Prevent overruns through a 10 to 15 percent contingency and a formal change order process agreed to before construction starts. When unexpected costs emerge, your contractor should present three options: proceed with the change, modify scope, or defer the work. Never allow verbal approvals or surprises at final punch list. The difference between successful projects and budget disasters is transparency: contractors who hide change orders until the final invoice destroy trust, while transparent contractors flag issues early and give you time to decide. Kingdom & Co. uses JobTread and weekly owner meetings to surface scope changes in real-time, so homeowners never face a surprise invoice and maintain control over project spending throughout construction.