You Have the Plans.

Here's how you manage the build.

Most owner-builders are well prepared for the design phase. The managing phase is a different story.

Bids that don't match. Invoices that arrive without context. Change orders that exist only in a text thread. Budget numbers that stop making sense two months in. These aren't the result of bad planning — they're the result of no system. The paperwork side of a residential build doesn't come with instructions, and most people figure it out by making expensive mistakes.

Managing the Build is the system that fixes that. Written for the owner-builder. Built from twenty years of professional construction practice. Covering everything from the first bid request to the final draw.

Built from real projects. Not theory

I started building this system in 2005, working for a custom home builder who operated at a commercial level of miscommunication — hundreds of pages of specifications, multi-million dollar budgets, and no margin for miscommunication. The tools residential builders had didn't match the scale or pace of the work. So I built my own.

Over the next twenty years — through architecture firms, design-build companies, and eventually a general contractor where the system got its real-world stress test — the tools evolved. The scope sheet library grew. The budget tracker was refined. The forms were simplified until they were fast enough to actually use on a live project. What's in this guide is what remained after two decades of that process: the parts that held up under pressure, made clear by someone who was there for all of it.

This guide exists because those problems needed answers — down to the penny, every time. It's built to work for the owner-builder managing a project seriously, without the institutional support of a large firm.

A complete system. From first bid to final draw.

The guide covers the full documentation and financial management side of an owner-builder project — the part most people are least prepared for. Specifically:

  • ScopeSheets and Bid Management

    How to define every trade's work in writing before a bid goes out. A clear scope sheet changes the quality of bids you receive, makes them directly comparable, and becomes the basis for your contract. The guide explains the system; the Project Manual provides 60+ ready-to-use scope sheets for every residential trade.

  • Budget Tracking and Draw Requests

    How to track every dollar from estimate to final invoice. The Project Tracker is built around the Sworn Construction Statement — the same format lenders and title companies use for draw requests. Every line item connects to a signed contract. Every change order is logged and reflected in real time

  • Subcontractors, Scheduling, and Closeout

    How to work with trades professionally — what they need from you, what you're responsible for as the owner-builder, and how to set up a schedule that actually holds. The guide covers the full GC role: site readiness, permits, inspections, payments, and the documentation that protects you through closeout and beyond.

You don't need a construction background to use this system.

This guide was written for people who are serious about their project and willing to stay organized — not people who already know how to build. The system is designed to be set up before construction begins, when everything is still manageable. You don't need to understand framing or MEP coordination to use it. You need to be the kind of person who puts things in writing.

If you've made it to the point of buying plans, you've already demonstrated the core quality the role requires. The rest is showing up prepared, making decisions when they're needed, and keeping the paperwork current

This system is for you if:

  • You're acting as your own general contractor on a new build, cabin, or ADU.
  • You're managing subcontractors and need a clear structure for bids, contracts, and payments.
  • You have a construction loan and need clean documentation for draw requests.
  • You've started a build and feel like the paperwork side is getting away from you.
  • You want to finish with a complete project record — every scope, every invoice, every
    decision.

Choose the system that fits your build.

All three tiers include the complete Managing the Build guide. The Working System and Complete System add the tools that put the system into practice.

Tier 1

The Guide

$59USD

Managing the Build — complete. Both parts, twelve chapters, appendices. The full system explained in plain language. Read it before the first bid goes out.

What's included

  • Managing the Build guide (PDF)
  • Both Part One and Part Two
  • All twelve chapters and appendices

Readers who want to understand the system before committing to the tools, or who already have their own spreadsheet setup.

Get the Guide
Most Popular

Tier 2

The Working System

$119USD

The guide plus the Project Tracker — the spreadsheet that runs the financial side of your build. Every dollar tracked from first estimate to final draw.

What's included

  • Managing the Build guide (PDF)
  • Project Tracker spreadsheet (Excel)
  • Subs List, Budget Tracker, CO Log, Draw Schedule
  • 740 cross-linked formulas — zero setup required

Anyone managing subcontractors and tracking a construction budget — especially if you have a construction loan.

Get the Working System

Tier 3

The Complete System

$299USD

The guide, the Tracker, and the Project Manual — 60+ trade-specific scope sheets covering every section of a residential build with a Companion Guide that explains how to use them. The professional kit, built for the owner-builder.

What's included

  • Managing the Build guide (PDF)
  • Project Tracker spreadsheet (Excel)
  • Project Manual — 60+ scope sheets (PDF + editable Word)
  • Every residential trade from excavation through final clean
  • Companion (User) Guides

Owner-builders managing their full build who want professional-grade documentation from day one. Most people who use the Complete System wish they'd found it sooner.

Get the Complete System

All products are delivered digitally. PDF files are optimized for both screen and print. The Project Tracker is compatible with Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets.

The build will get here faster than you think.

— Darin D. Botts, One-Five Design Co.