How the Design Phase Works: A Builder's Guide to Every Stage

Written By Andrei Vasilief

You already know how to build. Going design-build means owning the half that comes before the build — and the design phase isn't just "getting drawings," it's three distinct business functions. Schematic Design keeps the client, Design Development drafts the budget, and Construction Documents give you control.

Run those three well and design-build becomes the most profitable and most controllable way you can work: you hold the client from the first conversation, you price off a real number instead of a hope, and you walk onto a site that executes your drawings instead of asking you questions. This is what each phase does for your business, how to get the upside out of it, and where you can flex it to fit the job.

The quick version: three stages, three jobs

For a builder, the design side of a design-build project runs in three stages — Schematic Design (SD), Design Development (DD), and Construction Documents (CD) — with permitting sitting between the last two. Set the jargon aside and look at what each stage earns you.

Schematic Design (SD) is where the project — the layout, the massing, the feel — gets locked in with the client. Run it well and you don't just have a concept; you have a client who's committed to a direction and committed to you. This is where the relationship is won. (More on running this conversation in Running the First Design Meeting: What to Ask — and How to Read What the Client Actually Wants — coming soon.)

Design Development (DD) is where the budget becomes real. The technical solution comes together — structure, envelope, systems, materials — and the cost lands with it. A good DD hands you a number you can price confidently and hold the client to. (We go deeper in How to Approach Budget During the Design Phase — coming soon.)

Construction Documents (CD) is refinement and specification — every decision nailed down so it isn't left to the site. In a word, CD is control: over the subs, the schedule, and the final number.

So: schematic keeps the client, development drafts the budget, construction gives you control. Get the sequence right and each phase compounds into the next.

Permit set vs. construction set — and how much you actually need

Here's where you get to make a business call rather than follow a rule. A permit set sits closer to a DD — enough to get approved, not fully specified. A full CD set spells out exactly how the thing goes together.

For a streamlined project you know well — a familiar layout, a crew that builds to your standard — you can often run off a permit/DD-level set and let the site handle the rest. That's a legitimate, efficient choice, and it's yours to make based on your comfort level and how much you want pinned down in advance. The trade is simple: whatever the drawings don't specify, someone decides on site. On a build you could do in your sleep, that's fine. On anything custom, complex, or where the client will notice, a full CD set is what keeps those decisions — and the cost of them — in your hands instead of in the field. (What separates a set you can build cleanly from one that generates questions is its own topic: What Makes Construction Drawings Actually Buildable — coming soon.)

The move that makes it all work: lock 80–90% at schematic

The single biggest lever in the whole process: by the end of Schematic Design, aim to have 80% of the project agreed — ideally 90%. Do that and the rest of the job glides. DD resolves cleanly because the big questions are already answered, the budget holds because the scope is stable, and CD becomes documentation rather than negotiation. The projects that feel effortless downstream are the ones where the real decisions got made early, on paper, when changing them cost nothing.

Thinking through how to bring design in-house without it eating your margins? Talk it through with an architect who partners with builders. Call +1 415 766 9478 — after-hours calls reach voicemail, so leave a message and we'll call you back within a few hours — or

Book a call

Schematic Design, in depth: the phase that locks in the client

For a builder, schematic design is the phase where you and the client agree the layout, massing, and overall direction of the project — before anything is priced or built. It's the phase that most separates a builder who offers design from one who just sends clients elsewhere, and run well, it's where design-build earns its reputation.

Done right, SD does three things for you at once. It wins the client's commitment — they've seen the direction, shaped it, and signed off, so they're bought in before a dollar of construction is spent. It sets the foundation for everything after — a clear, agreed scheme is what lets DD and CD run smoothly. And it keeps the relationship yours — the client associates the vision with you, not with an outside architect they might rather deal with directly.

The thing to respect is that schematic is feedback-driven, not production-driven. You're finding the answer with the client, so the phase moves at the speed of agreement, not drawing. A schematic can take a few days or a few weeks depending on complexity, and the goal isn't a pretty picture — it's alignment. Run the feedback well (steering it, presenting options the client can actually decide between, flagging what will cause trouble later) and you get there in a handful of tight sessions instead of a dozen circular ones. That's the difference between a schematic that builds momentum and one that quietly burns it — which is exactly why the front end is worth doing properly, and worth having help with if client-facing design isn't your strong suit. (More on that hand-off in Working With a Remote Architect: How Design Actually Gets Done — coming soon.)

Hit that 80–90% agreement mark here and you've banked the hardest-won asset in the whole job: a committed client on a stable design.

Design Development, in depth: the budget you can stand behind

For a builder, design development is the phase where the agreed direction becomes a real, buildable solution — structure, envelope, systems, materials — and, crucially, a priceable one. With the direction agreed, DD turns the concept into something buildable and — the part that protects you — costable. The scheme resolves into real construction: structure, assemblies, systems, materials. As each decision lands, so does its cost, and "somewhere around X" becomes a number you can put in front of a client and hold.

For a builder, that's gold. A project priced off a vague schematic surprises you later; a project priced off a resolved DD is one you can commit to and defend. Expect DD to run roughly one to four weeks by complexity. Come out of it and you're holding both things a healthy job needs: the client committed to the design, and the budget committed to reality. From here, it's about control. (Getting the money conversation right through this phase is worth its own read: How to Approach Budget During the Design Phase — coming soon.)

Construction Documents, in depth: the control that protects your bottom line

For a builder, construction documents are the fully specified drawings you build from — dimensions, details, schedules, and specifications setting down exactly how each condition goes together. CD is where a resolved design becomes an instruction set for the site. Run well, a CD set is what hands you a predictable build: subs bidding the same clearly-defined scope, a site executing drawings instead of improvising, and a final number that lands where you said it would.

That's the upside worth naming, because it's the one builders feel most directly: a complete CD set turns the field-level decisions that usually generate change orders into decisions you already made on paper, at your desk, at no extra cost. Fewer RFIs, fewer surprises, tighter margins. Expect it to run roughly two to six weeks by complexity.

And this is where the permit-vs-CD call pays off in whichever direction you chose. On a streamlined, familiar build, a lighter set keeps you moving and trusts your crew — a reasonable efficiency. On the projects where control is the whole point, the full CD set is what keeps the site and the bottom line yours. Knowing which build is which is part of running design-build well. (For repeatable project types, you can build this once and reuse it — see How to Build a Repeatable Design Catalog for Your Projects — coming soon.)

Bringing design in without the parts that cost you

None of this is beyond a good builder to understand — but the two ends are where the design half genuinely differs from the build half. Schematic is taste-driven and client-facing; CD is exhaustive and technical. Run both well and design-build is the best model you can operate. Run either badly and design becomes the thing that eats the margin the build earned.

That's the case for treating design as a capability you bring in deliberately — whether you build the team, or embed a design partner who runs schematic tightly and produces CDs thorough enough that you keep control, while you stay in front of the client the whole way. (How to actually add this to your business is its own piece: How to Add Design-Build to Your Construction Business. And if you're weighing where to get design done, Where Builders Should Source Design: Freelancer, Drafting Service, or Design Partner — coming soon — lays out the options.)

If you'd rather run the design side with someone who's done it a few hundred times — while you stay in front of your client — let's talk. Book a call on the calendar below, or call +1 415 766 9478 (after hours, leave a voicemail and we'll get back to you within a few hours). Or see more about Regis Studio — how we work with builders, and what we take on.

Read more

Andrei Vasilief https://animoregis.com
Previous

How to Add Design-Build to Your Construction Business