How Long a Custom Home Takes, and What Your Bid's Schedule Should Show

People usually ask how long the build will take. The more useful question is what the schedule depends on. A custom home can easily run more than a year, and the duration in a bid is only as good as the assumptions behind it.

Schedule matters for more than move-in day. Every month the job runs, someone pays for supervision, temporary facilities, and general conditions. You may be paying construction loan interest and rent somewhere else. Time is a cost, even when it isn't a line item.

What actually drives the schedule

Approvals before the start. Permits, and in many mountain communities, HOA or design review. These can take longer than people expect, and a bid's construction schedule usually doesn't start counting until they're done.

Long-lead items. Windows, exterior doors, custom cabinets, some stone, some mechanical equipment. Many of these have lead times measured in months. If the window order isn't placed early enough, the house sits waiting to be closed in, sometimes into the snow.

Your selections. This is the one that's in your hands. Tile, fixtures, cabinets, and lighting all have to be chosen before they can be ordered, and ordered before they can be installed. A late selection can hold up a trade, and that trade can hold up the next one.

Winter. Most mountain builds cross at least one. Some work slows and some has to wait. A schedule that doesn't account for the season is optimistic. More on that in Winter construction costs.

Subcontractor availability. In busy markets, good trades are booked out. A builder's schedule depends on when their framer, their electrician, and their tile setter can actually be on your job.

Inspections. Each phase waits on an inspection before the next can cover it up. A slow inspection calendar adds days at every step.

What a bid's schedule should show

A one-line answer like "14 months" tells you very little. A useful schedule shows:

• A start condition: permit issued, financing closed, site accessible
• A duration, and the start date it assumes
• Major milestones: foundation, framing, dried in, rough inspections, drywall, finishes, final
• Long-lead items, with the date each has to be ordered
• A selections schedule: what you have to decide, and by when
• What can move the schedule, and who carries the cost when it does

The selections schedule is the one people skip. It turns "don't hold up the job" into a list of dates you can actually work to.

Comparing schedules between bids

If one builder says 14 months and another says 18, don't assume the first one builds faster. Ask what each assumed. Same start date? Same winter? Same permit timing? A shorter schedule built on optimistic assumptions can end up longer than a realistic one.

Then think about what the difference costs. On a cost plus job, a longer schedule means more months of general conditions billed to you. On a fixed price job, it's mostly the builder's risk, unless the delay comes from changes or late selections on your side. Either way, your own carrying costs, like loan interest and rent, keep running. See General conditions for how the monthly costs add up.

Questions worth asking

• What start date and start condition is this schedule based on?
• Which items have long lead times, and when do they have to be ordered?
• What selections do I need to make, and by when, to keep the schedule?
• How many winter months does the schedule cross, and how did you account for them?
• How do you handle delays caused by approvals, weather, or late selections, and who pays for them?
• How will you report schedule progress during the job?