Frequently Asked Questions
Quality
Plant is a custom builder, so every Plant home is custom-designed and constructed to meet the client’s unique needs and specifications. This includes the climate where the home is being installed.
If you bring us plans from another architect, we will make recommendations as necessary and build to your architect’s exact specifications. If you hire us as your architect, or work with us to customize a LivingHome, we’ll design and build your home for optimal thermal performance and durability in your specific climate.
Regardless of your design spec, all Plant homes are built with a tight building envelope that exceeds California Title 24 energy performance requirements. And the Plant Building System components we use to construct your home will be tailored to your regional code requirements for air, water, and heat transfer analysis, coupled with any local snow load code requirements. Your Plant home will be engineered and constructed for optimal performance.
All California homes, whether they are constructed on-site or in a factory, must meet the same seismic code requirements defined by the local municipality where the home is (or will be) located. No permits are issued until a licensed structural engineer has reviewed and certified that the home is engineered according to your specific municipality’s seismic code requirements. A local enforcement agency must also review and approve the plans for code compliance. Plant builds to these approved plans, ensuring that Plant homes are always constructed to all applicable seismic code requirements.
In many cases, Plant homes are designed, engineered, and constructed to even more stringent requirements than those defined for site-built homes. See “How are Plant homes different from site-built homes?” for more information.
Plant is a custom builder, so every Plant home is custom-designed and constructed to meet the client’s unique needs, specifications, and local code requirements.
As a Southern California-based company, we have extensive experience designing and building homes in wildfire zones. So whether you work directly with the Plant Design Studio or bring us plans from another architect, you’ll benefit from more than a decade of fire-wise expertise and our innovative Plant Building System (PBS), which tailors your home’s construction to your specific project design and location. PBS allows us to build the ideal wall geometry and utilize the optimal roofing materials, windows, and doors (specified by your architect or ours) to maximize the fire resiliency of your home for your particular climate zone.
Note: We offer special support for those rebuilding after loss. Learn more on our wildfire rebuild page.
Plant provides countless advantages to site-based construction, with specific benefits for individuals, architects, developers, and those rebuilding from a fire loss.
That being said, the primary advantages Plant provides across all project types are speed, quality, and cost control:
Speed: With on-site building, vertical construction can’t even begin until the foundation is completely finished. Plant builds in parallel with site work, in an all-weather facility, shaving months off your construction timeline. Many additional efficiencies are achieved through our patented Plant Building System, and most Plant homes arrive 90% complete, so they’re move-in ready within a few short weeks.
Quality: Plant’s factory construction methods provide a level of scrutiny and quality assurance more common to manufacturing than construction—processes that are difficult (if not impossible) to replicate on a traditional job site. We build all walls, floors, and ceilings on jigs, which ensures that they are level, straight, flush, and square. And we adhere to an even more stringent building code than required by most local municipalities.
Cost control: Site-based construction is known for ballooning costs due to the many factors that are out of your control throughout the lengthy building process. Weather, subcontractors, mistakes, damaged materials, inspections, and vandalism can cause significant time and cost overruns. Plant’s factory system provides much greater control and predictability, enabling us to issue upfront estimates that become fixed contracts the moment your project enters production.
Feasibility
Plant homes can be installed almost anywhere you can construct a site-built home: from a flat lot, to a sloping hillside, if a foundation can be engineered, it’s viable for a Plant home. The consideration for us is the accessibility of your property for the delivery (by truck) and installation (by crane) of your prefabricated home. We assess this for you as a part of our feasibility analysis. Learn more about our process for:
In California (and most other states), modular homes have the same rights and legal protection as site-built homes. That is, they can be installed anywhere and cannot be excluded from a community because they were built in a factory. There is no title disclosure requirement for prefabricated homes, and the resale value of our prefabricated homes have been consistent with similarly high-quality, site-built properties.
Note: Cities can and frequently do make exclusions for manufactured (“mobile”) homes, which follow entirely different (far less stringent) code requirements. See “How are Pant homes different from mobile or manufactured homes?”
We can ship almost anywhere, but the further you are from our factory in Rialto, CA, the more you’ll spend on transportation fees. We’ve found that Plant is only cost-competitive outside of California for high-end projects shipping to areas with very expensive local labor.
Process & Timeline
Your project timeline will depend on where you are in your homebuilding journey: Some clients come to us with finished plans and are ready to build, while other clients come to us with a dream and a napkin sketch. We love both!
For a detailed timeline, see our process explanations for:
Plant manages the construction of your home in our factory, and you’ll hire a local general contractor for site work. If Plant is your architect, we will assist in bidding your project to three local general contractors to ensure that you receive an equitable deal from a reputable resource. (If you are working with your own architect, they will typically support you with this process. But we can still help make recommendations or referrals if needed.) In all cases, our factory will coordinate closely with your general contractor throughout your project.
We have an entire page dedicated to explaining the services and costs involved in building with Plant. Please review that page for more detailed information.
A state-certified agency comes to our factory to inspect each project and ensure that our work meets all applicable code requirements.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development has a bifurcated permit process for factory-built housing:
Work that occurs in our factory (e.g., construction of everything above the foundation) is reviewed and permitted by a state-approved Design Approval Agency.
Work that occurs on the job site (e.g., construction of the foundation) is reviewed and permitted by the local enforcement agency.
Plant manages the permitting process for our factory work and your site general contractor manages the permitting process for their site work.
Pricing
Plant is a custom builder, so the cost of your Plant home will depend on your home design and finish specifications. We’ve built everything from affordable housing units to luxurious estates.
For our standard LivingHomes, Plant building costs tend to range between $250-$350 per square foot. These are the hard costs for the prefabricated components of your home that we build in our factory, which is typically everything above the foundation. Soft costs and site costs are additional.
We have an entire page dedicated to explaining the costs involved in building with Plant. Please review that page for more detailed information.
Plant costs will depend upon how you engage us. You can hire us to be your architect as well as your prefabricator; you can bring us plans from another architect and only hire us to be your prefabricator; or you can hire us to customize and prefabricate a standard LivingHome for you.
In all cases, Plant will design your home (or adopt the plans from your architect), prefabricate your home, and help coordinate everything else. You’ll hire a local general contractor for site work and other services; see our pricing page for a complete breakdown of services and costs involved in building a home with Plant.
Building a home (with Plant, or anyone) includes both “hard” and “soft” costs.
Hard costs are the costs for all the materials and labor involved in constructing a home. When building with Plant, hard costs include all the factory construction work, all the site construction work, as well as the cost to transport the home from our factory to the lot and install it on the foundation. An advantage of building with Plant is that we can provide an accurate, upfront estimation of all factory-associated costs, which become fixed once your project enters production.
Soft costs are the more situational fees and services involved in constructing a home: things like state and local taxes, building permits, and fees for services like topographical surveys, soil reports, architectural design, engineering, and landscaping. What kind of work you’ll need performed, and what it will cost, will depend on your specific location, lot conditions, and project design. We will help you ballpark these costs as a part of our initial project estimate.
We have an entire page dedicated to explaining the costs involved in building with Plant. Please review that page for more detailed information.
Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. Your project costs will be determined by your project design, lot location, and lot conditions. Exact savings, if any, can’t be determined until we assess your project and prepare a detailed estimate.
That being said, here are some general truths that apply to all Plant projects:
Construction quality varies greatly from one builder to the next, and Plant is a high-quality, sustainable home builder. We can’t and don’t compete with builders who use unskilled labor or inferior-quality, unhealthy building materials.
Our efficient processes achieve drastic savings in labor hours, materials, and energy use. In many markets, this makes building with Plant less expensive than building on-site. However, this is not true for markets with very inexpensive local labor, or for locations far from our factory (in which case the cost of transportation can cancel out the construction cost savings).
We have an entire page dedicated to explaining the costs involved in building with Plant. Please review that page for more detailed information.
The price per square foot of an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is typically higher than that of a larger home, because ADUs condense a lot of amenities into a very small space. Kitchens and bathrooms are the most expensive rooms in a house, and these spaces often comprise half (or more) of the total square footage of an ADU. ADUs also comprise all the expensive components of a larger home (like custom cabinetry, windows, doors, appliances, and fixtures), with none of the inexpensive, empty spaces (like hallways, living rooms, bedrooms, or offices). This results in ADUs having a higher cost per square foot than a larger home.
Financing
We don’t provide financing, but we can walk you through your financing options and refer you to a lender who is experienced in financing prefabricated construction projects.
Building with Plant can be financed the same way as a traditional (site-built) construction project: You can secure a construction-to-permanent loan (also known as a "rollover" loan) that starts as a basic construction loan and converts to a mortgage after the end of construction. Or, you can secure a construction-only loan that’s replaced by a mortgage once you receive your certificate of occupancy. In either case, your lender will disburse payments to Plant as the construction of your project progresses. Loans are typically issued for 65% - 70% of the expected appraised value of the home, or 80% - 100% of the construction cost.
Note: Plant builds much faster than a site-based contractor, so our payment disbursement schedule is shorter. Some banks are familiar and comfortable with this accelerated timeline; others less so. If you need help finding a lender who’s experienced in financing prefabricated construction projects, we are happy to make referrals.
Payments to Plant can be made the same way they would be paid to any contractor. Each Plant contract includes a payment schedule that defines when funds are due, and lenders typically perform an inspection with Plant prior to releasing funds.
Note: Plant builds much faster than a site-based contractor, so our payment disbursement schedule is shorter. Some banks are familiar and comfortable with this accelerated timeline; others less so. If you need help finding a lender who’s experienced in financing prefabricated construction projects, we are happy to make a referral.
Sustainability
Yes! We designed the first home to achieve LEED for Homes Platinum certification, and have since completed dozens more LEED Platinum and Gold-certified projects. Every one of our LivingHomes is designed to meet LEED for Homes Platinum and net-zero standards, and in 2021 we introduced three Passive House LivingHome designs. Suffice to say, sustainable design and construction is our passion, and we are thrilled to help you meet your health, sustainability, and carbon reduction goals!
Note that the LEED for Homes certification program is administered by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and Passive House certification is administered by Passive House Institute US (PHIUS) and Passive House International (PHI). These organizations charge fees for certification. We can discuss your options and help you decide which program is right for you.
Your health and wellbeing, and the health and wellbeing of our factory employees, is at the forefront of everything we do. From materials choices to construction methods, health and safety is our top priority.
When we first began designing homes, the best-available program was the LEED for Homes program, managed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). It’s a great program, but because it’s a point-based system that encompasses many different elements of a home’s design and construction, it doesn’t provide the level of focus we were seeking on health, specifically. So we developed an even more strict environmental health and sustainability program, called Z6, to guide our work. When you work with us to design your home, this is the program we follow.
Every LivingHome we design is a healthy, energy-efficient home with excellent indoor air quality that was built with minimal impact on the planet. Some key features include:
Zero VOC paints, stains, and sealants
Low-VOC millwork
Mold-resistant, noncombustible drywall
Vents that automatically expel mold-causing humidity
Ample natural daylight
Open floor plans for excellent cross-ventilation
Minimal ductwork to reduce dust and allergens
Spaces that bring the outdoors in
Learn more about our rigorous Z6 environmental health and sustainability program.
Design
Yes! In fact, that’s why we founded Plant (see “What’s the relationship between Plant Prefab and LivingHomes?”). Our patented Plant Building System allows us to prefabricate just about any architectural style, from a Cape Cod to a futuristic-style dwelling like Luke Skywalker’s home in Tatooine. (We haven’t received that request yet, but it would be our greatest honor!)
If you’re working on a custom design that you’d like us to prefabricate, submit a project inquiry for a free assessment. And be sure to tell your architect to check out our Plant Design Guidelines as early as possible in the design process.
Absolutely! We offer an ever-growing collection of LivingHomes, created by world-renowned architects and designers.
General
We’re one happy family! We founded a residential design studio called LivingHomes in 2006. A decade later we expanded the business into Plant Prefab, so we could build any style of custom home for any architect. The LivingHomes team became the Plant Design Studio, and “LivingHomes” became the name of our product: the custom homes we design, as well as our award-winning standard home designs.
Site-built homes follow code requirements set by the local municipality, while mobile/manufactured homes follow HUD code. HUD code is far less stringent than most local codes for site-built homes.
Plant homes are constructed to California Department of Housing and Community Development Factory-Built Housing (FBH) code, which accounts for transportation with heightened requirements for vibration and wind shear. FHB code is far more stringent than HUD code and often also exceeds local code requirements for site-built homes.
Building materials are different, too. Unfortunately, mobile/manufactured homes use inferior-quality building materials that are notoriously unhealthy and generally have staggeringly poor energy performance. Site-built homes can be built to any standard, but many commonly-used materials include formaldehyde, adhesives, retardants, and other chemicals that off-gas carcinogens and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Plant vigilantly sources materials that minimize and/or avoid such health risks, and we meet or exceed California Title 24 building energy efficiency standards. Our rigorous sustainability program, Z6, ensures the health and safety of the people who inhabit our homes and the workers who build them. Our LivingHomes are also built to meet net zero and LEED for Homes Platinum standards, ensuring excellent indoor air quality and energy performance for the life of the home.
Plant offers a number of distinct advantages that distinguish us from other prefabricated builders:
We build custom, architectural homes designed by any architect. Most prefab companies build standard homes that they design. As a client, you select one of their models and then choose from their list of finish options. You generally can’t customize the floor plans or elevations, or use different finishes or fixtures, and you certainly can’t bring in an entirely different design created by another architect. Plant’s factory and processes were specifically designed to efficiently prefabricate unique designs from outside architects, with full customization.
We do high-quality construction. Most prefabricators are focused on low-cost production of their standard models. Plant only builds custom, architectural homes. Our clients and their architects have high standards for quality fit and finish, and Plant’s operations were designed to meet these needs. We’ve been prefabricating custom, high-quality homes for some time now, and we’re proud to say that we’re doing it better than anyone else.
We do healthy, sustainable construction. Most builders don’t consider the carbon footprint of their building methods or the health impacts of their materials choices. On a traditional jobsite, 30-40% of materials are lost to waste. In a typical home, many building materials include formaldehyde, adhesives, retardants, and other chemicals that off-gas carcinogens and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Health and sustainability is core DNA for Plant. Our rigorous Z6 standards ensure the health and safety of the people who inhabit our homes and the workers who build them. Our LivingHomes are built to meet net zero and LEED for Homes Platinum standards, ensuring excellent indoor air quality and energy performance for the life of the home. Learn more in “What makes Plant homes healthy?”
We have an ultra-efficient, patented building system. Most factories build with either modules or rudimentary panels that offer limited finish options. Plant developed and patented a new way to prefabricate homes utilizing a combination of modules and panels, customized for each specific project’s design and lot conditions. This Plant Building System utilizes our own, specialized Plant Panels and Plant Modules to ensure that every home we build is constructed in the most efficient way possible.
Yes! Our primary show home is in Santa Monica, CA, and we have an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) show home on display at our factory in Rialto, CA. We offer regular tours of both. Learn more and reserve a guided visit on our tours & events page.
We have an entire gallery of completed projects, and we also offer tours of our factory in Rialto, CA and our show home in Santa Monica, CA. Visit our tours & events page to learn more and request a tour.
No, Plant is a custom builder, utilizing specialized panels and modules for the construction of our homes. However, we do offer many standard LivingHomes with compact footprints that are similar in size to shipping container homes.