4
Sep, 2021

What Makes an Industrial Painter Great

Have you seen the industrial walls and ceilings of your company?

Many of businessmen because of their tough routine just ignore this step without noticing that their company needs to be perfect with some fresh coats. Poor looking walls, peeling flakes from walls and ceilings give a poor impression to the viewers about your company and you. Well, you know nothing about painting industrial area, all you need to do is just hire an industrial painter. First, see if your company is ready for industrial wall or floor painting?

For this purpose, you need to choose a well-trained staff that is capable of handling your most challenging projects. Industrial painters’ priority is to satisfy their clients.

An industrial painter is the one who can paint from facility walls and ceilings to tanks, equipment, and confined space work efficiently.

Certain facts make a painter an industrial painter in a true sense because it needs a lot of effort and skills to be an industrial painter and deal with painting projects on a large scale with hard work.

Expertise: A good industrial painter is specialized in his business like not all the painters are experts of dealing with projects on a large scale like an industrial painting. Expertise makes a painter great and skillful.

Active and punctual: punctual and quick painter will not create disruptions to your daily work. He will ensure that you can continue your daily work while he is providing you his best painting job. He will try to minimize hurdles from your way and make everything perfect on time.

Licensed: Hire licensed painters because there always guarantee their work and experience. They cannot run away leaving the project uncompleted.

Cleanliness: It is an important characteristic that a painter must build himself it makes him efficient and unique. A neat and clean painter will perform a neat and clean job like him.

Contract: A great industrial painter will be agreed on a written treaty about his work, warranty, timelines, and estimates. This step makes a painter’s job more authentic.

Trouble dealer: An industrial painter must deal with all the problems and troubles in during the process of painting industrial areas like harsh walls, rough walls, holes in the walls, seepage, and peeling walls.

Budget: Experienced and professionals will never agree to work for a low price as their professional works demand more than a little. It also depends on services, if someone is providing high-quality services he will charge more comparatively. A painter providing lower quality work will be agreed for a lower price.

Reviews: Good reviews increase the demands of an industrial painter. People used to check online remarks as it is the best way to know how trustworthy a painter is and what kind of services he is providing.

Hardworking: A painter is always a hardworking painter because industrial painting needs more techniques, time and effort than any other painting like a residential painting.

14
Aug, 2021

Becoming an Interior Designer

Interior Designer or Interior Decorator?

People often romanticize the work of an interior designer with the misleading notion that the work consists solely of picking out colors and fabrics for a room. These duties are a bit closer to interior decorating. But an interior designer has an array of responsibilities that include both those of an interior decorator as well as more complex jobs. They include light management, space planning, color coordination, providing estimates that fit a budget, and subcontracting the fabrication and installation of flooring, light fixtures, draperies, paint and wall coverings, furniture, and so on.

An increasing number of designers even take part in the architectural aspect of building of a home, so designers need to be able to read blueprints and possess a knowledge of building codes. It is desirable for an interior designer to have experience with CAD software and home design software in order to prepare blueprints or presentations for clients.

Training and Entry Requirements

Up until recent years there existed no accredited education programs for budding interior designers in the United States. Now there are a number of institutions with interior design programs accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and the Council for Interior Design Accreditation. These programs typically run from two to five years and most often lead to an associate, bachelor’s, or master’s degree. Coursework for these programs may include CAD, furniture design, color and fabrics, space planning, ergonomics, architectural courses, and even psychology.

Most interior designers opt to enter an apprenticeship after a formal education. During this time recent graduates work under the supervision of an experienced designer. This gives designers a chance to build a portfolio and learn the nooks and crannies of the business before going solo.

Interior designers can also choose to become certified by passing an exam administered by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ). One must have both a formal education and work experience to even sit for the NCIDQ exam. The NCIDQ has defined six various routes that can be found on their site. Note that this certificate is a requirement for professional registration in 26 of the U.S. states and Canadian provinces that require licensing. You must also possess an NCIDQ certificate if you wish to become a member of the American Society of Interior Designers, International Interior Design Association, and other similar organizations.

Work Environment and Conditions

Interior designers most often work as a part of a larger design team or on a freelance basis, although some find work in architectural firms or home-furnishing stores. Clients range from individuals wanting to renovate their homes to corporations planning to open a new business location.

Building relationships with clients is an absolute must for any designer regardless of where he or she works since the main goal of an interior designer is to identify the wants and needs of a client and integrate them into both the aesthetics and function of the interior. This can lead to working on weekends or long hours in order to fit a client’s schedule.

Interior designers tend to travel from place to place quite a bit since much of their time is spent on-site discussing plans with clients and overseeing contracted work. But interior designers actually spend the majority of their time in the office.

Note that designers often work under stress since they constantly juggle deadlines and budgets.

Earnings

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the median annual wages for interior designers were $44,950 as of May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between The lowest 10 percent earned $27,230, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $82,750.

Give Interior Design a Try

Designing interiors is a fulfilling job that allows one to express his or her creativity, but it is by far not for everyone. Those wishing to become interior designers are encouraged to try themselves at interior design before making the decision to enroll at a design institute. You can do this by designing the interior of your own home or getting acquainted with home design software. If you find that interior design is for you, then embrace yourself for a worthwhile career and jump in head first!

31
Jul, 2021

What Home Builders Do

Construction comes in many forms. But many people are part of a specific kind of construction; they are home builders. Home builders, like the name implies, construct houses. Home builders take part in the process of building homes. Construction of houses actually began with very simple shelters that are pre-historic. Through the years, we have come much, much farther than those primitive shelters.

Even from those pre-historic times, those who are the most wealthy would build the most luxurious or most complicated structure. Sometimes wealth would translate into a bigger domicile or even a more defensible structure. As people and time went on, there have been so many different styles of architecture, from shanties to just shelters, from mud thatches to castles, and from plantation houses to high-rise condo buildings, the options are limitless and are still being invented. And that range is still represented throughout the world in all of those different stages of modernization because the world itself is in different stages of modernization.

In many of the modern homes that are built for families to live in, there are specific steps that are taken before home builders can step in. The first phase itself is the design phase. In this phase the architectural design has to be created. This will show whether it is a town house, a gothic structure, a plantation house, a mansion, or a brownstone. This is the outside feel of the house, the style of the house. Then of course there is the floor layout design process. This process involves literally laying out the house’s ground plan. It specifies what rooms are where and how big each of them. If the design is good, the whole house will flow well. Of course, each family and each person has their own ideas and opinions of what they think is a good floor plan. Often it is hard to find that perfect house, so some families might even commission an architect to design and build their dream house. The last step in this phase is to make sure that the building adheres to all of the building codes for the area. Building codes can vary from city to city, so this is an important step. If the building is not to code, then a lawsuit could be brought against you by the city.

The next phase is the external construction phase, in which the actual frame of the house is built. This is where the foundation is put down and the walls are built. Next comes the internal construction, which is when the wiring, plumbing, ventilation, air conditioning, insulation, flooring, and ceilings are put in. This is the whole house. Usually a construction company will also install fixtures, appliances, cabinetry, toiletry, appliances, and do the painting in a house. From this point forward, it is the job of the owner to put the absolute finishing touches on the house. They now have to buy furniture for the house and truly make it their own.

27
Jun, 2021

How to Find a Good Painter

Anyone can need a painter at some point of time in his or her life. If you have recently moved in to a new house or your own house is old enough and needs renovation, painter is required. It is imperative to keep some points in mind before zeroing down on a painter for your home or office. Let us have a closer look at some of the things which needs to be kept in mind while selecting a painter for your work:

Go By References:It is better to go by references. Instead of starting a search of your own, check with friends, relatives, contractors, real estate agents or neighbors for the painters who have already worked for them. This helps in getting the best painter and the best deal in the locality.
Check for Authentication:Before choosing painters ensure to check their contractor’s license. It proves as an authentication that they are professional.
Background Check: It is important to indulge in a bit of background check like the number of years the guy is in this profession, few references of his previous work etc. Apart from this it is also highly advisable that before giving the task to an individual for painting, one should check with the local Better Business Bureau in order to check complaints if any against the painter you are planning to hire.
Keep your Options Handy:Always check with more than one painter. One should not rely completely on one painter. Rather keep another service provider handy in case of a situation to be used.
Assess the work: One should first assess the work required. If it is less then one painter can do. However, in case the work is huge and it requires to be finished fast then it is advisable to opt for more than one painter. Instead of going for a single group of painters, one can also opt for separate painters in case it is comparatively cheaper.
Negotiate and Set the Price: It is better to first negotiate and set a price for the required work. Once, things are clear only then one should let the work start. In absence of clear communication, the situation can lead to a mess.
Check for Insurance:It is always better when the potential painter is insured. In case you have found a painter then do not forget to check his worker’s compensation and liability insurance documents. It is always better to take preventative measures rather than paying for it later.
Safety Comes First: Yes, safety comes first for the painter and for people living in the house. Painting requires things which can result in an accident. This accident can be of a person or can result in damage caused to the property or any other thing. One should always check with the potential painter about the measures that he plans to take in order to avoid any accidental situation. Of course, after taking precautions if something happens then that is destiny. But it is imperative to be cautious.
After Job: Painter’s job is not just about painting. It continues even after painting is finished. Normally, painters do the cleaning process after the painting is done. It is advisable that you check with the painter beforehand about the after work as well. Clear communication is always good and eliminates the possibility of any dissatisfaction and a friction after the job is done.
Keeping these things in mind, one can definitely get a good painter for his or her work. It might look a bit tedious to do all these checks however it is always beneficial in long run.

17
May, 2021

Your Interior Design Career

Have you ever spent hours and hours rearranging pieces of furniture in your house? Or maybe you can’t take your eyes off fashionable antique furniture while walking along in special shops or second-hand stores? Are you obsessed with accent walls and window treatments? If you have given at least one positive answer you are welcome to join the ranks of potential interior designers. By uniting your talent, creativity and good education in the field you may get great opportunities to become a real professional interior decorator. Besides, you are going to earn a comfortable living due to following your inner longing.

The profession of an interior designer overwhelms many creative skills. First of all, creative service professionals have to plan and design spaces in public buildings and private homes. Having such a profession a person should also have good communicative skills because an interior designer also has to work with clients as well as with other design professionals, for instance, architects. Only having all this a designer can create really comfortable, functional and beautiful surroundings. Besides, the job of an interior decorator includes perfect aesthetic technique, as well as customer service and a keen sense for creative visualization. Every designer should be able to meet his or her client’s interests and requirements, that’s why coming to understanding is also of great importance.

While working with a client interior designers make recommendations for materials to be used and must explain how various colors, textures, and lighting schemes are. They also may give advice concerning combination and interaction of different materials, textures, shades, colors, lights etc. Only when a client is satisfied with his new lovely design, the work may be considered to be successful.

In the end it should be mentioned that interior designers must also understand technical requirements of a given space, including health (whether their clients have any illnesses conflicting with used materials) and safety regulations (especially when small children live in the house), and building codes (the whole structure of a building should be taken into account).

Comfortable Living For A Person Involved In The Interior Design Career:

A professional designer has a lot of benefits in the sphere he works in. Thus, besides the ability to put one’s design skills to work, there is one major benefit to an interior career which is flexibility. If you are willing to a stable, full-time position with high wages several top-paying industries may be suggested to employ interior designers. Let’s turn to statistics. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics specialized design services employed 20,820 designers (according to the information of May 2007). Other top industries offering employment to designers included engineering, architectural, and some other related services (with 9,680 design jobs in May 2007), and furniture retailers (with 5,770 jobs).

Depending on your goals in career growth your desire to earn much money and preparedness to face the competition, you are welcome to search some other industries more suitable than others. The matter is that there are special architecture firms as well as specialized design institutions which tend to offer higher and more stable salaries. According to data of May 2007, mean annual earnings for designers in specialized design services stood at $51,520. Designers working for engineering, architectural, and related services had salaries of $52,000 on average.

It should be mentioned that if you’re looking for a more convenient pay scale and flexible schedule, you can start your independent trade as a self-employed interior designer. In the year of 2006 the Bureau of Labor Statistics accounted for self-employed interior designers and it was defined that 26 percent of interior designers were self-employed, that is they had their own business in the field.

College Education for Interior Design Careers

As a matter of fact you might notice that searching a niche for yourself in any design industry is rather a difficult thing requiring a lot of hard work. One should remember that postsecondary education plays a very important role in the further work. It’s equally important to receive postsecondary education, especially bachelor’s degree. It will give a great opportunity to gain good designer positions in future. Most experts recommend receiving bachelor’s degrees even though many universities and colleges provide two-year certificate and associate’s degree programs. Still bachelor’s degrees are generally considered to be more appropriate if you want to move from a college degree into internships or formal apprenticeship programs. After finishing formal college training before covering an apprenticeship program, you will have an opportunity to prepare yourself to receive state licensure which is a requirement number one for interior designers practicing in twenty-three states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

7
Apr, 2021

New Home Trends!

Brand new homes have the added advantage of being easily customizable according to your liking. As you will be its first owner, you can suit the home to specifically cater to your needs. With the current surge in new builder home sales, many builders have found that some features are very popular among buyers.

To drive more buyers to their homes, builders have now included these features as standard in their homes, instead of being expensive options. Take note of them as you are looking for your new home, and see if the builder is offering them as standard features.

Granite tops and undermount sinks in kitchens and baths. These have always been considered as a luxury home surface. An advantage of this is that undermount sinks don’t have sink edges above the countertop, making for a clean and modern look.

Living room additions. Living rooms have always been the main gathering place for the family but home owners are trending towards the kitchen nowadays. For plans that have living rooms, expect modern features like wall ports for internet cables, and home theater niches for hiding bulky hardware.

Hardwood Flooring. Carpeting used to be all the rage a few years ago, but the demand for low maintenance floors and with radiant floor heating, has caused hardwood and tile floors to be ideal for heavily treaded areas like hallways, foyers and family rooms.

Stone exteriors. Full stone exteriors or even stone accented ones are gaining in popularity as they give the home more curb appeal. It’s usual to find vinyl siding on the neighborhood’s homes because of its low maintenance and styling options. Stone exteriors makes your home stand out from the crowd.

Front doors made of solid wood. Wooden doors have always been more attractive than steel front doors, and buyers are realizing that now. They are also warmer to the eye compared with cold steel. Various styles are available for wooden doors, like intricately designed glass details.

Solid interior doors. These are more popular as they muffle loud sounds between rooms better.

Higher ceilings. One reason why home owners are moving into larger homes is the feeling of being cramped in a small home. Builders are making their homes attractive by increasing the average height of their ceilings by a couple of feet. The feeling of a large home impresses many buyers, but it only costs very little for the builders to do so.

22
Mar, 2021

Tips for Hiring a Painter

So you are ready to move forward with your painting project and you have decided to start looking for a professional house painter to do the work. The question is where to look and how to weed out the flakes from the professionals, the high bids from the low bids, the real references from the family references and what’s truly needed for a quality job as opposed to fluff items that cost more money but provides no additional benefit to you.

Starting the search

There are several ways to begin your search for a professional house painter.

The Internet has become the most common way people look or search for services and products. Most people use search engines such as Google or Yahoo to look for a house painter, plumber, electrician or handyman to provide an estimate. But these search engines don’t tell the whole story and don’t distinguish between a reputable, trustworthy, professional service provider versus someone who is just trying to make a quick buck and leave you with a project that is now going to cost you more to have fixed. Don’t give up hope there are other online resources that will help narrow the field and weed out the shysters. Some of my favorites include Yelp, Google Places, Kudzu and Angie’s List. Keep in mind that not all reputable house painters are listed on these sites just as not all dishonest house painters will not be mentioned, but these sites are a good barometer of how the ones that are listed will treat you and the kind of work you can expect if you hire them. Most reputable house painters will encourage their customers to post their experience on-line so other potential customers will feel comfortable using their services

Word of mouth. Getting a reference from friends or neighbors is always one of the reliable ways for choosing a house painter. It is also one of the most cost-effective ways for a painter to generate new business so it is always in his / her best interest to deliver quality work at a reasonable price with a willingness to stand behind their work and a track record of doing so.

The Better Business Bureau is another valuable resource to determine if your painter is going to live up to your expectations. House painters that are belong to the BBB must agree to resolve customer complaints or issues, have all of the proper insurance requirements and conduct their business in a professional manner in accordance with the BBB guidelines. In addition to making this commitment to the BBB, each business is rated with a letter grade based on complaints, their time in business and the size of their company. An A+ rating is a company with no unresolved complaints or issues and has been in business for at least 7 years. An A rating is a company with no unresolved complaints with less than 7 years. Keep in mind that companies do get complaints and some are from customers that have unrealistic expectations or are constantly filing complaints for the attention. As long as the company has resolved the issue in the eyes of the BBB, you should have no concerns. In most cases a reputable company will have resolved a customer complaint well before it reaches the BBB.

References: My mom say’s I’m a good painter is not really a good reference unless you know the mom. Do your homework. After all, you don’t really expect a painter to give you bad references do you? A good rule of thumb is to ask for a complete list of customers dating back as far as possible and to do your own random calling or drive by. We always give our customers a complete list of previous customers. Our rule is we don’t know who you are going to call or what or previous customer is going to say, but if we have done our job right than we will earn your business and if we haven’t then we don’t deserve it.

Money: Deposits are sometimes requested by painters to pay for materials. The rule to follow here is never give more than 10% of the contract – estimate and limit it to $1,000.00. Depending on the size of the job progress payments or draws may be requested by the painter. These payments should be part of any contract and should be based on work performed and inspected. Never pay ahead of schedule or make a final payment until the work is complete and you are fully satisfied. Try to avoid paying cash if possible. Our policy is any work under $20,000.00 does not require a deposit and payment is due upon completion.

The estimate: Every painter has a method to their madness and therefore every estimate should be different. Now you may be asking yourself how different? Well that all depends on how many bids you are getting, the size of the company you calling, the type of insurance the company carries and the amount of overhead the painters has. If you are calling painters that are a one man show with low overhead and low insurance cost your estimates should be consistent in pricing. The trade-off to hiring a painter that works alone is the time he will spend at your home disrupting your life. If you are getting estimates from painters with crews that will put multiple men on the project then again your pricing should be consistent and within a few hundred dollars of one another. The trade-off here is slightly higher pricing due to overhead but with less time disrupting your schedule. If you mix these two types of businesses together for estimating purposes than expect irregular pricing.

Other estimate considerations should include the scope of work. Each estimate should include similar language as to what is included and what is excluded. Types of material should also be discussed and included in any estimate. Again, compare your quotes to verify that each painter is using similar products. Warranty information, how long does the painter plan on standing behind their work? What does the warranty include? Verify customers that have used the warranty. Warranties beyond 5 years should be considered more marketing than reality. Finally, the high, middle, low question. Some bids may be high for a reason which may include the fact that the painter is busy and doesn’t need the work but should you choose him he will fit you in. Or he may be higher because the quality of work that is delivered is worth the extra cost. This is where additional homework on your part will be required to determine what the actual case may be. The lowest bid should be examined carefully, remember the golden rule “You get what you pay for”.

12
Feb, 2021

Colleges For Studying Interior Designing

Nowadays, creative professions have become very popular. Young people prefer to earn money not with their strength and physical capabilities, not even with their mind, but creativeness. These days, young people are very advanced and already before entering senior secondary school they are full with ideas concerning their future profession. Starting to work in the fields connected with creative skills and new tendencies in society is the major goal of today’s youth.

It is a true point of view that uniqueness and creativity are the most important tools of success today. Each person possesses his or her own creative potential, thus, one wishes to develop these skills and talent by mastering some new profession or a course. The latter will not only suggest a person the space for thinking and creativeness, but also invention something new and unusual which has never been done by previous generations. Besides, such creative people are able to build a fundamental starting-point for future generations. Here the freshness of a new approach is of great importance.

It is widely known that there are many new fields and tendencies nowadays. Most of such professions are highly creative demanding a sober and unique imagination, for instance, cinema acting, theatre acting, writing, dancing, painting, crafts, radio jockeying, anchoring, fashion designing, interior designing etc. There is no doubt, that all of these professions are greatly popular among young people, but interior designing can be singled out due to its uniqueness. This uniqueness consists in the fact that it gives an opportunity to future designers to transform the whole universe of their ideas and thinking power into the object of creative beauty. Only the noblest people deserve to have the profession of an interior designer. It’s in their power to decorate one’s house that is considered to be one of the most precious properties in a person’s life. It’s the place a number of people have already got used to and it’s designer’s task to make it much better than it was before.

In order to become a good interior designer one has to be able to fulfill the professional demands of the industry. Thus, students should train their working standards in special colleges which have started courses in interior designing. To enter such a college one has to pass an entrance test which is conducted by the colleges to test imaginative analytical skills, technical drawing, sketching skills of the students.

The applications to the interior designing colleges can be made by the student only after he has passed with his 12th exams. The duration of the course can vary from two to four years, it depends on the chosen course and the institute from which the student is planning to receive his education. There are different colleges providing professional courses in interior designing and you are welcome to make your own choice. They are:

> Lovely Professional University, Phagwara
> Academy of Art and Design, Maharashtra
> International Academy of Fashion and Design, Chennai

Architects may design different surroundings, for instance, those designing the houses, offices, hotels, malls, retail shops, film studios, cultural establishments (museums, theatres, cinemas), educational institutions (kindergartens, schools, colleges, institutes, universities), sports establishments (stadiums, sports palaces), nutritional establishments (canteens, cafes, restaurants), medical establishments (hospitals, health centres, preventoriums, polyclinics), public offices, adventure spots, conference halls etc. No doubt, all of designers are always in demand to decorate their interiors as well as exteriors.

After completing his degree in interior designing a student should start his studying as the intern or trainee in some designing house. It is especially necessary to do in the beginning of their career in order to get an experience needed in future activity. This will certainly give a student such an important initial practical knowledge required to implement in further career. There are certain qualities which an interior designing student must possess. Here you will probably ask – What are the Qualities that Make a Good Interior Designer? They are as follows:

– Every future interior decorator should be able to read the mind of the customer and accomplish the designs according to the wishes of the customer. Very often a person is not quite sure what he or she wants to have in his or her house. In this case a good designer should have a skill to feel the client’s likes and dislikes in order to meet his interests.

– A nice Interior designer should keep himself updated with the latest tendencies in the design and new developments as well as innovation in the world of designing in general. In order to get new information about progress in the world of design, a designer should visit new design houses, communicate with more experienced interior designers, look through design websites etc.

– A perfect interior decorator must be very creative and imaginative, it means he must be able to implement some new ideas for every new project. There are many interior designers who follow the standard rules of design in which there are good enough because they have often practiced them. No doubt, that such designers are not bad at all, but on the other hand, they are not able to suggest the client something fresh and unique. Thus, their works become more and more monotonous and the development of a designer, as a professional, stops on this stage. Besides, they cannot bring excitement in the world of design. So, an interior designer must be creative not only for the sake of his clients, but also in order to refresh the interior design in general.

– The next point also concerns the interests of the customer. A designer should be able to organize the design in accordance with the budget and financial status of the customer. Each new client requires his individual approach and his wishes do not always coincide with his material opportunities. In this case a good designer should be rather tactic to suggest his client something identical but for lower price.

– A good interior designer should possess a good sense of texture and color combinations, as well as work on improving his knowledge of different classifications of interiors. Besides, he should be able to define what kind of design could be suitable for this or that room.

– It would be preferable for the designs created by the interior designer to be more than the term satisfactory for the customer. It is needed for further cooperation not only with that customer, but also with those who will probably come to you after seeing your great design made in the house of your previous customer, for instance. Besides, this will ensure your regularity with the organization you work in.

– A designer should have an ability to handle stress and problems which can appear during his activity. Having a problem one shouldn’t simply shudder at the thought of possible bigger problems, but real interior designers take the problems by the horn, get things under control, and even if a problem occurs, they try to solve it. Problems of interior designers may include the following: developing a design that their clients will hopefully like, meeting the interests of both clients and building code, having to deal with difficult and inadequate clients most of the time, handling different projects all at the same time, etc.

2
Jan, 2021

Owner Builder Home Building Services

Many people are interested in building their own home but really are not aware of all the options that are available to them to do so. Prior to building our home we spent months doing research to find out what our options were. I would like to briefly touch on some of these options in this article to make you aware of what is out there to help you build your own home.

Primarily an Owner Builder or a Home Building Service offers building services to you to help you complete the construction of your new home by offering services that you may find difficult to organize or find on your own.

Many of these services provide a variety of the items in different packages that they charge you for. The charges can range from a flat fee per square foot to fees for plans and financing your project through a third party bank and a variety of service some of which I have listed below. They naturally make a profit on every item (or service) offered to you.

These Home Building services can include:

Canned (Pre-Drawn) House Plans that they provide as part of the overall package.
Custom House Plans or revisions to the plans that they provide. Sometimes the program will charge you extra or limit the number of revisions that you are allowed.
Assistance in financing your home building project. They usually offer these services through a third party bank that they act as mortgage brokers. The advantage they have over the individual seeking their own home building financing is the scale of the loans that they process can give you more leverage with the bank if you have credit challenges. They have a financial interest in making sure your loan goes through because they usually collect a nice commission for sending you to that particular bank. You will certainly pay, but this may be they way you get a loan.
A list of Qualified Home Building contractors from your area. Many of these services offer a list of contractors that you can employ to complete the different phases of construction of your new home. They may provide a list but offer no guarantee as to the effectiveness or qualifications of those contractors. In other words, when it comes to contractors, it’s between you and them. If there’s a problem you are on your own legally.
Literature and planning tools that can help you build your home. This could include a DIY manual for the first time homebuilder, financing literature etc…
Guidance for the First time Home Builder. This can include meeting with a qualified builder or building advisor to help you plan your project and lay out the process from start to finish.
Support during the home building project. Most all of the owner builder services offer some type of support during the home construction process. This can vary from phone support to email or both.