Design services are initiated by signing a Design Contract. This contract includes amounts representing the retainer to be paid Kaufman Construction upon signature, the desired budget (if known) and the not-to-exceed dollar figure that a customer selects for the design budget.

Our design work is typically performed on a time and material basis and is a very iterative process, meaning that there are multiple conversations with homeowners throughout the process to ensure that we’re designing something that is palatable to the homeowner from the very beginning. If, after the design work has been completed, Kaufman Construction completes the construction phase of the project as well, the amount spent on design will be deducted from the cost of the construction process.

A project budget discussion is an extremely important conversation to have right up front. Homeowners don’t always have a good idea of exactly what they are looking for therefore the budget can be a difficult amount to evaluate. However, having the conversation helps ensure that design doesn’t lead to estimated project costs increasing to an amount significantly more than a homeowner intended – if design leads the venture with no regard to budget, the budget usually has to grow.

Homeowners can choose the level of documentation they would like to see returned to them – it can range from basic construction sketches to complete drawings including all construction and trim details and schedules documenting all fixture and finish selections. No matter how complete you would like the drawings, we can help document all of your construction decisions. This can be accomplished either by you enumerating your decisions directly to our draftsman so he can include the information in the schedules or you can work with our designer through every phase of the design process from concept to color selection.

Please contact us to discuss your design requirements.