A home for those who served.
Ready 41 days early.

Contour treated the rock as a risk to quantify, not simply a change order to process. The team immediately deployed drone-based LiDAR technology to model the affected area and estimate the volume requiring removal. That analysis established an initial projected exposure of approximately $695,000*—and gave the owner enough information to authorize the work on a unit-cost basis.

Once excavation proceeded, Contour actively managed the cost through efficient field production, competitive trucking, volume pricing, and strategic onsite use of excavated material. The final rock-removal cost was $448,000*. That was approximately $247,000*, or 35.5%, below the initial projection. Pricing backup, agreed markups, and owner approval preceded the work, preserving transparency around a condition that accounted for most of the project’s contract growth.

Cost discipline extended beyond the unforeseen condition. Contour evaluated proposed substitutions against performance, warranty, quality, and long-term operational risk before presenting them to the owner. Accepted revisions to the fire-suppression approach, exterior sheathing, composite decking, and ADA-ramp configuration produced $95,700* in value-engineering reductions. Other options were rejected when the short-term savings did not justify the long-term tradeoff. Excluding the unforeseen rock excavation, all other changes represented 9.7% of the original contract value.

The team also closed practical gaps between the current construction documents and the Post’s future plans. Electrical-service and water-heating capacity were protected for future expansion, and utility and food-service infrastructure was coordinated so the building could support a more complete kitchen program over time without compromising the immediate project.

When the VFW learned that it needed to vacate its leased space earlier than expected, Contour added management capacity instead of relying on schedule pressure alone. A sitework superintendent focused on civil and exterior operations while a building superintendent led vertical construction and interior progress; during the compressed period, both were onsite so multiple work fronts could advance concurrently with full daily oversight. Senior leadership remained directly involved from mobilization through turnover, accelerating decisions among the owner, design team, subcontractors, and field staff before they could interrupt production.