Your own architect is the best approach. You will save their fee by avoiding big, costly mistakes. But do meet and interview the candidates in person. Having good chemistry between the architect and yourself is very important. Ask for references and call them. Ask those you call if they know anyone who has used them. Very important. Best of luck.

Doing construction projects in NYC is a whole different category! Good luck!

You might want to start another post with a title such as " Remodeling in NYC" to catch the attention of some of the posters here who have experience with the NYC market.

Find an architect who has experience doing projects similar to yours and a good success rate of getting permits for those projects without too many redesigns.

Thanks Flo and Chispa!

ABC. Architect Before Contractor. Otherwise the cross communication and assumptions about what you want will cause a lot of issues.

A “wood floor” for instance. Could be $5 box store junk just $2 glued down and that will come back up after the labor warranty is over. . Or it could be the $18 reclaimed milled into custom engineered, and properly installed over primed gypcrete, with the sound attenuating membranes added, then site finished. At roughly $40 a square all in. And that is just 1 material.

Then there is the minefield of permits and regulations and required documentation needed to work in a multi family building. That had to approve of your contractor choice. Then only lets you work 6 hours a day and use the freight elevator.

You could bid the builders' fee % with Design Build companies and then work with the selected builder to develop the project. Cost of the Work with a% Fee is often the best approach for a total renovation.

I suspect this is not a one or two family dwelling and therefore an architect will be required.

Renovations may be the most challenging of all architectural projects.

The OP's posting suggests little experience with such projects, especially in a challenging urban area as New York.

Find an experienced architect with renovation experience. You'll thank me later.

Is it in Manhattan? Is it a townhouse? Is it a condo unit?

It’s a 3 family home in Brooklyn, thank you for the response.

And do you own all three units?

The major difference between an architect and a draftsman is a draftsman will give you what you tell him/her you want. An architect will give you what you didn't realize you wanted and needed.

An architect studies design, structures, etc for 4-5 years and then has to apprentice for an architectural firm for another 3 years before they can take their license. In school they are rigorously critiqued on good design, how to think in 3D, etc. They study art and architectural history and learn why some buildings stand the test of time and others don't. They learn about all the possible materials and what works and what doesn't.

A draftsman has to learn how to use a CAD program and to reproduce what you the customer tells them to reproduce.

Please, please, get yourself to a licensed, experienced architect in this area. You will never get through this process without that type assistance, and it will cost you. But not doing it will cost you sooooo much more! And you won't finish. Big, huge issue.

Unless its 3 townhouses in a row, you are probably required to have an architect in order to get a building permit. I recommend hiring the architect yourself rather than having the builder hire one. You should retain as much control over the project as you can.

The biggest issue with a gut renovation is whether or not sprinklers are required.

Thank you, guys, that was helpful information! a follow up question, basic floor plans are enough for GCs to bid on or should it be permit ready construction drawings? What’s the usual protocol, here? Thanks again

If you choose to use a Stipulated Sum contract, the more information on the drawings and written specifications, the more work that will be included in the contract price and the less covered by "allowances". that can sometimes feel a little like blank checks. The extreme example of less information a Cost of the Work Plus a Fee contract where all of the work and materials will be treated as allowances. That kind of contract can have a Guarantee Maximum Price added but it usually requires some experienced professional contract administration on the part of the owner (like an architect)..

If these terms are new to you, hire someone other than the contractor to help you.

You might bid the job with incomplete drawings but if you then add information for the building department the contractor will need to adjust his contract contract price.

On the construction site there should only be one set of documents with revisions issued and the contract price adjusted by change orders. Revisions that involve code controlled issue must be submitted to the building department for approval before being implemented.

In Manhattan I was forced to hire an "expeditor" to guide me through the building permit process. Hours of waiting before an inspector took 10 minutes to tell me what I could and couldn't do. He wasn't interested in my opinion. It was a lot like the military only I had to pay for everything including the woman who typed up the forms while chatting wth the expeditor. They all may have been related.