Communication between the residential client and their architect is the key to the successful completion of a project. The architect must understand the requirements of the client, as well as the client’s site, national and local planning and building codes as they relate to the project, and how the budget is going to work. The architect must enable a space in which the flow of all information needed for the realisation of the project can happen. The architect has to create a clear brief, which includes the client’s program, the site’s constraints and local code requirements, and not only ensure that the client’s wishes are covered, but that the client is fully aware of it too.
Whether the things you are asking from the designer are difficult or easy to get done, it is important that you are clear about it. There may be occasions when the dialogues exchanged between you and your architect may get robust, but that is better than not communicating well. The outcome – the design – is the main point.
How to get your job done:
Designing a building project – a new house, for example – may be one of the most important things you’ll do in your life. It’s going to require careful consideration on your part: – of your site, the spaces you’ll need and the materials you want, and how much money you want to spend on them. Clear instructions to your architect, and, importantly, consideration of the architect’s advice, will assist in approaching the decisions you’ll make about the project.
You may engage your architect to advise you on the project’s design and to create drawings and graphics which will describe it, then to develop the design you prefer into details, then to create working drawings and specifications which will be legal documents enabling approval from local authorities and a contract with a builder. Finally, you may engage your architect to supervise the construction of the project. And through all of this, clear communication between all the parties is essential.
Proper scheduling also tells a lot about
< < <Last reviewed: June 20, 2026
