We Built a Tool to Help You Hold Any Builder Accountable - Including Us

If you've been to a rebuild fair lately, you know the feeling. Table after table of builders, each one telling you they're different, their homes are safer, their price is fair. Everyone has a brochure. Everyone has a pitch. And you walk away with a stack of cards and no idea who to believe.

We've been thinking about that problem for a while. And we decided the most useful thing we could do for fire survivors, for anyone rebuilding in California, wasn't another brochure. It was a better set of questions.

So we built a tool.

The PHNX Contractor Evaluation Tool is a free, mobile-friendly app that walks you through 12 questions you should be asking any builder you're considering, covering construction type, insurance, fees, supervision, and contract protections. For each contractor, you score their answers: Yes, Partial, or No. Add notes as you go. At the end, you see everyone side by side in a comparison table, including how a fully noncombustible, net-zero builder answers each question.

It takes about 10 minutes per contractor. You can add up to 5 builders. Print or save your results at the end.

We designed it specifically for rebuild fairs, the kind of environment where you're moving quickly, talking to multiple builders in the same afternoon, and trying to remember who said what. Now you don't have to remember; you have a record.

A few of the questions might surprise you. Did you know California only requires a licensed architect on non-wood-frame construction? That a builder's risk insurance rate depends on construction type, and that noncombustible homes qualify for significantly lower rates? That a "10-year warranty" is required by California law for all licensed builders, not a differentiator?

These are the things most builders won't volunteer. We think you should know them regardless of who you build with.

The tool is free. No email required. No sales follow-up triggered by using it. We built it because we believe informed clients make better decisions, and better decisions lead to better homes.

Launch App

If you have questions about any of the 12 topics, we're happy to walk through them in a free initial consultation.

About PHNX Development

PHNX Development is a San Diego-based design-build firm specializing in Type I noncombustible, net-zero custom homes. Founded by CA Licensed Architect Laurie C. Fisher (#C-30685), PHNX builds with the patent-pending PHNX Longspan™ Structural System — concrete ICF walls, steel roof structure, no wood anywhere in the structural system. Every PHNX home is fully all-electric, permitted as Type I under the California Building Code, and pre-qualified for Mercury Insurance coverage in high fire risk areas. PHNX is the first residential homebuilder in the nation to formalize this kind of insurer alliance.