Understanding the Architect’s Role in Construction: A Blueprint for Collaboration

A construction team may be responsible for executing a vision and making it a reality, but no large-scale construction projects would be possible without architects. 

In general, the architect is responsible for designing a building, from its layout to its appearance to its envelope. An architect is also often the point person for communicating more broadly with the entire design team.

A strong relationship between project leadership and the architect can make a project very collaborative, but it’s very easy for project and design teams to operate in their own silos, missing valuable opportunities to collaborate creatively and even negotiate value engineering. 

This article explores the role of the architect, including the make-up of the architect’s design team, the architect’s specific duties — from planning and design to closeout — and best practices for working with an architect. 

Working with a Design Team

Working with design teams can be complex, given that they occupy highly specialized roles and have a different perspective from General Contractors (GCs), Project Managers (PMs) and other team leadership. 

Design teams vary depending on the size and complexity of each project. At their largest, they can be a robust team working on sets of plans, drawings, requests for information and more. 

A design team might include: 

• An architect who acts as the point person for the rest of the team and is responsible for the design of the building
• A process engineer or equipment designer
• Racking designers for industrial projects
• Landscape architects who are responsible for plantings on site
• Interior designers
• Acoustical specialists

Some other roles that often interact with the design team are structural engineers, mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) engineers, civil engineers and even archaeologists or environmental specialists, depending on the project. 

One of the most important things to understand about architects and design teams is that everyone is different. Each architect may specialize in a different area or have more experience in parts of their responsibilities over others. 

Creating a design team that’s diverse in terms of background and skill sets is a good way to foster collaboration and make sure all facets of the project are cared for by someone with expertise. 

The Architect’s Duties and Responsibilities

An architect’s most prominent duties may fall in the planning and design stage of construction, but architects work throughout a project’s lifecycle, the same as any project team member. 

GCs and project leadership should be aware of the revolving door of duties that an architect takes on, so as to use their time wisely and prevent any potential errors when working with one.

Preconstruction

The preconstruction phase involves setting the project's vision, understanding the client's needs and establishing the groundwork for design and compliance with regulations.

During preconstruction, an architect begins with programming, during which they work with the owner or rep to understand the project’s overall goals. The point is to define the grand vision of the structure, from its purpose as a building to its aesthetic needs. 

In the preliminary Owner-Architect-Contractor (OAC) meetings, the architect gathers information about the client’s objectives and limitations and develops a brief outline of the space’s design goals. 

Then comes schematic design, in which the architect puts their first sketches to paper and begins talking to city agencies and other Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) about what regulations might be in place for the proposed building. 

Finally, an architect undergoes design development—the phase during which they work with engineers to begin turning their concept into a design reality. Through this sometimes-overlooked process, architects can resolve potential issues before moving into the construction document phase — and often, find opportunities for value engineering, ultimately saving costs and preventing re-work.

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Planning and Design

During this phase, concepts are developed into detailed designs and the blueprint comes together. 

The architect completes the necessary construction documents — meticulously calculated sets of plans and drawings — which will be submitted to the project team as the build’s official designs. 

The architect continues coordinating with engineers and specialists, including MEP engineers, to make sure that all utilities are in place for the design. 

Increasingly, architects rely on Building Information Modeling (BIM) to create digital, 3D representations of the building and detect potential clashes before any actual construction starts.

When finished, the architect submits these plans to the GC’s team so the build can begin. 

Construction

The architect is still heavily involved while the physical building process takes place, guiding crew members through RFIs and submittals and performing site visits to address any issues that come up.

Mostly, an architect will coordinate directly with GCs to address questions and plan their visits, in addition to continuing their OAC meetings. Sometimes, an owner or rep will request something different than they originally asked for, and the architect will provide supplemental instructions for including the detail. 

An important point regarding the architect’s role on-site has to do with construction means and methods. For liability reasons, the architect can point to problems they see, but can’t suggest ways of fixing them. 

Closeout and Handover

In this final phase, the project is completed and inspected, punch lists are finalized and all necessary documentation is handed over to the client for occupancy and operation.

The architect assists the GC in preparing punch lists, by providing architectural observations and making sure it is fit to be occupied. Sometimes an architect may provide plans with instructions for maintenance, as-builts and even scans of the building to submit to the owner.

Best Practices for Working with an Architect

Understanding the scope of the architect’s responsibilities can help any project team work better with their design team. Still, it’s useful to also follow a few best practices in order to foster meaningful collaborations that last beyond any single build.

Treat the architect as a team member.

Teamwork is incredibly important in any construction project, but often the project team operates in a different silo than the design team. As a matter of respect and professional courtesy, it’s important to view the architect and any designers working on the project as vital team members instead of outsiders. 

One of the most complicated parts of working with a design team is creating healthy standards of communication. It’s easy for miscommunications and errors to occur when the established flow of information isn’t respected. As such, all communications sent to the design team should always at least include — if not be formally directed to — the coordinating architect. 

Do research before submitting an RFI.

A Request for Information (RFI) is an incredibly useful tool for gaining clarity on a design, and it’s often the first step when any confusion arises about their design plans. 

But a little bit of prudence when submitting for an RFI can go a long way. Design plans can be complicated and tough to read, but sometimes the answer to a crew’s or PM’s question can already be found in the plans. GCs should make sure their teams are trained to read plans thoroughly and carefully. 

Often, a team member may simply be looking at the wrong design, reading the notes incorrectly. It’s perfectly fine–and often necessary—to submit a lot of RFIs, but these also require a lot of work on the architect’s behalf, and submitting unnecessary ones can slow down the project and waste valuable time.

The opposite problem can also occur. Some contractors don’t send enough RFIs when they’re needed. This can easily lead to rework. 

Plan site visits reasonably and in advance.

Being an architect is a big role. One of its most intensive duties is visiting sites to check on the build’s progress and get it ready for inspections—which can sometimes require significant travel time, though some advanced technologies may make this easier in future. 

Issues that tend to arise with site visits are often about preparedness for the visit itself. Many architects negotiate the amount of visits within their initial contracts, and adding more can be both costly and take them away from other important work. 

Building Strong Relationships with Architects

For GCs and project leadership, who often don’t get to pick which architects they work with, creating opportunities to connect and collaborate with design teams is a vital part of getting the work done.

By treating architects as integral team members, thoroughly researching before submitting RFIs and planning site visits thoughtfully, project teams can build strong relationships with their design partners that last beyond a project — and ultimately, streamline the construction process to closeout while reducing rework and errors. 

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