Services

Just as a doctor performs a thorough diagnosis before issuing a prescription, our process begins with thorough research of your project constraints followed by the creation of a customized Project Development Program for your project. We will meet with you and visit the site if necessary to define your Project Development Program. The Project Development Program serves several purposes:

• It minimizes your risk to faulty design decisions by laying the proper groundwork up-front
• It clarifies the project constraints so that proper design decisions can be made
• It helps us determine if this working relationship is a “fit” for both parties (you and me) before fully committing to a contract for design services
• It allows you to explore your goals for your project in a structured format

The process of information-gathering to fully define the scope of the project and client’s design objectives, check existing site and building conditions, research codes and HOA Architectural regulations (if relevant) that may have an influence or constraint on the exterior or interior renovations, and determine the need for consultants.

In this phase, we will explore alternative approaches to design and construction of the Project and prepare schematic design drawings of varying design approaches. The schematic design drawings, at a minimum, establish the conceptual design of the Project illustrating the scale and relationship of the Project components. The schematic design drawings include preliminary floor plans, as well as perspectives.

In this phase, we will prepare design development drawings that illustrate and describe the refinement of the design of the Project, and establish the scope, relationships, forms, size and appearance of the Project by means of floor plans, sections, elevations, and 3-dimensional sketches or computer renderings.

In this phase, the Design Team prepares a set of scaled construction drawings and specifications, which are adequate for complete pricing and construction of the Project as designed (“Contract Documents”). Based on the final Contract Documents, we prepare such documentation as may be required to and assist in obtaining approval from the local Planning and Building Departments.

For the Bidding and Negotiation Phase, we administrate and coordinate the bidding process. This includes correspondence with Contractors in the form of Requests for Proposal, Instructions to Bidders, review of Requests for Information, and the issuance of Addenda. We also review and evaluate alternates and substitutions, and provide for a bid analysis and reconciliation of multiple contractor bids, and aid the Client in the selection of one bidder with whom to negotiate the Construction Contract.

For the Construction Administration Phase, we visit the site at intervals appropriate to the stage of construction in order to observe the progress and quality of the Work completed by the Contractor. Based on this general observation, we keep the Client informed about the progress of the Work and advise the Client about observed deficiencies in the Work. Other tasks include submittal and shop drawing review and processing, material finish and color selection, answers to questions that arise during construction, coordination meetings, change order processing, and review of Contractor punch lists.