FAQ · Working With Common Projekts
Renovating in New York raises the same hard questions on every project: who controls the budget, what happens when the contractor wants more money, why the finished room differs from the picture. Most firms answer these questions late, under pressure, when the answer costs something.
We'd rather answer them now. Here's how the process actually works — contracts, costs, permits, and the distance between a rendering and a finished room.
Frequently Asked
No — and the reason protects you. Your construction contract is between you and your general contractor. We're not a party to it, so we can't negotiate its terms for you.
What we do as part of Construction Administration is more useful. We review every change order against the drawings and the contracted scope. We tell you whether the work is genuinely additional or already covered. We check the pricing against the schedule of values. And we flag anything that doesn't hold up. You make the decision with the full picture in front of you.
That separation is deliberate. It keeps us your independent advisor — not a negotiating party with something to trade.
The honest part first: we don't control costs. Material prices move constantly, contractors set their own numbers, and existing conditions surprise everyone. We're not responsible for what things cost, what contractors charge, or how much you ultimately spend.
What we are responsible for is helping you respond. When a number comes in high, we get to work — value engineering, product substitutions, rebalancing scope so the money goes where it matters most. Our Bidding & Value Engineering phase exists precisely for this: leveling bids, pricing alternates, and reconciling the design against the budget before construction starts.
The budget is yours. The strategy for protecting it is ours.
Renderings are design intent, not a photograph of the future. In a computer-generated model, colors are perfect, every line is straight, everything is parallel and aligned, and all conditions are ideal. On a job site, almost none of those things are true at the same time.
Many things have to align for the built work to match the image — and any number of things can pull it off course, from product substitutions driven by budget to existing site conditions that throw surfaces out of level and square.
We do everything within our means to land the finished work as close to the intent as possible. That's what we're here for. But the document hierarchy matters: renderings express design intent; shop drawings and the final DOB-stamped construction documents are the source of truth.
Yes. Permitting runs through the Construction Documents phase, where we produce the permit and bid set and coordinate the filing with licensed registered architects and engineers — and, where useful, a filing representative who manages the Department of Buildings process. Landmarks review is folded in when the property requires it. You get one point of contact; we run the paperwork.
Typically 9–14 months end to end: 3–4 months of design and documentation, then 6–10 months of construction. DOB approvals, Landmarks review, and co-op/condo alteration-agreement processes can add time — which is why we start those tracks as early as possible. The full breakdown is on our Process page.
You do. The construction contract is between owner and contractor — we're never a financial party to it. What we run is everything around it: assembling the bid set, leveling bids so you're comparing the same scope, vetting contractors we trust, and administering the contract during construction — reviewing pay applications, change orders, and the work itself against the drawings.
Yes. We review their proposal against the drawings before anyone mobilizes, confirm scope and exclusions line by line, and check insurance and building requirements — COI, alteration-agreement compliance. A good contractor has no problem with this level of review. It protects them too.
Yes — interior architecture is a standing service. If you have a registered architect or engineer covering the structural and permit drawings, we take everything else: layouts, built-ins, millwork, lighting, finishes, fixtures, and the interior construction documents that make custom work buildable. One designer runs your project either way.
New York City is the primary market — Brooklyn especially. We take projects outside the city selectively. If the project is interesting, reach out and we'll give you a straight answer quickly.
It means you call one person — for the plumber, the millworker, the expediter, the structural engineer, and the contractor. Every consultant, trade, and decision routes through us, from the first sketch through the final walkthrough. A New York renovation involves a half-dozen specialist trades and a stack of contracts. We carry that coordination so you don't have to.