Lately, I have had a few people come to me and want a project designed and drawings produced on a tight timeline. Sometimes even within a few weeks! Unfortunately, I have to turn these projects down because my schedule and current work load typically do not align with this time frame. So, I thought this would be a great opportunity to discuss time frames for designing and producing permit and construction drawings. In today's blog post, I would like to give a brief explanation of how long it takes to create drawings to obtain a permit and how long each phase of architecture takes. Keep in mind, this time frame will vary based on the size the size of architecture firm, number of employees, current workload and other various factors.
In this example I will use a 4,000sf single family residence, new construction.
Feasibility - 1 month. This phase really depends on site constraints and jurisdiction complications.
Schematic Design - 1 month
Design Development- 1 month
Permit Drawings - 1 month
Permit phase - Currently this phase will take about 1 - 1.5 months depending on the permitting jurisdictions workload.
Total Duration from start of design to obtaining permit: 4-5 months
Check out this link to learn more about the specifics of each of these phases.
Construction time: 9-11 months
Typically what I communicate to many of my clients is to work backwards from when you want construction to be complete and this will tell you when you should start design work.
Lets use the example of above. In this example, say you would like to have your home complete before Christmas 2019. Working backwards, construction would start February 2019. Then design work should start around September of 2018. In addition to the start date, I would suggest reaching out to an architect 1-2 months before you would like to start design work to see how you can fit into their schedule.
Here are a few other examples of design duration various sizes of projects:
Small remodels: 2.5-3 months
Larger homes: 5-6 months
Small commercial projects: 5-6 months
Thanks for reading, please leave a comment below if you have any questions or thoughts. Thanks!
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