Understanding a Design-Only Architectural Appointment
An architectural design appointment should state what the designer will produce and what remains with other project parties. This is especially important when a client sees attractive visualisations and assumes they represent a complete construction service. Afnan Group’s architectural service is design only, so the brief should identify the deliverables, review process and interfaces with separately appointed professionals.
List the required design outputs
Describe the property or space, the client objectives and the information already available. Agree the drawings, concepts or other design material expected under the appointment. Identify which measurements or existing conditions need independent verification. A clear deliverables list helps the client understand the purpose of each output and prevents a broad term such as full design from being interpreted differently by the parties.
Identify specialist and approval responsibilities
Discuss who is responsible for structural, service-related and other specialist matters relevant to the project. Clarify the parties handling any authority submissions or approvals that may be required. Do not assume a visual design brief automatically covers those separate responsibilities. The appointment should record the interfaces and information needed from others so the design programme reflects the actual project organisation.
Plan the handover to execution
Agree how feedback will be consolidated and which decisions constitute approval at each stage. At handover, identify the current design revision and list any matters that remain for specialist development. The separately appointed contractor should then review the information for its own execution scope. This creates a clearer transition than expecting construction parties to infer every requirement from a visual proposal or an incomplete drawing set.
Questions to bring to your project discussion
- Which design outputs are included?
- Who verifies existing conditions and measurements?
- Which specialists must be appointed separately?
- Who handles applicable submissions and approvals?
- What information will the execution team receive?
Your next step
Contact Afnan Group with your available plans and project objectives to discuss a design-only appointment. Construction, procurement, fabrication and installation are not included in architectural or interior design services unless a separate, appropriate scope is expressly agreed.
Prepare a project brief ↗These general project-planning guides are not a project-specific engineering specification. Design suitability, applicable requirements and approvals must be established by the responsible project professionals. Afnan’s interior, architectural and parametric services are design only; metal works can be scoped for design and execution.