A good design plan is always a prerequisite to a successful construction project. So when the time comes to build your home, it is best that you design it properly to ensure that there is a fit between your needs and your home. It is important that your real needs are properly interpreted in the design plans and are within your budget.

Avoiding Expensive Changes
Changes in the design layout and specifications during the construction stage or after the materials are purchased and used can be a waste of money, time and energy. Many construction projects have gone over the budget because of excessive changes that were done during the construction phase. These changes would have been avoided if the design were reviewed many times prior to implementation.

In the design process, it may be a good idea to involve a construction professional because their experience can dictate whether a design is feasible or not. The construction professional can also give you a preliminary indication of costs and buildability. Not all design professionals have experience in construction so a design can look very good on paper but may be very difficult and expensive to construct.

Some design firms nowadays bring in construction professionals way before the construction commences so that they can get advice on the safe, cost effective and efficient way of constructing your home or building. The construction professional being involved in the design phase serves as an adviser to the schedule and cost issues. Any design can be built but may require a considerable cost. The design process usually takes a few phases and your architect or designer will guide you on this. The various steps include:

Assessment of Your Needs
As the owner, you assess the needs of your family. This involves decisions on the number of rooms, number of car garages, location of the living spaces, etc. This involves consultation with your family members. You relay all of the information to your home designer or architect who will in turn make the conceptual schemes for you. If it is a commercial building, you assess the needs of your office or the future tenants of the building and make sure that the end users will have a space that will suit their requirements.

You would need a lot of information and advice from professionals, friends and design literature in order for you to fully assess your needs. You look at model homes or commercial spaces, read a lot of design magazines, ask friends, etc. Your design professional will guide you in this process because if you do not know what your needs are, you will never know what to build.

Conceptual Design
Your designer, after listening to your specific needs and requirements, would then give you a conceptual design that is basically an interpretation of what you want in your home or building. The concept is then discussed with you in detail. The draft scheme is revised as many times as necessary until your requirements are met. As long as the concept does not satisfy you, keep on revising since the corrections at this stage are the cheapest - no materials and labor are being used yet.

This process depends on how fast you approve the design of your home or how quick your designer can interpret your dream on paper. Preliminary costs are assessed at this stage and the budget is tested against your pocket.

Final Design
After the client or owner approves the conceptual design, the final design plan is done. The other designers (structural engineer, geotechnical engineer, and the other professionals) are brought in during this phase to complete the other details of the plans. The various ways on how to improve the design are discussed among the various designers in the project. Considerations are done to accommodate the other facilities. For example, a wall is moved by the architect in order to provide a passageway for the air conditioning system. The final design drawings are done at this stage.

Construction Plans and Documents
The construction documents are then produced which are now ready for the builder to construct. Construction documents include specifications, estimates and the other materials that may be necessary to obtain the permits for construction. The design plans contain all the details of the structure that is to be built. Plans should be simple enough to be fully understood by the builder. These are either bid out to contractors or are negotiated with the contractor of your choice.

Reduce Costs During the Design Phase
The ability to influence the cost of the project is greatest during the design phase and design changes only involve lots of paper and the designer's time. Design changes may not be free but these are still cheaper than tearing down a wall and constructing a new one. The degree of influence on the cost is highest during the design phase of a project and decreases as the various stages of construction progresses.

Changes during construction will cost you money and you may overshoot your budget. Remember though that you may still change specifications during construction.

Final Advice
Spend a lot of time understanding and reviewing the plans - Telling yourself that you should just get over the design and make changes during construction will surely cost you additional money. It may be difficult for the non-engineer to understand design plans but do your best so that you can at least imagine how your house or building will look like after it is built.