WHO TO CALL FIRST?

The short and most obvious answer to this question is: a designer. But because you’ve asked this question, you likely understand that the answer to that question is not so straightforward. 

Working with a designer is an absolute must for any home renovation project. What is equally important, is making sure the design you’re considering matches your budget and is structurally and materially feasible. Early on in the process, it makes sense to have your contractor involved, and a common way to do that is to hire both early on. Over the years, we’ve found if we (as the contractor) coordinate the design process, it allows this planning stage to stay smooth and controlled without any surprises. This process is called ‘design-build’ and in 2022 and beyond, it may be the best option right now for consumers, financially and otherwise.

THE RISE OF DESIGN-BUILD

The concept of design-build has actually been around for centuries and as customer needs change, the design-build process makes good financial sense. According to the 2019 Industry trends report from the CCA, design-build is gaining popularity due to less risk for homeowners, with a smoother planning process to boot. 

In the report, a builder mentions the benefit to their clients:

“We like design-build. It allows us to compete on something other than price, its closer to a ‘for value bid’ where you’re judged on the quality and novelty of the design, rather than just how cheaply you can build a cookie cutter.”

COLLABORATION IS FASTER WITH DESIGN BUILD

Most design-build renovations firms don’t use ‘in-house’ design to put their projects on paper, but rather hire the designers as a subcontractor. This means the builder can hire a designer with a portfolio that the client likes, and allow for a unique design every time. By keeping everything under one umbrella, your builder can focus on planning the project, at the same time the designer is putting ideas together. 

If anything restrictive comes up during the planning process, like the need for a beam or a venting issue, that info can be relayed to the designer right away and changes can happen before the design process is complete. This can’t happen if the design is done first.

“CAN’T I JUST HIRE A DESIGNER AND A CONTRACTOR SIMULTANEOUSLY AND ASK THEM TO WORK TOGETHER?”

Yes, you absolutely can! This process is called IPD or ‘Integrated Project Delivery’. This is something we still see a lot of and was the standard for the past few decades. The problems we see with this process when it comes to renovation projects, is that dealing with separate personalities and companies can be a challenge, especially if the contractor and the designer have never worked together before. With design-build, the contractor chooses which designer would be a good fit for the client and their project size, plus the builder knows they can work effectively with that firm. This eliminates any middle management on the customer’s part, which I don’t have to explain.. is not fun. 

FINAL THOUGHT? YOUR CONTRACTOR SHOULD HAVE DESIGN SENSE!

When thinking about your next renovation project, would you rather hire a contractor that has design sense and style? Or a contractor that doesn’t know the first thing about space planning, mood and style guides. I can tell you from experience, when I didn’t know these things (years ago), it made putting a renovation together much harder. When I embarked on shifting our company to a design-build renovation firm, I started learning more about design than ever before. 

Renovating has become more about customer service than about hammers and nails and that’s probably the most important thing industry professionals are learning. Every day we (as builders) are coming up with ways to make renovating your home easier, and less stressful for you. I predict that design-build will continue to gain popularity in the years to come as it’s overall just a better way to serve customers.