CanIBuildThis.combrought to you by Bircch Service terms

The agreement, spelled out.

When you order from Bircch, this page is the deal between us: what you get, what you don't, what each of us is responsible for, and how money moves. It's written to be read, not skimmed past — it's short, and every line in it matters.

Last updated 23 August 2026 · Bircch, CanIBuildThis.com · Massachusetts

How this agreement forms. Ordering any CanIBuildThis.com service — by this site's form, by email, or by phone — means you've read and agreed to these terms. If anything here is unclear, ask us before you order: tellme@canibuildthis.com.

What we sell, and what it costs

Every price below is our fee for our work. Fees a town or government office charges — application fees, recording fees, abutters lists, postage for legal notices — are never included, never marked up, and never estimated in print: you pay them at actual cost, with the receipt.

Service	What it is	Fee
ADU feasibility report	Your parcel, your zoning, your septic, every rule cited to its bylaw section — delivered as an interactive web page plus a printable version, by email. Includes up to two proposals compared (say, a detached unit vs an addition). Two is the limit.	$497 flat
Placement options mini-report	From inside your report: pick the exact spot or constraint you're wondering about and get the routes to permission — or a straight answer that it's a hard stop.	$12 each
Variance application — application only	We complete the variance application in your name (or your authorized agent's). You handle the hearing. Additional variances on the same application are $50 each.	$325
Variance application — full service	We complete the application as your authorized agent and attend the hearing. See The variance guarantee below — it's the part worth reading.	$1,500
Open permit & records check	For buyers and sellers: open permits and work that doesn't match the town's file, before closing day.	$150–$250
Un-permitted work report	A private, judgment-free assessment of what's on record, the real risks, and the path to fix it.	$300–$600
Strategy call	45–60 minutes of straight answers about your property and your plans.	$95–$150

One thing we don't do: file your permits for you. We research, we tell you what your property allows, and we handle variance applications — but we're not a permit-filing service, and the permit itself stays in your hands or your contractor's. What we do instead is teach you the process, in plain English and for free, so you can walk it without guessing.

The variance guarantee

Zoning boards decide variances — nobody can promise you an outcome, and you should walk away from anyone who does. What we can stand behind is our own judgment, so full-service variance work runs one of two ways:

If we've assessed your variance as likely approvable and take it on that basis: our fee is $1,500 — and $500 comes off that fee for every variance that is denied. The fee can fall to $0. Town submission costs are yours either way, at actual cost.
If we assess approval as unlikely and you choose to file anyway: we'll give you that assessment in writing first. If you still want to proceed, we'll do the work well — at the flat $1,500 with no discount, or as application-only at $325. Informed is the deal.

Where the relief you'd need is something a board legally cannot grant, we'll decline the engagement and tell you why — that answer is free with your report, or $12 as a placement mini-report.

What you get, always

Research you can check. Every rule we quote carries its bylaw section and the date of the version we read. Nothing is "trust us."
Honest unknowns. Anything we could not verify is marked unverified in the report, with what it would take to resolve it — never silently papered over.
Plain English. If a sentence needs a law degree to read, we've failed. Ask and we'll say it plainer, free.
A human review. Every report is reviewed and signed off by a person before it is delivered. Always.
Your report, by email. No account, no login, no portal. The web version is yours to share with your builder, your family, your board.

What you don't get — read this one twice

Legal advice. We are not attorneys. Questions of title, disclosure, covenants, easements, or dispute go to your attorney.
A stamped professional opinion. No part of our work is a survey, an engineering opinion, a septic design, or an architect's drawing. Where you need one, the report says so and names the kind of licensed professional to hire.
A licensed inspection. A report reads the record; it does not open walls or dig test pits.
A guaranteed outcome. Boards and officials keep their discretion. We tell you what the written rules say and what usually happens — never what will happen.
A permanent answer. A report reflects the public record and the rules in force on its date. Bylaws change; records get corrected; the report is a snapshot, not a subscription.

What you're responsible for

Telling us the truth on the intake form — your legal name, your interest in the property (owner, buyer, agent), and the facts as you know them. Our work is only as good as what it starts from.
Having the right to order the work. If you're not the owner, you confirm the owner (or your client) knows and approves.
Reading the whole report — including the parts marked unverified and the limitations on the last page. They are part of the answer.
Confirming unverified items before spending money on them. If the report says a thing needs a surveyor, a soil evaluator, or the town's confirmation, that confirmation is yours to get (or to hire us to help get).
Your decisions and your money. The report informs the decision; it doesn't make it. Design, contracts, and construction spending are yours.
Municipal costs, at actual cost, as described above.

Paying, and getting your money back

Payment is due when you order, before research begins.
Cancel before we've started: full refund, no questions. Once research has begun, the fee is earned as the work is done and is not refundable — the work is the product.
Delivered digital work (reports, mini-reports) is not refundable — but if we got a fact wrong, tell us within 30 days and we correct the report free. Being wrong and leaving it wrong is not a thing we do.
Variance work follows its own guarantee, above.
Strategy calls can be rescheduled with 24 hours' notice; a missed call without notice is charged.
Municipal fees we have already paid out on your behalf are never refundable — that money went to the town.

Privacy & security

Covered in full, in the same plain English, on the Privacy & Security page — what we collect, where it lives, who else sees it (almost nobody), and how to have it deleted. Short version: we never sell or share your information, this site sets no cookies and runs no trackers, and delivered reports are never published here.

Whose work it is

Your report is yours to use and share for the property and project it covers — send it to your builder, your lender, your family, the town. What stays ours is the machinery behind it: the report format, the rules engine, and the tools. You may not resell reports or strip them for a competing service. Contractors may share a client's report with that client — that's what it's for.

The limits of our liability

This is the same clause printed on every report, and it means what it says: our work is professional research — a plain-English reading of public records and written rules in force on the date shown. We are not liable for errors in the public records themselves, for rules that change after the report date, for site conditions that differ from the record, or for how any board or official exercises its discretion. Anything marked unverified is unresolved until confirmed. Where we are liable, our total liability is limited to the fee you paid us. Nothing in these terms limits any liability that cannot lawfully be limited under Massachusetts law.

If we disagree

Talk to us first — a real person reads tellme@canibuildthis.com and most problems are a correction, a conversation, or a refund away from solved. Failing that, these terms are governed by Massachusetts law, and any dispute belongs in the courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

If these terms change

We'll change the date at the top. A change never applies backwards: the terms that were on this page when you ordered are the ones that govern your order.

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CanIBuildThis.com · brought to you by Bircch · buildability & permitting, Massachusetts. Reports are professional research — a plain-English reading of the public record and the town's written rules. Not legal advice, a stamped engineering opinion, or a licensed inspection.