If your construction or renovation project requires a building permit—which applies to almost all structural modifications, room additions, load-bearing updates, and new structures—you are legally required to submit official design plans created, stamped, and signed by a licensed professional. Should you hire an architect , a contractor or an engineer first?
For standard one- or two-story residential projects, a single licensed engineer is often legally and technically qualified to complete all the necessary drawings to satisfy city requirements. However, larger, custom, or highly complex building projects often require a much broader team of specialists: architects for layout and spatial aesthetics, structural engineers for framing and foundations, civil engineers for drainage and site grading, and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) specialists for utility systems.
Why hire Seals Design for comprehensive service instead together?
Attempting to recruit, hire, and manage multiple individual contractors, architects, and engineering sub-consultants on your own can quickly turn into a stressful logistical nightmare. Disconnected teams lead to miscommunication, delayed timelines, conflicting plans, and inflated budget overruns.
At Seals Design, you never need to shop around or hire anyone else. We operate as a complete, fully integrated, end-to-end consulting firm housing every major design and engineering discipline under one roof. When you partner with us, you receive a single, dedicated point of contact who manages every technical detail from your initial conceptual napkin sketch all the way until ground is broken.
It is natural to think: "I want to build something, so I need a
builder." But bringing in a contractor before you have stamped
architectural and engineering plans is putting the cart before the
horse. Here is why hiring a design professional first is critical to
protecting your budget and ensuring a smooth build:
1. Zoning & Site Feasibility
Before drawing a single wall, a design professional evaluates your
property against local municipal building codes and zoning ordinances.
We analyze:
- Setbacks & Height Restrictions: How close to property lines can you build?
- Lot Coverage & Floor Area Ratio (FAR): What percentage of your lot
can be covered by structures?
- Utility Easements & Environmental Rules: Are there underground
lines, protected trees, or flood zones?
A contractor cannot give you an accurate, binding scope without
knowing what your city actually allows you to build.
2. True Price Competition & Accurate Bidding
If you ask three different contractors for a quote based on a napkin
sketch or preliminary idea, you will receive three wildly different
estimates—none of which are binding.
When you hire a design professional first, you receive a complete set
of Construction Documents (CDs). These detailed drawings specify
structural framing, utility connections, room dimensions, window
schedules, and material standards. Contractors can then bid on the
exact same set of drawings, giving you true "apples-to-apples" pricing
and binding fixed-cost bids.
3. Avoiding Costly Change Orders
Change orders during construction are where budgets go to die. When
structural framing, plumbing chases, or electrical layouts are not
meticulously planned on paper ahead of time, contractors are forced to
solve problems in the field. Field fixes during active construction
cost 3 to 5 times more than making revisions during the digital design
phase.
4. Navigating the Permit Office & Review Timelines
Cities require fully engineered and stamped architectural drawings to
issue building permits. A design professional authors these drawings,
submits them to local building departments, and handles plan-check
revisions to keep your project moving. While permit review timelines
are highly dependent on the municipality, our deep familiarity with
local building codes and submission standards significantly reduces
review turnaround times.
