We refer to these situations as OPM (Owner Purchased Materials) requests, although the same concepts apply to owner selected trade partners. The short answer is – possibly, but probably not. But wait you may ask – I thought you took pride in being a flexible custom builder who allows clients to do whatever they want? We do, but for the reasons outlined below, it is rarely in your best interest.

• You’re not going to save money on our margins by purchasing materials directly. We need to retain our margins, regardless of who’s paying the supplier or trade partner. The complexity of coordinating procurement, delivery, integration with other elements, installation, and warranty remains the same—even when materials are purchased directly by the client. In fact, there’s more complexity for us, and more risk. If that seems one-sided to you, think about it this way – theoretically you could procure ALL the materials for your project. If we didn’t maintain our margins, we would be building your home for free.
• You will probably be required to sign a waiver releasing us from any liability or warranty claims with respect to the materials or work. This will ALWAYS be the case when you are looking to source materials from foreign or obscure vendors. Here’s why – we have long-term working relationships with our suppliers and trade partners. We get their best pricing, trust their materials and their work, and have leverage over them to correct anything that goes wrong. We typically don’t have that trust, experience, or leverage with suppliers of materials purchased by our clients or with subcontractors we never work with.

At Turnstone, we take pride in our flexibility, and there are exceptions to the general rule.

• You want to include materials that you already own.

o We will allow clients to introduce materials that they already own to their projects. But, for the reasons outlined above, we will still apply our margin to what we would have paid for those materials.

• You can procure materials or services for less than we can.

o In the rare event that you’re able to procure the exact same materials or trade work at a lower cost than we can—typically due to a special relationship—you may do so under OPM. However, we must still retain our margins and cannot provide a warranty on those materials or workmanship. In this case, your savings would be limited to the difference between your procurement cost and ours, plus the margin we apply to that difference.

• You install the materials after the project has been completed and paid in full.

o Once our scope of work is complete, and we are paid in full, it’s your home and you can do what you want with it! But you won’t be able to come back to us to, for example, fix a dishwasher you purchased that doesn’t fit well in the opening or doesn’t have all the necessary plumbing and electrical connections.



In short, while OPM requests may seem like a simple way to cut costs, the reality is that they often introduce more risk, complexity, and liability than they’re worth. At Turnstone, our goal is always to protect your investment, ensure a smooth building process, and stand behind the finished product with confidence. That’s why, in most cases, it makes sense to let us manage procurement and trade relationships on your behalf—so you can focus on enjoying the homebuilding experience and, ultimately, the home itself.