Project support

Project support in Seattle, Bellevue and Kirkland: what it covers

Project support is the part of our work that begins once the drawings are approved and a contractor starts building. For homes and commercial interiors in Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland and the rest of Washington State it brings together three things: author supervision of the construction, procurement of finishes, fixtures, furniture and lighting, and custom furniture where no catalogue piece fits the room. The goal is practical: the house or interior you approved on paper should be the one you move into, with the heights, junctions, materials and light the drawings show.

The author supervision package includes site visits up to twice a week, help with selecting and vetting contractors, consultation on any execution question, meetings with you and the contractors up to three times a week, adjustments to the working drawings when the site requires them, and quality control at every stage. It works only with qualified contractors: supervision can find a deviation and say how to fix it, yet the result depends on the people doing the work, which is why we recommend builders we have already worked with successfully. On US projects we work with locally licensed contractors and coordinate purchasing through regional suppliers and our international network.

Design supervision during construction, and how it differs from project management

Author supervision means the designer follows their own design through construction. The architect who drew the house, or the designer who drew the interior, checks that what gets built matches the approved drawings and decides what the design intends whenever the site raises a question. In American practice the nearest term is construction administration.

Project management is a wider job. It covers the schedule of all trades, procurement, contractor coordination and budget control. We offer both, separately or combined, and the difference is worth settling before you sign. Supervision asks whether the work matches the design. Project management asks whether the job is on time and within budget. Under supervision alone, the contractor still runs the site, the crews and the schedule; we check the result against the drawings, record what has to change and confirm the correction on the next visit.

Site visits: when they happen and what each visit records

Up to two visits a week sounds generous until you look at a real build. Some weeks need none, while others need a visit on Wednesday because a crew closes a wall on Thursday. We time visits to the moments when a mistake is still cheap to fix: layout and framing before sheathing, wiring, plumbing and duct rough-in before insulation and drywall, shower waterproofing before tile, cabinet and stone templates before fabrication, and the finish stage when lighting, hardware and trim go in. Foundations, structural work and the mechanical, electrical and plumbing rough-in get closer attention than paint does.

Each visit is written down, because a remark kept only in memory is gone by the next week. A visit record contains:

• the date, the stage of work and who was on site;
• photos of what was checked, with the sheet or detail it was compared against;
• each deviation and the decision on it: accept, correct or redesign;
• who acts on each item, and before which next step;
• questions waiting for your decision.

The city inspects as well. On the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) list, the inspections a permit may require include foundation before concrete is placed, subfloor before the floor framing is covered, structural before the outside sheathing is covered, framing before insulation, insulation once it is installed, and a final; mechanical, electrical and plumbing work carry separate permits and inspections. The permit holder requests each one. We help you see these milestones in the contractor's schedule so that nothing is covered before both the inspector and we have seen it. The inspector checks the work against the code, and we check it against the design.

Answering contractor questions and issuing clarifications

No drawing set answers every question. A framer finds a beam where a recessed light was planned, a window arrives with a deeper frame than its catalogue sheet showed, or a plumber asks which side of a vanity the drain should sit on. How quickly and how clearly that question is answered decides whether a crew waits, guesses or builds the same thing twice.

We answer execution questions in writing, with a sketch or a marked-up sheet whenever a dimension changes, and keep one log of questions and answers for the whole job. When an answer changes the drawings, we revise the working drawings and reissue the affected sheets, so the site never builds from an outdated version. The log also separates two kinds of answers. A clarification explains what the drawings already intended and adds no cost. A change alters the scope, and the contractor may price it as a change order; we tell you which of the two it is before work proceeds, so the extra cost is your decision and not a surprise on the next invoice.

Some answers are not ours alone to give. If a change touches the structure, the engineer of record decides. If it changes what the permit drawings show, the city may need a permit revision, a step our house plans page describes for Seattle.

Samples, shop drawings and substitutions checked against the specification

Between our drawings and the installed result sits a layer of documents made by others: samples, product data sheets and shop drawings from the makers of cabinetry, stairs, glazing, stone tops and custom furniture. A shop drawing is the fabricator's own version of our detail, drawn for production, and it is where design intent slips most often. A shadow gap turns into a trim, a flush door gains a visible jamb, a stone top gets a thicker edge. We check each submission against the specification and the room: dimensions against site measurements, finish against the approved sample, hardware, and every joint with the neighboring work. Fabrication should start only after our comments are resolved.

In Ascetic House, a 487 m² residence in the Kyiv region that we carried from the architectural concept through construction between 2020 and the end of 2021, walls meet floors through concealed skirting with integrated soft lighting. As the case puts it, the final result depends on whether construction preserves the relationships set in the design: the line between wall and floor, the alignment of panels, the position of lighting, the depth of built-in furniture.

Substitutions follow one rule: a specified product is replaced only after a comparison and your written approval. A proposal of "the same thing, but in stock" is checked for everything it touches. Another window profile can change the rough opening and the sill detail. A different range or refrigerator changes cabinet widths and the electrical or gas rough-in. Thicker tile raises the floor at every threshold. For finishes, comparing a cheaper alternative line by line belongs to material selection; during construction we make sure the approved choice is the one actually installed.

Procurement: ordering, lead times, deliveries and checking what arrived

Procurement is priced from 5% of estimate. It covers selecting finishing materials, engineering systems, plumbing, furniture, lighting and accessories in line with the project, sourcing from suppliers we have checked, tenders and purchase coordination at partner prices, a procurement schedule tied to the construction phases, and visits with you to showrooms when that helps.

The schedule carries most of the value. Every item gets three dates: when the decision is due, when the order must go out to arrive in time, and when the site needs it. Long-production items such as imported furniture, custom pieces, large-format porcelain panels and some window systems are ordered first, because the site cannot wait for them without stopping other trades. Items that fix rough-in positions, such as shower valves, wall-hung toilets with their in-wall carriers, built-in appliances and recessed fixtures, need an exact model before the walls close, even when the product itself arrives months later.

A delivery is checked before anyone signs for it: model and finish code against the order, quantity, visible damage and, for tile and stone, the batch number on each box. Anything wrong is photographed while the driver is still there. In Washington the paperwork matters for one more reason. The notice to customer that a contractor must give before starting residential work of $1,000 or more (RCW 18.27.114) warns that an unpaid supplier or subcontractor may lien your property, so that you could pay twice, and that you may ask for original lien release documents from each supplier and subcontractor. It pays to collect those releases as payments go out and to keep them with the invoices and delivery notes.

Coordinating trades and the schedule of decisions

Construction is a chain in which each trade prepares conditions for the next. Our founder worked directly on American construction sites, and in Inside American Construction he describes a failure he saw more than once: a room painted before the finish work was done, damaged by later installations, then touched up with a roller over a sprayed coat, so sheen and texture no longer matched. Each crew had done its own task competently. The sequence itself created the rework.

Against that we keep a schedule of decisions next to the contractor's construction schedule. It lists what you, we or the contractor must decide, and the date after which a late answer starts to cost money: lighting positions before the ceiling is boarded, outlet heights before drywall, appliance models before cabinet shop drawings, tile layout before the first row is set, door hardware before the doors are machined. The meetings with you and the contractors, up to three a week in the package, work through that list rather than general impressions.

On House for Cosmopolitan, a private residence in the Kharkiv region (2019 to 2021), DeZZign was responsible for the complete realization: construction, material selection, furniture and lighting. Poliform and Boffi built-ins, Rimadesio partitions and doors, B&B Italia and Poltrona Frau furniture and Flos lighting were treated as part of the architecture, and the team coordinated all of them, with the architectural details, through implementation. In a restrained interior every junction shows, so the order of decisions mattered as much as the brands.

Remote project support for owners who are not in Seattle

Some owners manage a build while living somewhere else: they are relocating to the Seattle area, or they oversee a project in another country. For them support runs at a distance, with regular photo and video reports from the site, online meetings at key milestones, remote approval of materials, and procurement scheduled against the construction timeline so that deliveries do not depend on anyone being home.

Remote approval asks for more discipline than approval in person. A finish on a phone screen depends on the light and the camera, so a sample is photographed next to the approved reference, in daylight, with its code visible, and a color decision that really matters is better made on a physical sample shipped to you. Video shows what photos hide: the flatness of a long wall under raking light, the gap along a flush door, the slope of a shower floor toward its drain. Whatever you approve remotely goes into the decision log the same day, so the contractor builds from a recorded decision and not from a chat message.

Taking over supervision of a project already under way

We can join at any stage. The first step is a site audit: we walk the site with the current drawings, record what has been built and where it departs from the design, and agree on a supervision plan from that point forward. For the audit we ask for the latest drawing set with every revision, the permit and its inspection record, the contractor's schedule, a list of products already ordered, and photos of anything already covered. Closed-in work can only be judged from those records, or from a small opening where the risk justifies one.

What project support does not replace

Supervision has limits that are best stated before a contract is signed.

• The contractor stays responsible for construction means and methods, site safety, workmanship and their own schedule. Our remarks identify deviations; correcting them is the contractor's work.
• Our visits do not replace any inspection the permit requires. The building inspector checks code compliance for the city.
• Where SDCI requires special inspections, often structural or geotechnical, the project owner selects and pays the special inspection agency (the contractor cannot pay for them), and structural special inspectors must be certified by the Washington Association of Building Officials.
• Structural and engineering decisions stay with the engineer of record. Our architects develop the documentation to local codes; drawings that require a local license are signed by licensed professionals we work with.
• The overall budget and the schedule of every trade belong to project management, a separate scope that can be added.

Choosing the builder deserves your own check too. The Washington Department of Labor and Industries runs a lookup that confirms an active contractor registration, bond and insurance, citations and lawsuits against the bond, and whether electricians and plumbers are certified; it also suggests at least three written bids and a performance bond on larger projects. We help you compare bids and vet contractors.

How project support is priced, and what moves the price

The three parts of support are priced differently. Author supervision runs from $2,000/month, so its total follows the length of construction, and the exact supervision fee is discussed individually once we know the project. Procurement starts from 5% of estimate, so it follows the value of what is bought. Custom furniture and decor come with individual pricing. The timeline is discussed individually because it depends on the project, and the price depends on the style and complexity of the project.

What moves the number:

• how long construction lasts, and how many weeks need two visits rather than one;
• how complete the drawings are, since a full working set raises fewer questions on site than a concept;
• the share of custom work, such as built-ins, stone, glazing and lighting details, which brings shop drawings and samples to review;
• the contractor's level, because an experienced crew asks better questions and needs fewer corrections;
• how much goes through procurement, and how much of it is imported;
• whether you attend meetings in person or approve remotely.

The cost of a correction grows with every layer built over it. Moving an outlet in an open stud wall is a short visit by one electrician; after drywall, paint and a tile backsplash it brings back three trades and a new order of tile. Supervision is planned around catching the first case.

When project support fits, and when another service fits better

Project support fits when the design is complete or nearly so, a contractor is chosen or about to be, and you want the drawings followed without handling every site question yourself. It also fits a project already under construction, starting with the audit described above. Other cases call for a different starting point:

• if you need the building itself delivered, with estimates and construction stages, start with construction;
• if furniture, lighting and decor are still open, furniture selection comes before procurement;
• if an existing house is being rebuilt, the drawings come from remodeling design;
• if the interior has not been designed yet, begin with interior design.

Supervision is only as good as the set it follows. Our article 68 Sheets: What an Interior Design Project Actually Includes shows the complete drawing set of one apartment.