O'NEILL DEVELOPMENT CORP

I first became aware of O'Neill Development Corporation

through an in-depth article in the Real Estate section of the Washington

Post.  They had just built a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental

Design,) certified home on North Chelsea Lane, Bethesda, Maryland.  My

wife and I were very interested in the environmental performance of the custom

home we planned to build, including design, construction methods, operations

and maintenance.  So we approached O'Neill with our plans and ideas. 

It was immediately clear that they were thoroughly conversant with the

techniques we had in mind--for example, Insulating Concrete Forms for

foundation walls, Structural Insulating Panels for exterior walls and roof

panels.

We signed the contract with O'Neill many months after our first contact with

them; but by then, they had already provided us with important pre-construction

services.  The house we had in mind had been designed by Sarah Susanka and

we purchased the plans from a California architectural firm that she has

authorized to sell her plans.  However, the structural plans had to be

developed to meet Maryland code requirements. 

The structural engineer that O'Neill recommended was excellent.  In

general, their sub-contractors, especially those who did the concrete and

Stucco work, were among the best in the business.  O'Neill's own talented

and dedicated team, led by Brendan O'Neill Junior, included: Martin Johnson who

we worked with closely to put together the building permit application, Rob Melby

the on-site supervisor and gifted carpenter, Kerri Ford who coordinated the

subcontractors, obtained quotes, and hand-held us through all the many

selections and decisions we were required to make, and importantly, Brendan O?Neill

Senior, who founded the company in 1975 and was always available and willing to

provide guidance. Uniformly, they were exceptionally generous with their time,

accommodating of our needs and situation, and clearly dedicated to their chosen

professions.  Throughout the project I had weekly meetings with them that lasted

an average of two hours.  For each meeting, Kerri prepared a formal agenda

containing the current items, Change Orders, the decisions from the last

meeting, and outstanding items.  Also for each meeting, the project plan

was updated and timelines reviewed.  In spite of difficult construction

weather conditions, the project was completed in timely fashion.

Separately, Brendan Junior handled every issue that arose,

especially those that were raised by adjacent property owners, promptly,

gracefully and competently.  He was always

careful to shield us from these situations knowing that this was to be our

future home.  Here are two examples of

issues that gave rise to complaints: (1) A Verizon cable was severed during the

excavation; but this only occurred because Verizon had illegally run a trench

through our lot to service some homes behind our property.  They had not notified Maryland Miss Utility,

the state entity responsible for making utility lines before any excavation is authorized?Miss

Utility?s slogan is: ?Before you dig, every dig. It?s the law,? and that is

exactly what O?Neill did.  As a result, the

Verizon lines were not marked, were consequently cut, and Verizon made the

repair; (2) In another case, a neighbor?s basement got flooded during a heavy

rain storm.  However, on careful examination,

it became clear that the fault was simply a leaky basement that revealed itself

during the heavy downpour.

I would highly recommend O'Neill Development Corporation to anyone

who has a custom home-construction project in mind.