Eye in Sky Watches Custom Builder's Sites

Custom builder Mike McGuffie of Regal Classic Homes (www.regalclassichomes.com) in Orlando, Fla., is using Web cams on his jobs to keep customers informed of progress and trade contractors and vendors on their toes. Regal or the home buyer can control each camera online to pan 360 degrees or zoom in for a closeup.

"I wanted this to help with client relations since some of my buyers are out of town a lot," says McGuffie, who builds three or four luxury homes, valued from to $500,000 to $1 million, each year.

McGuffie says his two Web cams also are powerful management tools. "The days of getting the run-around from trades are over," he says. "If I'm at one job and want to check who's on site at the next job, I can call the office and have someone check the Web cam. If a delivery is supposed to happen in the afternoon, I can check to see if it shows up as scheduled. This is allowing me to build an extra house a year."

McGuffie took his idea to Gayle Blackert of GWB Elect-Mech Consulting (www.gwb-elect-mech.com), and now Blackert offers Web cams to other Orlando builders for $2,960 installed, including pole, camera, security alarm and electrical box, ready to connect to a 115-volt electrical line and a telephone line with DSL service. He'll ship kits to builders outside Orlando for $3,200.