Orfield Design & Construction, Inc.

Our original appointment was on 01/22/2016. At that time we took photographs of the basement & dimensions & it was full of furniture and finishes. Although we sent several follow up emails it wasn’t until April that the client contacted us and set another meeting for May 5, 2016 to move forward with plans.

We was aware right from the start that they were possibly going to be their own General Contractor, as they felt very “handy” and apparently had many relatives who were able to help them out, therefore our work was on the Design Plans Only. This is why they liked our approach vs. other companies because we did not make them feel locked in to using us for the construction, although our experience as a Design/Build company allowed us to make recommendations & design the plan in a way that was simple & cost-effective to construct.

Keeping the cost down to actually be able to proceed with construction was of utmost importance to them, and therefore we suggested design AND material finishes that were reputable, long-term warranties and were also a huge cost savings. We stated right from the start that in order to draw ANY room to scale we have to select “PlaceHolders” of real objects, such as shower surrounds, vanities, toilets, cabinetry, etc., so that things actually work. If we are performing construction management on a project, we do not proceed with Demo or Framing until these items are finalized, ordered & onsite. Owners often do not follow this rationale & things are selected as they go, causing planning difficulty for subs & layout errors.

At that time they signed the Design Form and she informed us that she was a very big Scrap-Booker and was going to use IKEA Cabinetry. When designing the plans we spent many hours going above & beyond by weeding through the many IKEA Cabinet options down to only those that would actually fit her LARGE scrapbooking albums, fit the space, AND be in line with her contemporary exposed brick & ceiling joist “loft” style desired.

Written on our plans is our disclosure. Our Plan Disclosure states:
“DESIGN PLANS ARE NOT PROVIDED FOR ARCHITECTURAL OR ENGINEERING USE. IT IS THE RESPECTIVE TRADES’ RESPONSIBILITY TO VERIFY THAT ALL INFORMATION LISTED IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH EQUIPMENT USE, APPLICABLE CODES AND ACTUAL JOBSITE DIMENSIONS.
THIS RENDERING IS AN ARTIST’S INTERPRETATION OF THE GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE ROOM. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE A PRECISE DEPICTION.
COPYRIGHT © 2016 Orfield Design & Construction, Inc. These plans were prepared by Orfield Design & Construction, Inc. (“Orfield”) and are subject to copyright as a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work. They remain the property of Orfield and may not be submitted to or used by any other entity without specific written consent by and/or payment to Orfield. Any unauthorized use of these plans will result in copyright infringement and entitle Orfield to payment for all design time and any legal fees or costs it incurs in connection therewith.”

Supporting that this is INDUSTRY STANDARD PRACTICE: Here Is another company's Design Plan Disclosure:
“We, and the designers we work with, have put substantial care and effort into the creation of our blueprints. However, because we cannot provide on-site consultation, supervision and control over actual construction, and because of the great variance in local building requirements, building practices and soil, seismic, weather and other conditions, WE CANNOT MAKE ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THE CONTENT OR USE OF OUR BLUEPRINTS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Construction materials and methods may vary from the blueprints or from
the construction notes provided in the blueprints; but at all times state
Residential Building Codes will be met or exceeded” Source: http://www.eplans.com/community/faq#faq43

For these reasons, we always have our trades do a walk-through of the site before construction starts. If the plumber recommends changing where fixtures are for a cost saving, we make note of it & change the plans accordingly. We discussed our plan consulting at our meeting on 5/5, prior to signing of the design form later that morning. Also reiterated in email Amy sent 6/28. Project Management typically includes all of these walkthroughs with each trade. It is written on our Design Form:
“Design Form: Project Management: on purchased design plans when construction is not performed by Orfield or Its subcontractors under Orfields contract: All timelines, scheduling, answering Contractor/Customer questions about plans or meeting with clients or their trades on-site is charged at a rate of $90.00/hour.”

After the final meeting on 5/31, there was no indication of any large changes the client needed or wanted to make. The support beam location was never brought to our attention. Knowing that you were sending these plans to trade professionals they were drawn at standard ¼” scale on 11x17 size paper. All of our plans are drawn to-scale, as noted on our labels. If a structure is concealed and the original builder did not follow standard practices, or the plans are not printed to scale, things will be off. Hence a walkthrough prior to framing, after complete demo is strongly suggested to layout the walls on the floor.

As a business professional who has been a part of a company established in 1978, and has been doing this job for 18 years, I (Laura) not only continue with my education & certification, but also learn from clients/projects & licensed trades what does/does not work in most designs. Therefore I feel it is my responsibility to suggest material or placeholders that are not only good products that I and my sub-contractors would stand behind for warranty purposes, but are also cost-effective for any client on a budget. Again, these are merely dimensional placeholders, and are meant to be changed once the final selections are made by the client and given to the designer/project manager to revise the plans prior to rough framing.

I also know how important it is to have a starting plan, and finalize material selections (plumbing fixtures, cabinetry, flooring decisions, light fixtures, etc.) before even starting rough framing so that all dimensions can be verified & meet current code & inspections. When we manage a project, we not only do this at the beginning, but again before every trade starts, and then modify the plans accordingly to pass along the changes to other trades that may be affected by the alterations. we also have the advantage of having a wonderful team of subcontractors who communicate well with us AND each other!

Small changes can create big problems if not caught early on/or throughout a project – for example, if you have a tight space and then add a thicker wainscot on the finished wall at the last minute it will throw off all dimensions and perhaps no longer meet minimum code requirements that were originally roughed in – such as from side to center of toilet (15”), or from front of toilet to any obstacle (2’).

We have Electrical plans, cabinet plans, countertop plans, tile plans, many, many plans - but only if we're allowed to contribute our professional expertise & meet with the trades performing the work and the clients whose home is being remodeled, not as a way to “make money” because usually these are about 1-2 hours max, but as a way of making sure the clients original goals are met using their selections and the jobsite architectural restrictions.

We apologize if you feel you were not given adequate attention during your basement design plan process. Through our three in-person meetings and various emails back and forth we were under no impression that you felt this way until receiving your last email.

We sincerely hope you ended up with a basement you enjoy!
Kindly,
Orfield Design & Construction, Inc.