The $65,000 Line Item Nobody Questions

On a recent project in the Hudson Valley, we saved our client $65,000. Not by changing the design, switching materials, or cutting corners on finishes. By shopping portapotties.

That's a slight oversimplification, but not by much. The savings came from a category most owners never scrutinize: general conditions.

What General Conditions Actually Are

General conditions are the indirect costs of running a construction project—the temporary infrastructure that makes everything else possible. Project management. Site trailers. Portable toilets. Temporary fencing. Dumpsters. Builder's risk insurance. Safety equipment.

These aren't glamorous line items. They don't show up in renderings or get discussed in design meetings. But on a high-end custom home, they can run well into six figures.

Why Your GC Isn't Optimizing This

Most general contractors have long-standing relationships with their vendors. They use the same portapotty company, the same dumpster service, the same insurance broker they've used for years. This isn't malicious—it's efficient. Their job is to build your house, not to spend hours price-shopping logistics.

But efficiency for them isn't the same as value for you. The path of least resistance is to use their usual suppliers at their usual rates, regardless of whether those rates are competitive.

What We Actually Did

When we reviewed the Hudson Valley project budget, general conditions stood out as an area worth pressure-testing. We priced portapotties from multiple local suppliers. We re-evaluated the dumpster size and pickup frequency, matching it to the actual anticipated workflow rather than a generic schedule. We shopped builder's risk insurance and found the same coverage for a lower premium.

None of this required specialized knowledge. It required time, attention, and the willingness to make phone calls.

The result: $65,000 in savings with zero impact on quality, schedule, or site safety. We didn't cut anything that mattered. We just stopped overpaying for things nobody was looking at.

The Takeaway

General conditions are easy to overlook because they feel like a fixed cost of doing business. They're not. They're a collection of individual expenses, each of which can be negotiated, right-sized, or sourced more competitively.

If you're building a custom home and your GC hands you a budget with a general conditions line item, don't just accept it. Ask for the breakdown. Ask who the vendors are. Ask if those prices have been shopped recently.

You might not save $65,000. But you might save more than you'd expect from a line item you weren't planning to question.