Free plan review · 3 per month · Toronto
A builder’s second opinion on your plans, before you spend a dollar building them.
Every month we choose 3 sets of drawings and review them on video, the way we would if we were pricing the job. What it will really cost, what will fight you on site, and what we would change while changing it is still free.
Est. 1997 · Family owned and operated by the Meaghers · 100+ additions and custom homes · Featured in CBC, Toronto Star & Fortune
Our insights & projects have been featured in
Why we do this
An approved drawing and a buildable budget are two different things.
Most families we meet have already spent tens of thousands of dollars on drawings before anyone told them what the house would cost to build. The drawings are not wrong. They were simply drawn without a builder in the room.
By the time a real price lands, the choice is to cut the plan apart or walk away from money already spent. A second opinion before that point costs you nothing but the upload.
What we look at
What a builder sees that a drawing set does not show
We price real jobs across Toronto’s east end every week. This is the lens we bring to your plans.
01 What it will really cost
A cost range for the set in front of us, built from what we are paying trades and suppliers in Toronto right now, not a per square foot rule of thumb from the internet.
02 The lines carrying the cost
In almost every plan a handful of decisions carry most of the budget. We point them out so you know exactly what you are paying for, and can decide whether it is worth it to you.
03 Where the plan and the budget disagree
The finish level a set of drawings implies is often nowhere near the number the family has in mind. Far better to learn that now than after the first bid comes back.
04 What will be difficult on site
Access, staging, neighbours, the condition of what is already there. None of it appears on a drawing, and all of it appears in a price.
05 What we would change
Usually a short list of modest moves that give you most of what you wanted for meaningfully less. On paper those changes are free. In framing they are not.
06 Whether to build this at all
Sometimes the honest answer is that the plan does not work for the money, or that moving beats building. We have told families that before and we will tell you.
How it works
Three sets per month, chosen at the start of each month.
Send us your plans
Upload the full set as a PDF and tell us a little about the project. It takes about two minutes.
We choose 3 per month
Every set that comes in gets read. The three we select get a full review recorded on video, so other homeowners can learn from it too. Whether yours can be shown, and whether your name and address come off it, is entirely your call.
You get the review
We walk you through what we found, what we think it costs, and what we would change. No pitch attached, and the review is yours to keep whatever you decide to do next.
Not chosen? You still hear from us
Your set stays in for the following month, and we point you at the most useful next step for where you are.
Who this is for
Which projects we review
We only review the kinds of projects we build. A cost opinion is only worth having from someone who prices that work every week.
A good fit for the review
- Home additions, including second storey and rear additions.
- Custom homes, including a tear down and rebuild on your existing lot.
- Full interior renovations, meaning the whole house or most of it, back to the studs.
- Toronto and the immediately surrounding GTA, where we know what things actually cost.
- Drawings from an architect, a designer or a draftsperson. Concept, permit and construction sets all work.
- The complete set, as a PDF. We scale off your drawings to price them, so we need the real file and the whole package.
Not a fit
- Single room projects. One kitchen, one bathroom, a basement on its own. We do not build those, so our opinion on them is worth less than your renovator’s.
- Decks, garages, garden suites and other outbuildings on their own.
- Photos of printed sheets, or a single page. A photo cannot be scaled, so it cannot be priced properly.
- Hand sketches and graph paper concepts. We plan to open the review up to these, just not yet.
- Projects well outside the GTA, where our pricing would be a guess.
If you are earlier than this, start with the Toronto Home Addition Cost Guide. It is free, and it is the same set of numbers we work from.
The honest part
Why we do this for free.
A review like this is normally part of our paid pre-construction work. We do 3 per month at no cost because we record them on video. The recording becomes the education we put out on our channels, and the questions that come up in your plans are the same questions every family building in Toronto is asking.
That is the whole trade, and we would rather say it plainly than pretend there is no catch. You get a builder’s read on your drawings for nothing. We get something worth showing, and other homeowners learn what a set of plans really costs to build.
Your name and address come off if you want them off. If you would rather not be shown at all, say so and we will keep it private. You still get the review either way.
A promise about tone
We are not here to take your architect apart.
The person who drew your plans made their choices for reasons, and design is not the part we comment on. Cost and buildability are our job, not theirs.
Every review we do is constructive, on camera and off. We say what we would change and why, we never name or criticise whoever drew the plans, and nothing about your project goes public unless you tell us it can.
From a family who built with us
“I no longer think Vince is an honest person. I know he’s an honest person.” Alex Hadjis, P.Eng. · East York addition client
Who reviews your plansRyan Meagher, Pre-Construction Manager
A note from the Meagher family
BVM is owned and operated by our family, here in the GTA. Four of us work in the business. My father, Vince, founded it in 1997, and I run pre-construction, which means the drawings and the numbers cross my desk before anything gets built.
I do these reviews myself. You get the same read I give our own clients when they bring me a set of plans and ask what it is going to cost. The only difference is that you have not paid us anything.
— Ryan MeagherPre-Construction Manager, BVM Homes
Before you send them
Questions we get
Does this cost anything?
No. There is no cost to submit, no cost if you are selected, and nothing to buy on this page. If you later want a full feasibility study on your property, we offer one, and it is entirely up to you.
What kinds of projects do you review?
Home additions, second storey additions, custom homes, and full interior renovations, all in Toronto and the immediately surrounding GTA. Those are the projects we build, which is the only reason our read on the cost is worth anything. If you are planning a single kitchen, a bathroom, or a basement on its own, we are not the right people to ask, and we would rather tell you that than waste your time.
What format do you need, and why PDF only?
A PDF of the complete set. A photo of a printed sheet cannot be scaled, so it cannot be priced properly. Send the whole package rather than a single page: floor plans, elevations, sections, and a site plan or survey if you have one. If the file is too large to upload, submit the form anyway and we will email you a link to send it through.
Do you look at every set that comes in?
Yes. Every set is read. Three per month get the full review. If yours is not chosen we will tell you, and we will point you at the most useful next step for where you are.
Will my plans end up on video?
That is the idea, and it is also entirely your choice. The three reviews we select each month are recorded, and we use that footage on our channels to help other homeowners understand what a set of drawings really costs to build. On the form you can tell us yes and use our name, yes but take our name and address off, or no. If you say no, you still get the review, we just keep it between us.
What does the video actually show?
Your drawings on screen and us talking through them: the cost, the decisions carrying that cost, and what we would change. We never name or criticise whoever drew the plans, and we do not show anything you have asked us to leave out. If you choose to be anonymous, your name, your address and anything identifying comes off before it goes anywhere.
What if I already have a builder?
That is fine, and it is a good reason to get a second set of eyes on the cost before you sign anything. We are not going to spend your review pitching you.
Do I have to build with BVM afterward?
No. Some families use the review to sanity check a number and go on to build with someone else. We would rather be useful than pushy.
How long until I hear back?
We make our selections at the start of each month. Either way you will hear from us. If you are chosen, we reach out to set a time and the review follows shortly after.
I do not have drawings yet. What should I do?
Start with the free cost guide, or come walk one of our active builds and see how the work goes together. Both are better uses of your time than drawings you are not ready to pay for.
Submit your plans
Send us the full PDF set.
Three sets per month. Home additions, custom homes and full interior renovations in Toronto. You will hear from us either way.
Only our pre-construction team sees your drawings. Nothing is published without your written permission, and you can stay anonymous or keep the review fully private.
Find out what your plans really cost while changing them is still free.
Three sets per month, reviewed by the builder who would price the job.