I am often asked what is the best way for occupational therapists to work with builders. I'm not sure of what works for everyone but I can tell you what works for me and what I've heard from other OTs that are working with builders. Of course every OT that has answered this question will have a different point of view.
I started my company Functional Homes, Inc. as a construction company. I was a single mom of three and was looking for a business opportunity to bring in additional income to allow me to take my children traveling. I was also a competitive sailor. One of the other crew members on the sailboat owned a construction company and was renting wheelchair ramps which was quite lucrative. We started talking and he told me he'd give me 25% of the take of every wheelchair ramp job I brought in. At the time I thought, well I know plenty of people with handicaps so I started referring clients to him. After a while he got a job remodeling a home for accessibility but did not know how to make a home accessible, So we agreed on a 25/75 split and I did the design, chose the materials, and hired a few subcontractors and he did the construction.
