It can be overwhelming to start working on a building a new house. There is a lot to coordinate and it can be difficult to understand who fills what rolls. At Laurel Design Collective, we love working on new home builds in Oregon and throughout the West Coast. We work in conjunction with large teams of architects, builders, contractors, and engineers. With so many questions of where to start we thought we’d summarize it for you.
Where to Start When Building a House
The first question you need to answer when you decide to build a new home is who to start with? And it’s not an easy, straight-forward answer. Who you start with will depend on several things: the complexity and scope of your home site; how strongly you value design and uniqueness; and your budget (of course).
Who Does What: Remember your A, B, C, D, E s
Architect:
An architect creates stamped architectural construction plans for the house, telling the contractor what to do and how to do it. Architects will sometimes work on the interiors of homes as well. A talented architect will help you design a bold, unique home, that emphasizes style. Architects can help create an overarching vision for your site and develop the site as a whole, including accessory buildings and mini-destinations. Architects are essential on projects that are more than 2 stories and all commercial work — you won’t get a permit without their stamped drawings!
Builder:
A home builder specializes in ground-up, new home construction. They often have an architecture and design team on staff, and sometimes even real estate agents. Builders sometimes (but not always!) have set plans they work from and allow only minor modifications. They follow design trends and have lots of experience in permitting and building a house.
General Contractor:
The general contractor follows construction plans to build the house, works with the city to achieve permitting and hold regular construction inspections. They work best when they have a clear set of construction documents to follow. Often abbreviated to GC, the general contractor coordinates the multitude of subcontractors needed to build a home. They are focused on scheduling, coordinating, and overseeing the construction of the home.
Designer:
Some designers do custom home design or additions as well. They help ensure the exterior and interior work in harmony. Designers or interior designers focus on the interior of the home, making smart, timeless design choices that are above trends. They design everything from wall layouts to furniture to silverware selection. Designers can help you make healthy material choices and choose products that will stand the test of time. Designers produce a set of un-stamped construction documents including plans and specification information for the home build. Laurel Design Collective is a Design Studio.
Engineer:
There are many types of engineers, the sub-specialty most needed on a new build home is a structural engineer. The structural engineer takes plans from the architect and/or designer and lays out the necessary structural requirements for the building. They determine what size beams and joists need to be and produce their own structural drawing set as well as structural calculations that will be needed for permitting. A structural engineer makes sure your home stays standing up! Depending on your location they will account for seismic activity, hurricane-strength winds, etc.
Subcontractor:
A subcontractor works for the GC or General Contractor on the project. They have a specific specialty such as an electrician or a plumber or a drywaller. They focus on their one area of the build. The general contractor will schedule the subcontractors and coordinate work between the different teams.
Builder or Architect? Is Budget or Design More Important to you?
Do you need an architect or a designer if you work with a builder? Not always. Most builders keep a design team on staff to produce construction documents needed for building. Builders focus on the overall scope and budget. They often have a particular style they build or work with certain parameters for the design. A builder focuses on the over all BUDGET first. They will create line item budgets for all the items needed for a build to fit that overall budget. This may mean they select more affordable options in order to stay within your budget.
An architect or a designer works closely with you to learn about your design preferences and unique functional needs. They design a home that is perfectly suited to you and your family. Architects and designers will emphasize style over budget (though budget is important). They might make suggestions like sacrificing square footage for better, more high end design. An architect or designer will create a beautiful home.
A Designer or an Architect: Who Does What?
Still confused about who does what between an architect and a designer? Don’t worry, it is confusing! There is a lot of overlap between these trades. Architects are a licensed trade producing stamped construction drawings. They will have unlicensed architects working for them on their team who cannot use the title “architect,” but instead refer to themselves as “architectural designers.”
Architecture studios will often have an interior design team on staff and design studios will often take on residential build projects. Generally, it is best to have an architect on your project if you have a complex home site or want a high end, specific architectural style. You will often want a designer to work in coordination with the architect on designing the interior of the home and selecting finishes and fixtures and furniture. If your site is simple or you’re working on a large renovation or addition, you may just need a designer to coordinate both the interior and exterior design of your project. Laurel Design Collective takes on additions and large scale renovations involving exterior architectural work. Some design studios keep architecture teams on staff to help with more complex projects.
Designers or interior designers are experts in the interiors of a home. They ensure the space you deal with every day is both aesthetically pleasing and functional for you and your family. Just don’t call them an interior decorator! This term generally refers to a specialty that only works on decorations and furniture, not interior architecture.
Coordinating the Design Team and the Construction Team
Coordinating this many consultants can make you want to bang your head against the wall. With so many people reaching out to you, it is important to decide early on how involved you want to be with the day to day of your project.
Start Coordinating Your Consultants Early
As soon as you decide who will be on your project team, send everyone an email connecting them. It is a good idea to schedule a kick off meeting between yourself and all the consultants so they can learn more about each other and everyone can define their clear scope of work.
Drawing the Lines: Establishing Clear Scopes of Work and Streams of Communication
With some overlap between builders, designers, architects, and contractors, it is important to establish clear scopes of work. If your architect is working on the exterior of the building, they will need to have some rough interior layouts in mind. It is a good idea for those preliminary designs to be sent to the interior designer for input on interior layouts and furniture arrangements. After all, you don’t want the exterior design of the building to prevent you from using your favorite sofa or getting that second bathroom sink!
If you are working with a builder will they be including design services? Do those include interior design as well? Will you need another design team to select and design the furniture? It is a good idea to clearly outline where the builders scope starts and ends. If they are designing the shell and building the house, but another designer is selecting the materials and finishes, it is important to have that designer review the builder’s line item budget. Sometimes that budget does not reflect high- or even mid-range design selections. You will want to know if there are any red flags in the budget early.
Collaboration is Key to Building a House
We all know collaboration and communication are important aspects of any team working together and a new home build is no exception. Your whole team needs to know what the other members are working on in order to do their own part of the project.
In Person Meetings Create a Collaborative Atmosphere
During the design process, it can be helpful to include the build team at certain stages to make sure your project is coming in on budget and to help them understand the design as a whole. At Laurel Design Collective, we like to have meetings with our contractors at the 80% design stage. At that point we have them run a full line item budget to present to the client. This helps us know if we need to cut back.
During construction it is important for the whole team to meet regularly. This looks like a big kick off meeting to review the construction documents together and establish important points of contact and review.
During the building process the design team should meet with the builder and/or contractor on site to review the site conditions, construction progress, and troubleshoot any issues that come up on site (there is always something). These meetings can also incorporate you – the client – if you want to be involved at this level. The design team will also review orders for windows and doors as well as other products to ensure they are correct – a great way to help each other out and avoid costly typos. If there are complicated design elements the construction team may build a mock up for the design team to review and approve. This ensures the whole team is working together and building a house.
Different Teams Hold Each Other Accountable
Having different teams is a great way to hold your consultants accountable. When your design team and construction team are one and the same, sometimes issues or mistakes are brushed under the rug to save time, money, or headaches. When these are separate consultants, the teams hold each other responsible for their scopes of work and make sure issues are resolved in the open with clear communication and approved solutions. Again, we’re all human, mistakes happen. This isn’t about playing the blame game, this is about accountability and clarity and ensuring the final solution is the best one.
Streamline Communication for Less Stress and Headache
Level of Involvement
With so many people working on your project it might feel like a new person is calling you every hour when you’re designing and building a house. It is important to streamline communication and establish communication patterns early on in the process.
The design team and the construction team should be meeting regularly (weekly, bi-weekly) or periodically (after framing and rough-in, post drywall, post-paint and finishes, etc). You will need to decide how involved you want to be. Are you someone who wants to be involved in every decision and minute detail? You will want to be at those meetings. Or are you someone who wants to give their input and then trust that your team will carry it out. Then perhaps you come to the major meetings. Or you just have the design team call if there is a major decision that needs to be made. There isn’t a right answer when it comes to your level of involvement, it is up to you.
A higher level of input will generally result in higher costs. This is because the team ensures you have the time and information to make every decisions. It may hold up construction or require more administrative work to document the situation.
Order of Communication
Who contacts who and when? The order of communication and when you are contacted about a potential issue is dependent on how involved you want to be. You can choose to be the main contact for your project. That means you coordinate both teams throughout design and construction. Or you can hire the design team for Construction Administration services. These services are offered to take stress and coordination and administrative work off your plate and in the hands of the experts. When you add Construction Administration to your design services, your design team will be the main point of contact for your contractor. They will be overseeing the construction work to ensure the project is built as designed and resolving all issues that come up on site.
We strongly recommend Construction Administration services when building a house. Streamlining the communication from the contractor through the design team before heading to the client reduces stress. Sometimes site conditions require minor modifications that will not affect the design at all. Do you want to be bothered with that and responsible for reaching out to the design team to coordinate a resolution? Or do you just want the design team to let you know the solution if it will be visually noticeable?
Coordinating Building a House Does Not Need to be Stressful!
With the right team behind you, coordinating your new build home will go smoothly. Design and construction is a complicated and lengthy process that takes a team of experts working in conjunction with each other to produce the home of your dreams. But that doesn’t mean it needs to be stressful. Starting out with clear parameters and coordinating your team early ensures your project will come to fruition without major bumps in the road.
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