Most of our typical renovation and addition projects can be completed within 12 months including design and construction. Smaller projects can be expedited, and larger projects can sometimes take multiple years.
All projects start with a phone call to discuss project details including the scope, budget, and timeline. Next, we’ll schedule an in-person consultation to gather more information and become more familiar with the property and prepare a fee proposal. When you’re ready to start the project, it will progress with the following stages.
Drawings are prepared in a 2-step process. The initial schematic design starts with an existing conditions survey where we’ll measure the property to create existing drawings. We’ll use the existing drawings to prepare the initial design(s) to meet your needs. Smaller projects may only need a single draft but more complex projects may need multiple options to land on a final schematic design. At this stage we typically get initial contractor estimates of the construction costs to verify if the project is in line with your budget.
To pull building permits for your project we’ll need to prepare more detailed drawings to submit to your local building permit office. This will include not only architectural drawings but also various engineering drawings depending on the complexity of your project. Approval of the permit drawings can take anywhere from 1 week to 2-3 months depending on the size and complexity of your project. The permit drawings will also be used for bidding to obtain final estimates for our project.
During construction, we’ll meet with the owner and contractor every few weeks to track progress at Owner Architect Contractor (OAC) Meetings. We often need to troubleshoot issues that often come up with modernizing older buildings. Sometimes, substantial design changes are required that may need a permit revision, where we submit revised drawings to the permit office for approval.
