Welcome to Empire Builders!

Looking for a construction company to build your dream home, remodel your kitchen, or add a covered patio for family gatherings? You’re in the right place. Empire Builders is a licensed, insured, and bonded general contractor serving Southern and Northern California. As a family-owned and operated company, we focus on quality craftsmanship and high-quality materials that fit your budget. We work with everyone from property managers to homeowners creating their ideal spaces. Whatever you envision, Empire Builders will help turn it into reality. We’re not a typical general contracting company, and you’re here to learn how and why we’re committed to setting a higher standard in our craft.

Our Philosophy

Our philosophy is simple, and it drives everything we do. For our family, construction is more than a job—it’s a craft, and at times, an art. We take pride in turning our clients’ ideas into reality, and when a design is still taking shape, we help create it. By building the spaces our clients envision, we have the privilege of helping bring their dreams to life.

What Makes Us Different

Empire Builders is more than your typical general contractor—we’re a partner in bringing your vision to life and our goal is to make that journey as simple as possible. As a family-owned business, we focus on relationships, clear communication, and quality craftsmanship from start to finish.

We prioritize clients over transactions, building long-term relationships based on trust and service.

We communicate directly and consistently so you always know where your project stands.
We take pride in craftsmanship, attention to detail, and doing the job right.
Our estimates are clear and transparent, helping you make confident decisions.
We respect your time and live up to our reputation of meeting deadlines.
Our family name stands behind every project, so we treat your home with care and personal accountability.

Our Process

Step #1: First Call

When you call Empire Builders, you will be immediately put in touch with the CEO and owner of the company. You’ll give a brief description of the project you have in mind.

At Empire Builders we collect:

At this point, you and your contractor will schedule a day for the Job Walk.

Step #2: The Job Walk

On the job walk, you’ll take us through the area or areas of your project and explain what you want done. During this preliminary job walk, our team will create a list of the tasks and trades to be completed. Since this is a rough idea of the project as a whole, one project will look very similar to another. At Empire Builders, we have learned that every client has certain specific design element criteria and these can’t be overlooked at this stage.

The Goal of this Stage: For Client and Contractor to get a grasp of the project as a whole without getting bogged down with specifics yet.

Step #3: Estimating/Budgeting

Estimating and Budgeting requires a little leg-work and several documents. At Empire Builders, we will estimate the project based on the rough scope from the preliminary job walk. After that, our team will schedule another in-person meeting with you to discuss the proposal.

A Proposal from Empire Builders will include:

Cover Letter or Summary Page: The Cover Letter is where the contractor will give the client a price range based on assumed and typical building processes and material selections. The price given at this stage should fall within a plus or minus 10% range. The final contract price will vary to a degree based on your final preferences. Occasionally that price will fall outside the stated range depending on changes to the scope and your selection of finishes.
Allowance List: Included in the summary number is the itemized FIXTURE costs which is formally labeled “Allowances.” These are items like faucets, toilets, light fixtures, etc. which were not discussed in enough detail at the initial job walk to quote firmly. At this point, these fixtures are called “allowances” because they just represent typical costs for the respective items like placeholders. This keeps the overall price range realistic. By the time the work actually begins, the allowances will have been selected and included to the penny in the construction contract.
Scope of Work: The Scope of Work details the tasks and trades to be performed in as much detail as can be expected from one initial job walk. By the time the construction contract is completed, which will include a Scope of Work, this initial scope will have grown to about twice as long.
Preconstruction Agreement: As you can see, there are a lot of details still to be gathered—fixtures need to be selected (including item numbers) and nuances of the scope of work need to be detailed out. Based on the original price range, homeowners frequently want to add or subtract certain tasks or trades and adjust to meet their budget, which is the entire purpose of this initial proposal.

Now, here is where you will begin to get some skin in the game. The preconstruction agreement usually includes a payment of $1000-$2500 at the time of signing so that we can produce a binding construction contract/Home Improvement Contract draft.

To produce a signable contract draft, there is significant leg work to be done:

At Empire Builders, our team coordinates all of these matters which results in a tight and thorough construction contract which will virtually eliminate surprises.

Step #4: Contractor Selection

At this point – after the preconstruction agreement has been proposed – you will choose your contractor. If you were to choose Empire Builders, you would sign the preconstruction agreement and write a check. This would be the third in-person meeting.

Step #5: Home Improvement Contract Procurement

After you’ve chosen your contractor and signed the preconstruction agreement, Empire Builders will do the leg work covered under the agreement. The scope of work is very carefully typed out and detailed, usually doubling in size from the initial scope. Generally speaking, the Scope of Work talks about what TASKS will be done, and the Allowance List details out budgetary amounts for the FIXTURES. The contract will incorporate both the tasks and the material used.

Beyond the tasks and materials, the contract will:

The entire job and process should be crystal clear from the contract draft.

Step #6: Contract Approval & Work Commencement

Upon completion of the contract, another in-person meeting will take place where Empire Builders’ representative will walk through the contract with the client (or clients if it involve a husband and wife – both need to be present and sign) line by line to make sure everyone is on the same page and to set the expectations.

After the contract is signed, there is a 3 or 5 business day cancellation period which gives the owner time to cancel the contract if desired.