Design Management
Coordination That Keeps Design on Schedule and Budget
A monthly retainer that covers the full spectrum of design phase coordination — RFI tracking, submittal reviews, consultant coordination, timeline oversight, budget monitoring, and quality standards. Offered exclusively as a retainer package because isolated sub-services create coordination gaps. Your design team gets a dedicated coordinator who manages the information flow between architects, engineers, consultants, and the owner — ensuring nothing falls through the cracks during the most decision-intensive phase of any project.
How It Works
Our design management process from start to finish.
Platform Setup
Onboard to your project management platform (Procore, Airtable, or Excel-based) and establish log templates for RFIs, submittals, and coordination.
Consultant Mapping
Map all consultant disciplines, contacts, deliverable milestones, and review responsibilities.
Daily Coordination
Route RFIs, track submittal reviews, coordinate between disciplines, and flag overdue items — ~1–2 hours daily.
Weekly Reporting
Produce a weekly design management status report covering open items, upcoming milestones, risks, and action items.
Budget Monitoring
Track design-stage cost implications, flag scope creep, maintain budget-to-actual log, and forecast cost trends.
Quality Gate
Review drawing set completeness against project standards before each design milestone submission.
6 Specialized Services
Click any service to reveal methodology, tools used, and typical timeline.
RFI Tracking & Coordination
Full lifecycle RFI management from submission through consultant response to closure.
- RFI log maintained in your platform: Procore, Airtable, Excel, or SharePoint
- Each RFI routed to the responsible consultant with context and urgency flags
- Response timelines tracked against contractual requirements
- Overdue items escalated to the project manager before they impact schedule
- Searchable resolution database maintained for the project record
Submittal Review Tracking
Full submittal schedule tracking across all disciplines from submission to approval.
- Review cycle tracked for every package: submission → consultant review → approval or resubmission
- Overdue reviews flagged before they impact procurement or fabrication timelines
- Revision cycles monitored and resubmission deadlines enforced
- Critical path submittals identified in coordination with the project schedule
Consultant Coordination
Active coordination between architect, engineers, and specialty consultants throughout design.
- Manages communication between structural, MEP, civil, landscape, and specialty disciplines
- Design deliverable milestones tracked for every consultant
- Inter-discipline conflicts identified and resolved before they reach construction
- Coordination meetings facilitated with action items tracked to closure
Design Timeline Review & Assessment
Weekly review of design milestone adherence with early schedule risk alerts.
- Planned vs actual design deliverable dates compared every week
- Root causes of emerging delays identified and documented
- Impact on the overall project schedule assessed and quantified
- Stoplight dashboard (green/yellow/red) by design phase and consultant discipline
- Corrective action recommendations issued before delays become critical
Budget Assessment & Look-Forward
Ongoing tracking of design-stage cost implications with monthly budget forecasting.
- Running budget-to-actual log capturing scope creep and design changes
- Value engineering decisions and their cost impacts documented
- Monthly look-forward projecting cost trends based on current design decisions
- Early warning alerts when the design trajectory risks a budget overrun
Quality Standards & Checklist Development
QA checklists and completeness reviews for each design milestone submission.
- Checklists developed for SD, DD, and CD milestone submissions
- Drawing set completeness reviewed against AIA and CSI benchmarks
- Standards compliance matrix mapping requirements to deliverables
- Quality gate prevents incomplete or conflicting documents from reaching the owner
The Exchange
What You Provide
Upload via Google Drive or your preferred platform
- Access to project management platform (Procore, or we set up Airtable/Excel)
- Drawing sets, specifications, and design development documents
- Consultant contacts, contracts, and deliverable schedules
- Project schedule with design phase milestones
- Budget information and approved scope documents
What We Deliver
All deliverables shared via your Google Drive folder
- Weekly design management status report with stoplight dashboard
- Managed RFI and submittal logs — always current, always accessible
- Coordination meeting minutes and action item tracking
- Monthly budget assessment with cost trend forecasting
- Quality checklists and completeness reviews per design phase
Standards & Tools
Industry frameworks and professional software we work with.
Applicable Project Types
Ready for a Quote?
Get an instant quote in under 2 minutes, or book a discovery call. Starts from $1,000/mo.