All the important design decisions are made and the designer develops the final set of construction drawings, which incorporates input from builders and the council building consent process. You’ve now reached the Pre-construction phase.
What you need to do Pre-construction
- Avoid changes to the design (unless they are small details). At this point the drawings are comprehensive and fully co-ordinated, and any design changes can result in major time and cost overruns. These will be expensive.
- Attend design meetings and provide clear and timely feedback on finishes and fittings e.g. carpet, tiles, vinyl, paint colours, kitchen design, bathroom design and light fittings.
- If you are doing the interior design yourself, a fixed sum can be specified in the contract for these items so that the contract can get underway and the final details follow later.
- Sign off construction drawings and specifications.
- Review builder’s quotes and agree on the form of contract.
What your designer will do
- Review builder’s quotes and construction programme, discuss with you and make recommendations.
- Complete any component drawings required that had a provisional sum in the tender documents e.g. kitchen or lighting design.
- Finish all drawings and documents, incorporate any changes required by the council or the selected builder, and issue the construction set – a complete set of drawings that can be built from.
- Prepare contract documents for you and the builder to sign.
By the end of this phase you should have a preferred option agreed, know roughly how much it will cost to build, and know if you need to apply for resource consent.
