What Happens Between Design & Construction
Introduction
The completion of the design phases (concept design, schematic design, and design development) is often seen as the endpoint of a project’s development. In reality, it marks the beginning of a critical phase where the design is coordinated and prepared for approval and construction. This stage is less visible, but it is just as essential to ensuring the project can be built as intended.
What happens here is not a continuation of design in the conceptual sense. It is a shift in focus — from developing ideas to resolving details, aligning disciplines, and preparing information that a contractor can build from.
1. Permitting and Approvals
Before construction can begin, the project must pass through regulatory review. This involves submitting Permit Drawings to the local authorities to ensure the design complies with planning controls, building codes, and safety requirements.
Many clients assume that because building and planning codes exist, following them should be straightforward, and that approvals should be black and white. In practice, this is far from reality, especially in major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York.
Codes are complex, constantly evolving, and full of grey areas open to interpretation. The plan checker assigned to your project will be making judgment calls based on their own reading of the code. This can be one of the most frustrating phases for clients, because no one outside of the planning officials can control how quickly the project is reviewed or how fairly it is assessed. Projects typically go through at least two rounds of review, feedback, and revision before a permit is issued.
There are ways to mitigate unnecessary plan check reviews and help ensure an efficient approvals process — we will cover those in a future blog.
“Regulatory approval defines the boundaries within which the design must operate.”
2. Consultant Coordination: Aligning Structure and Systems
Architecture does not exist in isolation. Structural engineers, mechanical engineers, civil engineers, Title-24 consultants, and other specialists all contribute to how a building is designed and delivered.
During this phase, the architect coordinates these inputs to ensure that all systems align with the design intent. Structural elements like beams and posts must work within the spatial layout. Mechanical services must be integrated without compromising key spaces or ceiling heights. Technical systems must be resolved without undermining the established design aesthetic. This typically involves multiple coordination meetings and working sessions with each of the engineering disciplines.
Our goal is to identify and resolve conflicts before they appear on site. It is far more cost-effective — and far less disruptive — to solve a problem on a drawing than to solve it in the field.
“Coordination ensures that multiple systems can coexist within a single design framework.”
3. Chapter 3: Technical Development: Making the Project Buildable with Construction Documents
In addition to coordination, the design must also be translated into information the general contractor can use to construct the home. This is the Construction Documentation set — detailed drawings, material and product specifications, junction details, and the drawings and calculations produced by the engineering consultants.
This stage focuses on resolving how elements come together in practice: how walls meet floors, how waterproofing is detailed, how materials are fixed, and how transitions between finishes are handled. The aim is to reduce ambiguity so the design can be accurately interpreted on site. Thorough documentation also helps compress the construction schedule by reducing the number of questions and surprises that arise in the field.
To put this in perspective: the Construction Documentation set will typically contain ten times the number of drawing sheets as the Permit Drawing set.
“Construction Documents is where design intent is translated into construction logic.”
4. Cost Alignment: Pricing and Bids From Contractors
Once the project is documented in sufficient detail, it can be priced. This may involve soliciting bids from multiple general contractors for you to select from, or finalising a contract with a contractor who has been providing preconstruction services throughout the design phases.
If costs come in over budget, adjustments may be required — refining material selections, adjusting scope, or re-evaluating construction methods. The gap between expected costs and contractor bids should be minimal if a preconstruction contractor has been providing accurate estimates throughout the design process.
It typically takes several weeks to receive bids, review them thoroughly, and interview each of the general contractors. At the end of this process, a contractor is awarded the project and construction begins.
Conclusion
Between design and construction lies a structured, often overlooked phase of the architectural process. It is where ideas are reviewed and approved by governing bodies, coordinated across disciplines, and refined into information that can be built from.
Less visible than early design or active construction, this phase is critical to the success of any project. It is where clarity is established, risks are reduced, and the design intent is fully prepared for execution. Getting this phase right is what makes everything that follows possible.