Published by LANDOVA Design & Planning. Updated October 6, 2026.
Paying for planning may feel like adding another cost to your backyard project. The reason to do it is practical: a clear plan can reduce repeated work, give contractors better information and help you catch expensive decisions before construction begins.
LANDOVA is built around that opportunity. You choose the planning services you need, then invite contractors to price a project that is already better defined.
The construction price pays for more than construction
Contractors must cover the cost of winning and preparing work as well as building it. Depending on the business, those selling costs can include sales salaries or commissions, homeowner meetings, design discussions, proposal revisions and follow-up.
Commission-based pool sales roles are one example. A pool builder’s published sales role includes homeowner consultations, design collaboration, pricing presentations and communication before construction. These are useful services. The opportunity is to avoid repeating so much of that preparation separately with every contractor.
What a 5% commission means on a $100,000 project
Imagine a $100,000 contract covering a pool and its included outdoor improvements. If the salesperson earns 5% of that contract, the commission is $5,000. This is an illustrative calculation, not a claim that every pool builder uses that rate or that $100,000 is an average project price.
The example shows why selling efficiency matters. If a contractor can serve a prepared customer with less sales work and a lower selling cost, there may be room for a more competitive proposal or a discount. Bringing a LANDOVA plan does not automatically remove an existing commission arrangement or entitle you to a $5,000 reduction. Each contractor decides its compensation and pricing.
Do the preparation once, then give the trades a clearer starting point
LANDOVA handles much of the upfront work that can otherwise sit with a sales team: understanding your goals, organizing property information, establishing the layout, developing the detail you choose and preparing a coordinated scope for pricing.
Layout approval comes before detailed materials and colors. That keeps design effort focused on an arrangement that works for how you live, move through the yard and experience its views.
Our free contractor tools support the work that remains. Trade partners use the portal for estimates, revisions and most project communication, keeping the current scope and decisions together. That helps reduce repeated questions and the time spent chasing separate emails and messages.
Contractors still verify conditions and technical requirements, determine their prices, prepare construction agreements and perform their work. LANDOVA organizes design and planning; construction responsibilities stay with the appropriate contractors.
Your time has value, too
Consider the work of arranging repeated appointments, retelling your goals, reviewing different designs, comparing mismatched proposals and tracking down missing answers. Across a complex project, that work can consume dozens of hours.
One coordinated project record helps reduce that repetition and frustration. Your attention can go toward decisions that matter: the layout you want, the details you need, the budget you can support and the contractor you choose. The time recovered depends on your project; it is not a measured LANDOVA customer average.
Look for the gaps between trades
The pool is only part of the picture. Hardscapes, drainage, utility connections, lighting, access and restoration of disturbed landscaping may be included, excluded or left unclear in different proposals.
A shared scope helps identify who owns each task, where allowances differ and whether work is missing or duplicated. Better information and less coordination effort can help contractors prepare more competitive prices without simply removing necessary work.
Early decisions also give you a chance to avoid expensive rework. Moving an outdoor kitchen on a plan is different from moving utilities after the patio is installed. The National Association of Home Builders’ contract resources emphasize scope and communication, and its change-order forms account for both price and completion-time changes.
Compare the value across the whole project
More competitive bids and avoided mistakes can potentially save thousands on a substantial outdoor project. Those savings depend on actual contractor pricing, project conditions and the changes avoided. Planning cannot prevent every surprise, and a lower price alone does not establish better value.
Compare complete scopes, responsibilities and exclusions alongside the price, and account for LANDOVA’s separate service fee. The aim is a better-informed project with less unnecessary work for everyone involved.
You remain in control: begin with a consultation, approve the services you need, and pause between stages. You do not have to buy every answer at once.
