What qualities are essential between the owner and CL Studio when working together?

Because each client and space have unique individual needs/styles, we value clear communication, a general shared style/aesthetic, and a degree of trust in our expertise. It’s also important for the owner to be decisive about two things:

• Style/aesthetics - a decisive aesthetic from the beginning that sets the tone from start to finish and helps with every design decision made.

• Project scope - a solid project scope prevents scope creep later on, which can cause extreme schedule delays and ballooning costs.

  
  

We always hear how renovations take longer or cost more than expected. How do you ensure your projects stay on schedule and within budget?

We take client budgets and schedules very seriously.

To manage the project budget, we keep a master spreadsheet of every product and finish we specify to help us keep track of costs as we design. A large part of the project budget will be for labor and construction materials; that number will come from the contractor, not from us. As we are designing, we will use our best-guess number (based on other projects we’ve worked on in the past) as a placeholder, until we get real numbers during the Bidding & Negotiation phase. We can then have a conversation with the client to discuss where things are landing - if high, what we can do from a design standpoint to bring the project closer to budget. If low/right on track, then we're good!

From a schedule standpoint, we do our best to make things as smooth as possible; for example, we order long-lead-time items early on so that they are on site when they're needed. For things that we can't control, we try our best to communicate clearly with clients so we're all on the same page.

We only need permit or design drawings, not full services. Do you provide partial service packages?

We do not typically take on projects where we are not on board from design through construction. We believe every project can benefit from full service design. Our start-to-finish project management keeps projects on schedule and budget as much as possible. Because we are familiar with construction details and methods, having us on board during construction means we can communicate, verify, and collaborate with the contractor to build a final product that is consistent with what we had designed.

Is providing your recommendations for a contractor part of your services?

Yes, it’s part of our Bidding & Negotiations services. If you have a contractor you've worked with before or if someone had been recommended to you, we'd be happy to reach out to them as well.

What are construction drawings?

Construction-level drawings are drawings that include all the information contractors need to build the project, such as tile layouts/sizes and related alignments, dimensions showing locations of lights, plumbing fixture locations, kitchen cabinet layout/sizes, bathroom vanity layout/sizes, details and/or notes delineating construction sequencing and processes, etc. Along with construction-level drawings we also would compile a specifications binder, which notes every product/material with manufacturer requirements that the contractor would need to know during construction. The specs binder includes information like appliance cutsheets indicating electrical loads/install requirements, plumbing fixture manufacturer and model, lighting fixture electrical loads/install requirements, etc.

Why do you charge hourly during the Bidding/Negotiation and Construction Administration phases?

Bidding/Negotiation can take perhaps several hours or more per contractor that we reach out to for a bid. It could be fewer hours if it's a trusted contractor we've worked with before and have vetted already.

For Construction Administration, it really depends on the quality of the contractor that gets signed on. The better the contractor's ethic and quality of work, the less time we need to spend "supervising". Typically, we visit the site several times or more throughout construction - to ensure that electrical/plumbing rough-ins are in their correct locations, to ensure cabinetry and floor/wall finishes (such as tile) are laid out and installed per design documents, as well as to answer any contractor questions that may arise during demo and construction.

Can owners do their own procurement?

Unfortunately we don't offer clients the option of managing their own procurement. This is for the following reasons:

• lead times - we keep track of lead times when ordering so the material comes when it's needed on site to keep the project moving on schedule

• troubleshooting - sometimes vendors or manufacturers make mistakes and send us products with missing parts, or have slightly wrong specs. Certain product types (such as plumbing fixtures) require special attachments/specs to be compliant with local codes. When we manage the procurement, we address all these issues that require construction knowledge

• quantities - we calculate all quantities (sq footages, linear feet, etc.) including required overages, as well as special product specs for edges or transitions

• shop drawing review - for custom products like millwork, we work closely with the vendor or maker to ensure correct finish, species, grain, texture, and all other details

The purpose of us managing the procurement scope is so that the project can proceed smoothly and be built in accordance with the design approved by the client during the design phase.