I'm usually involved in a new construction job around a year before dirt gets pushed around.  There's lots of permitting & environmental issues in my market and it usually takes about a year from when the plans are drawn up until construction starts on an estate style home.

My fist contact is usually from the architect who will provide a full set of plans and then I start working with the client to establish the scope of work and then create a proposal.

Physical walk throughs start to happen once framing is going up, but most of the project has already been defined and planned out at that time.  To get all the details right you really need to be involved before framing starts, knowing that things will change as the project progresses.

Edit: Back to the root of the initial post.  If a house exists (even in framing stage) I'll always go meet the client or designer and do a walk through.

You'd go hungry here.

If you're walking the job after the house is framed then you're really late to the party. In most projects here the subcontractors are selected before the slabs are poured. Most of the homes here have multiple slabs, which need conduit infrastructure and JBoxes designed, not to mention spaces where racks may go, etc. 

After all this talk about being designers and part of the design community. I guess the markets are just different.

If there is a house to walk when I do get called in, I'll go walk it. But I'm not doing anything until I get a full plan set and there's a spec. But not doing anything until there's a house to walk is not seeing the forest for the trees. 


 

Thanks to all for the great responses.

IRkiller,
The house is framed but no HVAC, plumbing, electrical or low voltage. I am probably doing the prewire and trim out.

I have thoroughly read everyone's responses and want to clarify my typical quote/estimate procedures:

Meet with client and go over plans and give them a quote subject to the walk through when the framing is completed. Tract homes may be handled slight different if the system picked out by the client is a duplicate of the same floor plan built by another client.

I will walk the property after framing and confirm each location of the appropriate jacks and equipment location and tighten up the quote subject to future changes or correcting issues created after walk-through by the builder and trades.

In this case, the homeowner was told by the custom builder that he doesn't recommend low voltage contractors and it is up to the homeowner to choose her own company.
The framing was completed and homeowner called two companies out and both declined to walk the house. During the walk through with me the client said the things I pointed out about jack and equipment locations were not addressed in her other two quotes.
My opinion is any company that works off house plans, only, and doesn't also walk through with the client after framing is cruising for a bruising.
Methinks the two companies in order to stay in business, must add a pretty hefty "GOK" (god only knows) surcharge to cover problems discovered at trim out...

All of our large projects are designed and sold before ground is even broken. Like BigPapa said, if we get called in and framing is done we are very late to the party, and usually means someone has already been fired.

The earlier you get in, the more budget is available. You will not believe how much you can sell before everyone else has their hand in the wallet.

Ok. So I see the validity in what you, Big Papa and others have said about this. When you go over the plans do you map out each room with the homeowner as to furniture placement in the rooms with TV's and surround system speaker locations?

Thx

I do as that plays in to the wiring design.
(Will the equipment be local or remotely located?)

For me, it's not too big a deal to come in when framing has already started as most jobs we do are under $30k, so they aren't getting the kind of systems that the 6 figure jobs are.
But it's imperative to get in early and get the wiring laid out and a budget in place for the customer.

Usually I would. In this case I think the builder told her she has a week to get her shxt together and she called me. We'll see how it goes...