Advice is only worth the interests behind it. In construction, where an advisor's friends and fee streams can quietly become the client's cost, independence has to be structural — designed in, written down, and easy to verify. This charter is incorporated into every engagement we sign.
1. We are compensated only by our client. No fees, commissions, rebates, referral payments, or benefits of any kind from contractors, vendors, or suppliers. Ever.
2. You hold the contracts. Agreements for construction, design, and major procurement are between you and the providers. Your money flows directly to the people doing the work, under contracts in your name.
3. Recommendations come with the comparison. When we recommend a provider or a path, the alternatives we considered, the criteria we applied, and the reasoning come with it — in writing. Sole-source recommendations require written justification.
4. Relationships are disclosed. Any personal or financial relationship between our people and a recommended provider is disclosed to you in writing before you rely on the recommendation.
5. Decisions are documented. Material recommendations and decisions are recorded with their rationale, so the project's story can always be reconstructed — by you, your board, or anyone you owe an answer to.
6. Your name is yours. We do not identify you as a client, describe your project, or use your name in any marketing without your written consent.
7. We reaffirm it annually. Every continuing engagement receives an annual written reaffirmation of this charter as applied to that engagement.
If a firm asks for your trust in construction, ask it for its version of this page.