Carter says he has four basic rules for working with architects:
- Ask how they want to work; what their expectations are.
- Defer design decisions to the architect. Let the homeowner know that you, the remodeler, are in charge of means and methods of construction.
- Build what the architect designs.
- If there are issues or differences of opinion, go back to the architect; don’t play this out in front of the homeowner.
Letting go of control is easier, of course, if both parties trust each other as professionals and have respect for each other’s work. “We see the architect as having a high value to the client early on,” says Carter, whose company now does about $6 million in business. Yet, he says, even when the company was doing smaller jobs, that attitude toward professionalism and collaboration is “what helped architects reward us. It’s been a growth driver for us.”
And it works both ways. “Architects see clients as theirs since they [usually] come to them first. They want their clients to be happy with construction. It reflects well on them,” Carter says. “If you’re an architect [you want to] have a builder with a track record of making the clients happy. That’s true whether it’s a $300,000 project or a $1 million project.”
WHY NOT DESIGN/BUILD?This discussion has focused on the traditional method of separate design and construction entities. But there’s a gray area, a type of design/build delivery system in which the remodeler is in control of the project and uses outside architects who are not employees. These remodelers still deal with the same issues as those in the traditional architect-builder relationship, but they feel more in control of the process. They — maybe more so — still need to find and work with architects who will share control and be willing to collaborate from start to finish.
The best collaboration between architect and remodeler essentially is design/build, but it’s independent, Walter says. It has its occasional glitches, but the “system of checks and balances in the traditional system — builder, architect, homeowner — is a good thing.”
Pick MeThe single most important way to get noticed by architects is by doing excellent work, says George Myers, founder of GTM Architects in Bethesda, Md. “Most of our referrals for remodelers come from word of mouth. Often we’ll do a design for a client who will tell us their friend used a particular remodeler [that they’d like to consider].” But there are other things you can do to get your name out there.
- Send postcards to architects introducing yourself and your projects, and advertise in the local American Institute of Architects chapter newsletter.
- Make sure you’re easy to contact and appear eager for the architect’s business. “If I call someone and they don’t get back to me for three days, I cross them off my list,” Myers says. “But the people who are eager get our work more easily.”
- Invest in documentation. “Quality matters. If [contractors] show us photos in a folder instead of creating a portfolio, that shows a lower level of professionalism,” Myers says.
- Enter awards competitions and show off your winnings to architects. “It’s important to be recognized,” Myers says. “We’re the best architects, and we want to work with the best builders.”