Design Team

Design Team – Members:

• Architects (Captain)
• Engineers
• Interior Designers
• Design Consultants

Design Team – Responsibilities

In new residential construction, the Design Team usually consists of an architect and sometimes an engineer. The Design Team is responsible for developing and delivering a complete and buildable set of construction drawings and specifications describing the project and meeting all applicable building codes.

Design Team – Objectives

The Design Team’s main objective is to develop the most beautiful and impressive design possible, in accordance with the owner’s specifications and budget. The design process starts with the designer talking with the client about the construction needs, wants, wishes, likes, and dislikes. The designer continues with the creative part of the process by drawing up a rough sketch/rendering of the completed structure, presenting the owner with their vision for how the design will meet the owner’s requirements. Designers describe the project through sketches, renderings, discussions, outlines, rough budgets, and schedules. The next stage of design involves turning project information into technical plans and specifications diagrams.

In residential construction, most often the designer turns those completed plans and specifications over to the contractor expecting never to hear about the project again. In commercial construction, the degree to which a designer performs some construction administration activities depends on the project size and budget, designer inclination, and owner requirements.

Owners, who lack construction-specific knowledge and understanding, often feel compelled to contract with the Design Team to have them administer the design process, permit process, bidding and negotiation, and construction monitoring. However, contracts created by an owner can address a designer’s duties differently. It is best to be extremely clear in what you expect out of your designer.

Design Team – Issues

Individually, architects tend to choose their career based on their love for creative design, and they may unintentionally spend more time on design than they have allotted and less time on drawing details and administration than is necessary.

A lack of appropriate time allotment between designing and project administration tasks can result in too much time being spent on the artistic study, interpretation, creation, and layout and too little time on the practical detailing, coordination, document review, and construction administration. Such imbalances often result in construction document errors, omissions, and contradictions that all reduce contractor clarity.

However, since most design firms are for-profit businesses, they may choose to overlook fallacies in the details and construction administration caused by time mismanagement. After all, time is money. Before signing a contract with a Design Team, make sure that you outline all tasks including architectural design, structural design, project coordination, and administration in the contract. As in every profession, architecture firms have varying levels of skill and integrity, and the perception of design completeness can vary from one Design Team to another. It is important for you to understand what each team must deliver during the various project stages.

For example, one firm may include a detailed engineering system (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems) design and another may not. The commercial architect often contracts with professional engineers to design the systems while, residential architects often rely on the contractor to engineer the systems. Having the residential contractor design the engineering systems, can be an economical solution to providing residential design. However, it only works if the architect remembers to make room in the design for the system components and limitations. If they don’t, something will end up not working.

It is also common for architects to include notes in the construction documents specifying that the contractor is responsible for any problems that may arise with the structure. It can sometimes be a long time between design and construction, so this clause is both in an effort to avoid liability for building code changes between design and construction and to transfer responsibility from the designer to the contractor.

TIP: Controlling project costs begins with controlling the project design.