Frequently Asked Questions

As an experienced builder, we have been in business for over ten years. Our senior management team has decades of construction experience with over 20 years of local industry involvement and family routes going back many years prior.

Yes, definitely. If your builder isn’t fully insured and licensed, it can put you at risk. If something goes wrong, it could make you liable, which we strongly advise against.

We’re an industry leader in custom residential projects including luxury custom homes and significant 
bespoke renovations.

With a proven track record in building custom residential projects, we can provide you with a construction project portfolio for previous endeavors and a list of references our team has completed.

After we have developed the full scope of work for a project, we implement efficient project scheduling and a timeline for our customers. One thing to remember is that for construction timeline management, the start date will always be contingent on when the municipality issues the necessary building permit where the work is taking place.

Since our inception, our projects have been completed collaboratively between our in-house Project Managers, Carpenters, Apprentices, and Skilled Labourers, and our Valued Sub-Contractors, who are as much part of our team as our payroll employees.

When a change in the scope of work arises, our Project Management team emphasizes effective handling of change orders through input from the applicable Sub-Contractors, and from there, presents a Change Order/Budget Adjustment to our customer, detailing the costs.

Our Project Management team has strict quality control in the building system to maintain standards, including comprehensive project pre-planning, hiring only qualified and experienced contractors, performing regular inspections and testing, maintaining strict control over the quality of materials and supplies used in the construction project, foster effective communication and collaboration among all project stakeholders, and the development of a thorough apprenticeship, mentorship, and training system. We also conduct a post-construction evaluation to assess the overall quality of the project and address any warranty and deficiency items that arise.

We can provide a list of verified homebuilder references and construction project testimonials for past projects that we have completed. When investing in a home as large as this, it is perfectly acceptable to verify claims with other parties.

In conjunction with our design team, we maintain a thorough understanding of local, provincial, and national building codes and regulations, which govern construction standards to ensure the safety and health of the occupants. A responsible builder will identify all necessary permits required by the local government or relevant authorities.

While we offer a custom in-house design involving our experienced construction group and referred consultant team, which features an Architectural Designer, Interior Designer, Structural Engineer, and Energy Modeler, we also work closely with leading Architects & Designers throughout the Greater Vancouver region.

Costs will depend on the stage you are at with your drawings and design. If we’re engaged in the project for our comprehensive pre-construction services (which we prefer), there will be costs before the final building contract is signed and the construction commences.

We use an innovative Project Management System to manage our projects every step of the way. This system allows you to access all your job information and track your home-building progress. You will also have regular contact with Philip and specific members of our team regularly, ensuring you receive the best possible service.

We provide our customers some flexibility to engage a few Sub-Contractors or suppliers of their choice. However, our negotiated management fees and mark-ups would still apply to those contracts. We like to ensure that we have ample notice as construction commences that each Sub-Contractor is fully licensed and insured, adheres to our Rechsteiner Safety Policy, and abides by our core values. Under these circumstances, we are more than happy to accommodate you.

As your builder, it is our responsibility to help you understand the total costs and benefits of building a high-performance home. We strike a good balance with practical, sustainable building solutions while at the same time consistently delivering value to our clients throughout the project and the life cycle of the home.

Many aspects and degrees of sustainability can be incorporated into a home, ranging from simple everyday inclusions like clotheslines and water tanks to passive solar design, glazing, insulation, and material selection, all the way to full Passive House Certification. We aim to match your philosophy and budget with the best sustainable options that suit you and your home.

Our team likes to meet with your chosen consultant beforehand to see if we will fit the project well. We are open to working with top architectural firms and collaborating with design firms for our custom projects. However, we must do so as a collective.

The unique nature of every custom project we take on means that a “one size fits all approach” does not work for each home. Since this is the case, construction contract structures include fixed-price and cost-plus building contracts, depending on the scope of work and the specific project.

At Rechsteiner, we strongly emphasize a collaborative approach during the design and construction process, so the earlier we can get involved in the project, the better. Our construction team works with Architectural designers, Structural Engineers, Interior designers, and Energy modelers early in the process to value engineer the project.

Yes, as part of the construction process, we typically schedule “site visits” with our customers periodically and during certain stages of the build more frequently than others. In being mindful of our culture of safety, we request that visits get scheduled with our Project Managers.

The larger the project, the more our customers want to ask about our warranty options since your home is one of the most significant investments in your life. We offer a comprehensive 2/5/10 home warranty by one of Canada's premier home warranty insurance companies. New Home Warranty coverage includes at least two years on labor and materials (some limits apply), five years on the building envelope, including water penetration, and ten years on structure.

The founder of our company is a Red Seal Carpenter himself and strongly believes in an apprenticeship model of training, mentoring, and developing the next generation of carpenters and construction leaders. As a house gets built on a solid foundation, we firmly believe that our company's strength encompasses a strong mentorship and training system.

Our company headquarters are in Burnaby; however, our team builds throughout the Lower Mainland from the North Shore to Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

Detailed project timelines in construction will ultimately depend on the project scope; however, the project build timeline gets stated within our communication and meetings. Our client portal allows you to view your individual construction project schedule so that you can watch your home tracking along.

We have often found that the preconceived drawings and design don’t quite meet the reality of the budget, and occasionally, there might be construction issues that do not get thoroughly identified until later in the quoting or construction process, leading to cost increases and schedule delays.

With the early engagement of construction professionals and builder input in the design phase and throughout the design process, we have found that many of these issues can be quickly resolved, discussed, and planned for in the initial stages, leading to a smoother and shorter build process and a design tailored to your specific budget requirements.