bearing wall15%
Countertops, tile & flooring13%
Plumbing & fixtures12%
Electrical & lighting11%
Permits, protection & site8%

Design and construction are both inside the range, as they are in every published band. Each share becomes a priced line in Design, with the trade’s bid behind it.

Icon Building Group · DS-0421 · Sheet 1 of 2
05Priced separatelyOutside the range, on purpose
  • Appliances — you choose them; we plan around them and install them.
  • Windows beyond the kitchen wall — a house-wide decision, priced as one.
  • The rear deck — an addition in its own right; we will range it if you want it.
  • Hazardous-material abatement, if testing finds any — sized before contract, never buried in an allowance.
  • Furnishings, window treatments, art — yours, always.
06What the house told usExisting conditions · 14 photos on file
GARAGEPOWDERSTAIRBACK HALLKITCHENPANTRYFAMILYROOMMUDROOMMOVESBEARING · 14 FT030711EXISTING · FIRST FLOORNOT TO SCALE
Sketched at the walkthrough · circles mark photos on file · tan = bearing wall · dotted = the opening · brown = what moves
  • Structure Photo 03 — the kitchen/family-room wall is bearing. A flush beam keeps the ceiling clean; the engineer sizes it for the 14-foot span.
  • Systems Photo 07 — 200-amp panel with room for the kitchen circuits. The kitchen stack moves with the pantry — or stays, and saves.
  • Age Photo 11 — built 1964, so asbestos and lead are assumed present until tested. Documented and priced before contract, never after demolition.
  • Permits — structural work means a village permit and a stamped drawing. We file it, and the review time is in the schedule.
07Our candid callFit · Go / No-Go
Go

This is work we do well, in a house that can take it. The next step, when you are ready and not before, is a Design Agreement — design work only, priced on page one. If the fit were wrong, this page would say so.

Nothing owedThis meeting cost nothing and commits you to nothing. Keep this document either way.
08The road aheadTimeline · realistic, not optimistic
03
DesignDesign Agreement, Phase 1 then Phase 2: concept → development → the trades bid your final drawings → the Selections Sign-Off, every choice locked and priced.
Published6–17 wksHartwell est. 12–16
04
Pre-ConstructionA signed fixed-price Construction Contract → permits filed, orders placed, schedule published → home protected.
Published6–10 wksVillage review inside it
05
BuildThe Build Schedule → a daily log you can read and a written update every Friday → the Completion Walkthrough.
Published6–32 wksHartwell est. 16–20
06
DeliveryThe keys, the Close-Out Package, and a 1-2-10 warranty in writing — one year on workmanship, two on systems, ten on structure.
ThenFor life45 days · 11 months · yearly

Published durations are the Real Cost Guide’s; the Hartwell estimates are illustrative. Your written schedule is published at contract, and the date we give you is the date we plan to.

Yours to keep — whether we build it or not.
Prepared by
A principal, Icon Building Group · Hawthorn Woods, IL
Delivered to
The Hartwell Residence · Day 5, in writing
Icon Building Group · DS-0421 · Sheet 2 of 2

And five things, always.

On every phase · every job · every week
Over-communicationWe’d rather tell you twice.
A schedule you seeTier-driven, always current.
Everything in writingLogged the day it happens.
A Friday updateEvery job, every week.
A punch list from day oneOpened early, closed on the record.

Educate. · Collaborate. · Create.

Start your journey →