Coordinating your architect and builder on a new home

01

Owner-provided architect versus a design-build arrangement

With an owner-provided architect, ask the architect and contractor to define their separate deliverables and how they communicate. Early builder involvement can provide scope and construction questions during design; it does not by itself transfer design responsibility to the contractor. In a proposed design-build arrangement, ask who contracts for design, which professionals are engaged and what the written scope actually provides.

This guide explains owner questions, not a KB in-house architecture or design-build offer. KB’s in-house design-build scope is unconfirmed. Do not assume a website’s coordination language includes architectural services, engineering, permit handling or construction administration. Confirm each service and responsible party in the proposed contracts.

02

The architect agreement: define services before assigning tasks

The California Architects Board says architects must have a written contract before commencing architectural work unless the client authorizes an earlier start in writing; the Board also identifies exempt work arrangements. Its summary of Business and Professions Code § 5536.22 includes services, compensation/payment, party information, additional services and termination procedures.

Ask whether the agreed services include concept design, permit documents, agency correction responses, bidding support, site visits, submittal review or construction administration. These are questions to clarify, not services presumed to be included. Use the Board’s consumer guide and license check, and ask your adviser to review the agreement for your circumstances.

03

Build a pricing packet with a named revision

Agree what the pricing packet contains before sending it: a drawing index with dates/revisions, the drawings themselves, specifications or a selection schedule, relevant survey/site information, the scope boundaries and the unresolved-decision list. Ask the design team what is ready for pricing and what is still conceptual. A permit set title alone does not tell a bidder which finishes or site assumptions to price.

For the house, ask whether plans, sections, elevations, structural information and systems/energy information are coordinated to the stated pricing stage. List windows, doors, fixtures, equipment and finishes that are selected, carried as allowances or excluded. Treat this as a project-specific packet to agree with the professionals, not a universal municipal submittal checklist.

04

Move a question through the owner, designer and contractor

Agree a shared question log: reference the sheet or specification, describe the issue, identify who answers it and record the answer and date. The contractor can raise access, installation or scope questions; the design professional addresses the design within their scope; the owner decides preferences and budget tradeoffs with the appropriate advice. Name who distributes the resulting revision.

Keep clarification distinct from authorization. If an answer changes the design or scope, ask the designer to identify the revised documents and the contractor to state pricing and sequence implications. Record the owner’s decision through the agreed process, then send the same revision to everyone affected. A meeting comment should not leave different teams working from conflicting instructions.

05

Agency corrections must reach both design and pricing

When the reviewing authority asks for corrections, assign the response to the responsible professional and retain the correction reference, response and drawing revision. Ask the contractor whether the revision changes the previously priced scope. An agency response and the owner’s commercial approval answer different questions; do not treat one as the other.

Before comparing revised proposals, issue the updated document list and ask each builder to identify superseded assumptions, changed allowances and remaining exclusions. The proposal comparison can organize these owner entries, but unknown inclusion relationships still prevent a complete comparison. It cannot verify that drawings are coordinated or that the proposal covers every task.

06

Prepare for construction questions and handover

Before construction, agree who handles product submittals, site questions and design revisions, and whether site visits or construction administration are included in the architect’s scope. Ask for a communication process the actual team can support rather than assuming a response time or unlimited attendance.

At handover, identify the agreed records to receive and who supplies them: current drawing set, approved changes, equipment/warranty information and applicable agency records. Ask what is missing and who will close it. The preparation matrix below organizes documents; it is not a certification of the design or construction.

07 · Comparing the options

Who decides what: a role and decision matrix

Most coordination problems are unassigned decisions, not disagreements. Before design development, agree in writing who is responsible for each recurring decision and who must be consulted. The matrix below is a starting template to edit with your own team; it describes common arrangements, not a service KB Remodeling has confirmed it offers.

Under any arrangement, the design professional is responsible for the design documents they prepare, the builder gives constructability and pricing feedback, and the owner makes the scope and budget decisions. What changes between design-build, architect-led and separate-contract arrangements is who holds which contract and who carries information between parties.

08 · An example

An illustrative coordination meeting agenda

This sample agenda is illustrative, not a record of any KB project. Its purpose is to make every meeting end with decisions, owners and dates rather than discussion. Keep the same order each time so open items cannot quietly drop off.

For each arrangement, ask the questions that reveal how coordination actually works: in design-build, who inside the firm owns design responsibility and how you see constructability trade-offs; architect-led, whether the architect administers the construction contract and answers site questions; separate contracts, who carries a question from the builder to the architect and how fast.

1. Decision log review

Confirm last meeting's decisions are reflected in the current drawing revision.

2. Open questions

Each question has an owner and a needed-by date tied to pricing or ordering.

3. Consultant status

Survey, soils and structural deliverables: received, under review or pending.

4. Cost and schedule effect

Builder states the effect of any proposed change before it is approved.

5. Actions

Who sends what to whom, by when; circulated in writing after the meeting.