Efficiency Secrets of a National Production Builder

Halfway through construction, three models for the VISION House Las Vegas project rise in the Nevada desert.

Building three model homes simultaneously might be a problem for a smaller builder, but for Beazer Homes, it’s just an efficient way to build.

Most of the materials Beazer uses—especially lumber—are delivered the day they’re needed or the night before, which reduces the amount that needs to be stored onsite.

“We often try to have two framing crews working on homes on nearby lots at the same time, but for our VISION House Las Vegas project, we’re trying to get three crews at once from our trade partners if we can,” says Justin Anderson, director of operations for Beazer Homes Las Vegas. “This is the exception rather than the rule, but we’ve expressed the importance of this project with all of our trade partners.”

Green Builder Media and Beazer Homes have partnered to build VISION House Las Vegas: Crossing the Rubicon. The project includes two model homes and a deconstructed model to demonstrate what’s behind the walls in Beazer’s Zero Energy Ready Homes (ZERHs).

All three models will be completed in December, well ahead of the goal to demonstrate the project during February 2025’s Design and Construction Week, which brings thousands of building industry professionals to Las Vegas.

Green Builder Media and Beazer Homes’ VISION House Las Vegas project will be located in ever-growing Henderson, Nevada, which is on the outskirts of colorful Las Vegas. Credit: Courtesy Cadence

The VISION House Las Vegas homes will be built at the 2,200-acre master planned community of Cadence in Henderson, just outside of Las Vegas. They will showcase Beazer’s READY homes, which will meet the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s ZERH requirements.

The DOE estimates homes built to this standard are 40 percent to 50 percent more efficient than a typical new home, and there are stringent requirements for certification.

“We put as much information together as we can ahead of any project to create efficiencies in the schedule,” Anderson says. “That way, when it’s time to start building, it’s just ‘go’ time for everyone. Our normal schedule to build a model home is 60 to 75 days and we’re right on track with these three models.”

The Aurora will be the standard model home, with The Vision built as an upgraded home and The Nexus as a deconstructed home to provide building professionals and consumers with a deeper understanding of what goes into building a sustainable production home.

Consistent Communication

Keeping construction costs low while maintaining Beazer’s high standards for quality depends in part on managing schedules to avoid delays and for accurate planning. Beazer uses BuildPro scheduling software from Hyphen Solutions to stay on track.

Product deliveries are managed via Hyphen Solutions’ BuildPro software, which includes built-in notification windows to help trade partners arrange delivery with suppliers.

“One of the nice things about BuildPro is that most of our vendors are signed up as users, so they’re very familiar with it for things like notifications and payments,” Anderson says. “We have a published schedule so that our framing crews, plumbers and other vendors can see what’s coming up and plan accordingly.”
Even when Beazer builds 200 or 300 units in a market, each job site has an assigned vendor. Typically, Beazer has three or four vendors in each trade category.

“Everyone with access to BuildPro has visibility into what others are doing,” Anderson says. “Each vendor gets notifications so they can forecast their labor needs to stay on track while there are so many moving parts.”

Schedules are typically published one month at a time and posted a couple of weeks before each month begins.

“There’s a weekly calendar of starts and schedules to give everyone visibility into what’s coming up,” Anderson says. “That way, there’s no panic attack when someone looks at it on a Saturday and sees that we’re doing 50 starts this month. We have a projection and tracking for every month.

“Vegas is like a small town, so all the trades know each other—the concrete guys know each other, the plumbers know each other—so we don’t have just one Beazer partner for this market,” Anderson says. 

Trade specialist availability is a mixed bag, according to Anderson. “The contractor base is broad here,” he notes. “Although, you have some of the bigger shops that only do commercial work on the Strip and don’t come out to residential communities.”

Staying in close contact with a variety of vendors and providing them with accurate information helps Beazer keep their projects on track and on budget.

“Many of the drywall installers in Vegas also provide painters, so they can communicate with each other,” Anderson says. “They know when to stock and stage the drywall so it’s ready to hang and then they have the painters lined up right behind them.”

Cool Tech for Streamlined Construction

Beazer’s roots go back to a 17th century English builder named George Beazer, and the company has built homes in the U.S. for nearly four decades. Still, Beazer embraces innovative technology that improves its construction practices and the performance of its homes, such as a highly detailed scheduling software.

“The civil engineers we work with use GPS coordination to place the footprint of each home,” Anderson says. “That’s a lot easier than trying to be accurate with a 300-inch tape measure, which is the way it used to be done.”

The company isn’t using robotics yet, Anderson says, but it does work with a third-party firm that uses drones to take images of each roof to check on property installation.

“Most companies have a quality assurance manager, but the drone gives you a full view outside the scope of a roofer,” he notes.

Meeting the Desert Challenge

Building in the dry desert climate of Las Vegas can be very different than other climates, says Anderson. He comes from a Midwestern climate where snow, ice, rain and freezing temperatures had a big impact on construction sites.

“On the plus side, we get very few rain days to wash us out and no snow days,” Anderson says. “On the other hand, wind is a big issue here, even when it’s hot. We can get 30-mile-per-hour winds on a day when it’s 110 degrees, which makes everyone feel like they’re working in a convection oven.”

The wind and dry air require special steps to mitigate dust—an operational priority not only to ensure a smooth, clean customer experience but to keep all visitors to the site breathing easier.

“Dust can make it harder for workers to breathe as well as being messy, so we use water strategically to create a crust on the dirt,” Anderson says. “We ask contractors and suppliers not to drive up to the house. Instead, they offload equipment and supplies at the curbside. At the entrance to a community, we place chunky rocks to avoid tracking dust everywhere.”

Beazer’s first principle is safety, and they’ve built a culture around the idea that everyone who steps foot on a jobsite needs to go home to their families each day. In the hot and dry desert climate, this means not only keeping an immaculate job site and following safety procedures to the letter.

The Las Vegas team also takes special steps to make sure everyone on the site stays hydrated and aware of the signs of heat exposure. Even with the compounding risk of environmental hazards, Anderson’s team has been recognized several times for their attention to detail as it relates to safety.

In 2023, Construction Manager Mischelle Biedler was honored with the company’s national safety award in honor of her ability to “walk the walk” by truly owning the accountability for each employee and trade’s safety.

“We post signs everywhere, but we go beyond that with pictures of people drinking water and sitting in the shade to remind everyone that they need to do that,” Anderson says. “We have signs and photos that encourage people to tell someone if they don’t feel well. Everyone brings cases of water in their trucks, and we encourage managers to mention that the water is available at every meeting.”

While the imperative to stick to tight schedules is important, Anderson says there’s nothing that tops safety. “If you fall ill because you forgot to take a break and drink some water, that doesn’t do anyone any good.”

The extremely dry desert climate requires builders to take special precautions during construction, such as staying extra hydrated and working earlier hours when it’s cooler. 

Credit: Courtesy Beazer Homes

Managing Materials

Beazer saves time and money with a highly sophisticated materials management system. 

First, they streamline the choices available to buyers. “Instead of the Design Center offering every piece in a catalog, we know what works with what we’re doing. We offer two or three options for a black fixture, for example,” Anderson says. “We pass that information onto our vendors so they know they won’t have to waste time searching for one obscure part.”

For example, Beazer has a national partnership with Moen, and the local Moen representative can work with each division to make sure the offerings are in stock, Anderson says.

“We communicate our business plan with our vendors so they see what’s been added, what we’re working on now, and what we’re starting next,” Anderson says. “We’re pretty accurate with our projections, too.”

Timing for material deliveries is managed through the BuildPro software, with built-in notification windows that each project manager must complete with each vendor.

“For example, we know the roofing company needs a 15-day lead time to get materials in place and that installing the roof is a two-day task,” Anderson says. “We get multiple notifications about who to alert for each house we build. If someone’s on vacation and they miss the notification date, you’re alerted, and you know that you need to reach out to trade partner right away. The trade partners then arrange delivery with their suppliers.”

Most of the materials Beazer uses are delivered the day they’re needed or the night before, which reduces the amount that needs to be stored onsite. “We can be a lot less worried about theft if materials aren’t sitting around the construction site,” Anderson says.

Lumber is one of the few materials stored onsite because Beazer uses so much of it when building multiple houses at once. Anderson says even lumber tends to be delivered in batches, so they don’t have a six-month supply sitting around.

Beazer homes are built to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) standards, which includes being exceptionally energy efficient, having better indoor air quality, and a renewable energy-ready design. Credit: Courtesy Beazer Homes

Keeping Crews on Tap

Working with multiple vendors for each trade, with a diverse base rather than a single source, helps Beazer stay on track with its timeline and financially.

“This helps us avoid the issue of a problem with one particular vendor,” Anderson says. “If one vendor has trouble with its manufacturer or if someone leaves and takes all of their good labor with them, we have other vendors to turn to.”

Vendors bid for Beazer’s projects, knowing that they face competition, Anderson adds. 

Deep and transparent communication helps Beazer have consistent labor teams available at each stage of construction. “A lot of the vendors want all of our work, so we have real conversations with them so they can hire more people if need to and so they can tell us when they’re at capacity,” Anderson says.

Pulling together the supplies and expert contractors to simultaneously build multiple quality homes requires focus and discipline, he says.

“Most of all, it’s just important to keep communicating,” Anderson says. “You need to let everyone know what has to happen, what you want to happen and what would be great if it happened. Then, they will meet your expectations.”