Comparing House Design Services

What’s the difference between an architect, design/builder, house designer, plan service, interior designer, and interior decorator? Let’s do a brief look:

• Architects are licensed professionals who have a degree in architecture, specialize in building design, and provide a wide ranges of services from initial ideas through construction.
• Design/builders are contractors that build houses and provide house design services.
• House designers create designs for houses but aren’t licensed professionals.
• Plan services are companies that sell plans and a limited number of other drawings for pre-designed houses.
• Interior designers typically have a degree in interior design, focusing on the creation and layout of interior spaces along with all interior finishes and furnishings. They are sometimes required to be licensed professionals.
• Interior decorators are designers who focus on the furniture, furnishings, and finishes inside a home.

Below we’ll take a deeper look at these design options for a new house.

Architects

An architect is the most common house designer people know of. They’re often seen as a desirable person to hire to get a great design.

In the United States architects are licensed professionals who have completed an extensive university education in design, including a thorough understanding of the basics of structural, mechanical, and civil engineering principles and how buildings are put together.

Once they’ve received their degree they’re typically required to work for a minimum number of years for other architects before they can submit for a professional license. During this period architects must obtain a minimum amount of hours of experience in all aspects of the profession.

Once the required hours have been completed, architects must take and pass an extensive series of professional exams. Architects become licensed professionals within a state upon successful completion of their exams.

The states oversee all professional requirements. These include all legal and ethical requirements of the profession. They also require architects to obtain continuing education throughout their career in order to renew their licences, which are limited to a few years of being active.

This level of education and professional diligence allows architects to understand zoning and code requirements for projects, provide professional assistance and services throughout the project, and provide the highest level of design services to their clients.

The traditional services provided by architects are broken down into a series of steps, called phases, from start to finish. Each phase focuses on different levels of design and services through the completion of construction.

The project phases are:

Programming – This phase focuses on working with the client to determine their requirements for their home. This often includes creating a project program – the collected information that will guide the design of the project. The program often consists of a list of the desired rooms and sizes, the types of activities, furnishings, and features desired for each space, the aesthetic goals of the client, and often an initial opinion of the potential construction cost range for the project based on this criteria.

Schematic Design – This phase is when the design starts. Several initial site plan, floor plan, and exterior design options are created to be reviewed with the client, who then gives feedback for a series of revisions until the client is happy with a particular plan and exterior design.

Design Development – This phase starts with the approved plans and exterior design and begins to integrate the building components and the various systems into the design. These include the structure, enclosure systems, heating and cooling, electrical, and plumbing systems, along with interior development.

Exterior and interior material options along with door and window options are created for review with the client, along with options for cabinetry, lighting, plumbing fixtures, and interior finishes.

Specialty systems such as security, central vacuum, irrigation, WiFi, and others are also integrated into the design.

Contract Documents – This is the phase where the specific documents are developed for the project to be bid to contractors and to be submitted to the local authorities for approval to obtain a construction permit.

These documents include all the drawings showing the plans, the structural system, the heating, cooling, electrical, and plumbing systems, details showing the specifics of how things are to be built, and the materials of the project.

Also included are specifications. These are written documents that describe each component of the project including the manufacturer, model number, the expected quality of installation, and all warranty requirements.

The specifications also include “front end” sections telling the contractor what is expected of him or her, the obtaining of construction permits, how he or she is to use the site, what they’re to provide at the site such as material dumpsters for removal of debris, temporary toilets, temporary water and power services, water drainage protection during construction, and other miscellany.

Also included are requirements for bidding the project, the contractor and subcontractor construction insurance requirements, and the processes for payments. Items and information required to be submitted to the architect for review and compliance confirmation are outlined, and the final project review and close-out procedures are described for when the project is completed.

During each design and contract document phase the architect will coordinate with any subconsultants such as engineers, landscape designers, and interior designers to confirm that their systems and designs fit into the overall house design.

Bidding – During this phase the architect will distribute the plans and specifications to the contractors selected by the client to bid the project. The architect will address any contractor questions and provide any clarifications needed during the project.

Once bids have been received the architect will review them, ask any for any clarifications to the numbers, and then review the numbers with the client.

Once a contractor has been awarded the job the architect will then draft the contract for construction that will be reviewed by the client, contractor, and legal representatives before execution.

Construction – During this phase the architect will review all contractor submittals including drawings, material and color samples, and pertinent product information. The architect will indicate any adjustments needed by the contractor before material purchase and installation.

The architect will also visit the site periodically to confirm the progress of construction and review compliance with the contract documents. This information is then used as part of the payment application review that is typically provided each month.

The architect will also provide a series of final walk-through’s with the client to identify any remaining items needed to be completed prior to the closeout of the project.

Closeout – This is the wrap-up of the project. In this phase the contractor will submit all product information and related operation manuals and warranty certificates. The final payment application will be submitted and reviewed. The final payment will be made once all items of the contract and documents have been completed.

Architects may also provide variations to these services. The client might come to an architect with the initial plan and exterior design they would like and then contract the architect to complete the needed documents.

Some clients might want to design the house as well as act as the general contractor or even build part of the project themselves. They could hire the architect for limited services during design and construction that the client feels is beneficial.

Design/Build Service

Design/Build is a method of designing and building a new house in which the contractor takes on the design, documentation, and construction role. This can be done a few ways:

Customizeable Plans – Some design/build contractors have a number of standard floor plans and designs. A client selects the plan that best suits their needs and then works with the contractor to modify the plans to meet the client’s desires. However, these modification are typically limited to small plan and exterior design adjustments. Cabinetry, lighting, plumbing fixtures, and finishes are typically selected from a limited set of options.

In-house Design Services – Some design/build contractors will have in-house designers who specialize in house designs. The client works with these designers to create the client’s design, typically providing only the plans, exterior elevations, a few drawing sections cut through the house, and interior room elevations.

Subcontracted Design Services – Some design/build contractors will hire a local house designer or architect to provide the design services for the client’s specific project. The client works through the contractor during the design phase, who then communicates to the house designer or architect what the client wants.

House Designers

House designers are people who like to design houses for other people. They typically don’t have a degree in architecture and aren’t registered professionals. However, some house designers are certified by an independent home design organization that provides education on building codes and other aspects of design and construction.

House designers work with clients to create a floor plan and exterior design for the house. As they don’t have the design education that architect’s have, their designs tend to be fairly typical of what’s provided in the local new-home development market.

House designers typically provide basic floor plans, exterior elevations, interior elevations, and limited other drawings that a contractor will then price. The contractor then determines how they’ll build the house and work with subcontractors to integrate the heating, cooling, electrical, and plumbing systems.

Plan Services

Plan services are companies that sell stock designs – designs that have already been created. These are the ones you typically see first when doing on-line house design searches. They show fancy color renderings of home style options with associated floor plans.

Their services are limited to providing previously-created floor plans along with associated exterior elevations and a few other drawings. Some might offer limited customization – basically just moving a few doors or walls around.

These documents need to be augmented to address local zoning and building code requirements, typically by the contractor selected by the client.

Interior Designers

Interior designers are trained in the design of home interiors, and are sometimes required to be licensed to practice in their state.

Their services are typically limited to the overall design of the interior spaces of a house, sometimes including creating the floor plans and interior details for a project. They focus not only on furniture and finishes but the actual design of the walls, floors, and ceilings of the space.

Interior designers create custom designs and compile options for such items as wood trim, doors, cabinetry, built-in shelving, and custom closets. They can custom design kitchens, bathrooms, home offices, and other specialty rooms as well.

The documents they create can then be bid out to contractors for build-out.

Interior Decorators

Interior decorators can be anyone from a person who just enjoys selecting furniture and the finish materials and colors for walls, floors, and ceilings, to someone who has a degree in interior design.

Their services are typically limited to creating an aesthetic concept for an already-built space, selecting the furniture, tables, rugs, window coverings, floor materials, wall colors, and other similar items to create a well-coordinated and aesthetically dynamic scheme.

Selecting and Working With Your Designer

Each of the design options above can provide you with a nice design for your new home based on your desires, goals, and budget.

Many people will hire an architect or house designer for the overall design of the house and an interior designer to develop the design of the interiors. Some might have someone design the house and then hire a decorator to create the feel and color schemes they want for the rooms.

Costs vary greatly depending on the size of home you want, the level of detail and finishes you want, whom you select to work with, the level of services they provide or that you select, and the reputation of the designers – the better the reputation the more valuable their time is.

Architects and interior designers are the best path to a unique, dynamic, well-designed house, especially if they work well together to create an overall and consistent concept from the exterior of the house to the interior. Some architects even provide interior design services as part of their practice.

Architects and interior designers will typically be more expensive than house designers and decorators as they have a greater depth of design education and experience and provide more services.

Working directly with a contractor can save money since their services are included as part of the building process, but with more limited services. Also, their design service is integrated as part of the contractor’s overhead, and therefore less overall cost.