12 Essential Partners for Building, Renovating and Redesigning Your Home
Are you looking to build a new home from the ground up or renovate your existing home, and don’t know where to begin? This is an exciting project indeed, and we’ve put together a stepwise guide to get you started!
There are twelve important partners who work with you to make your building or renovation project a success. Here’s a round up of the people who will handhold you from start to finish:
#1. Real Estate Agents
One of the most important considerations when you’re building your new home is the location. Where will you buy the plot of land? Is it close enough to your office, your child’s school and to essentials like grocery shops, parks and hospitals? How far from the main road is it? What is the price of the property, and how large is it? All these are important considerations for many home buyers, and its your real estate agent who will help you make these all-important purchase decisions.
#2. Financial services
Let’s face it, building or renovating a home is expensive! Unless you’ve recently won the lottery, or been bequeathed a tidy sum, you might want to look at getting a loan to help you cough up the payments. A bank or a line of credit can help you with financial advice on mortgages, housing loans, and so on. They will help you understand and fix best rates of interest and manage repayment plans so that you are not put out of pocket.
#3. Architects
Once you’ve zeroed in on the property and made the purchase, the next step is to finalise your architect! The architect is the captain of the ship and navigates the project from ideation through to successful completion. Your architect will gather your requirements, understand your personal preferences, and work on the layout and design of your home. He or she will conceptualise and create spaces that are as aesthetic as they are functional, and will coordinate and streamline the efforts of all the other project partners. The architect will supervise and certify the work done and manage your budget from start to finish, choosing cost effective options if you should so decide. .
#4. Structural Engineers
Once your architect has drawn up the plans, the structural engineer is called in to work out the load calculations, and design the foundation, slabs, beams and columns in the structure. Together with the architect, the structural engineer will design the skeletal system of the building, and will consider both form and function in doing so. Cost considerations will also need to be factored in, and it is the structural engineer’s job to make sure that the building is safe and the structure sound, while reining in the budget at the same time.
#5. Building permit agencies
Before you start construction, your plans will have to be vetted and approved by regulatory agencies. They will check whether you have left the correct setbacks, whether the FAR (Floor Area Ratio) and FSI (Floor Space Index) are in line with what is permitted in your zone, and whether fire safety and other mandatory compliances have been followed. Once the drawings are approved and the fees are paid up, they will then give you the building licence and a go ahead for construction. The same agencies will also inspect the site once the construction is completed and will check to see whether the construction has been carried out in accordance with the sanction drawings. If everything is in order, they will give you a completion certificate, after which you can get the electricity and water connections.
#6.3 D Rendering Partners
All building plans and engineering drawings are drawn up in 2D, and are very difficult for laypersons to read and understand. As a home owner, to really get under the skin of your architect’s conceptualisation and to see the project through their eyes, you will need to see a 3D image of the proposed building. A 3D rendering team can help with this visualisation process. Using sophisticated software and tools, your 3D rendering partner will create hyper-realistic images that are virtually indistinguishable from a photograph. You will be able to view the project in its entirety, and understand the spatial flow, finishes and materials used. You can give all your feedback on seeing the 3D images and can get design changes made according to your preferences.
These 3D images will help to get your contractors and engineers on the same page as well, so that everyone has the perfect idea of how to execute the project and everything happens in line with the project plan. 3D walkthrough videos are also a great tool that will help you to step into every room virtually, and view your home as if you were walking through it.
#7. Plumbing and electrical consultants
Now it’s time to get down to designing the service infrastructure for your home. Plumbing consultants will help to plan out the water supply and decide on the sewage lines. They will create a rainwater harvesting system, and will help to set up a water recycling plant that can recycle sullage water for use in the garden, as required. The electrical consultants will create the lighting and power circuit designs and help in setting up a solar powered grid as well, should you need it. All these consultants will also oversee the work done at the site and will certify that it has been successfully completed and follows all compliance and safety mandates.
#8. Contractors
The contractor is essentially a project manager, who will hire and manage sub-contractors and other workers and complete the construction of your home. It is the contractor’s job to work on optimising resources, managing equipment and materials and scheduling and coordinating timelines for construction. If there are any doubts or inconsistencies in the drawings, the contractor must bring it to the notice of the architect who will iron out all the doubts and give clarity on how to proceed. The contractor takes care of the concerns of all sub-contractors and workers, and ensures that the whole team works together smoothly without any glitches.
#10. Landscape and environmental architects
Once the building construction is underway, you will need to get the expertise of landscape architects on call to design the garden spaces around the built environment. Landscape architects will create an overall layout plan and collaborate with gardeners and horticulturists to create a lovely landscape design that perfectly complements your home. If there are terrace gardens or balconies where you would like to add greenery, you can take their support for this as well. In case you’re having a swimming pool put in, the landscape experts will work on this, appoint the right people and ensure that work happens in line with your wishes.
#11. Doors and windows and cabinetry
Typically all the woodwork is handled by someone who has the required expertise and experience, and manages a set of carpenters. This will include the doors and windows, which are a part of the house construction and will come under the purview of the contractor, and the cabinetry which would come under the purview of the interior designer. The woodwork contractor will source the wood and make sure its well-seasoned, and will then plan the best way to use the wood so that wastage is minimized and the grains are aligned perfectly. Boards for cabinetry and surface finishing materials will also be sourced by them and they will oversee the work and ensure satisfactory finishing in accordance with your taste and ideas.
#12. Interior designer
Once the architect and engineers have completed the construction of the building, the interior designer takes over. They will visualise and design the interior spaces of the house, and decide on the colours, furnishings and furniture to enhance the aesthetics and functionality of your home. The interior designer also usually works with 3D rendering artists to show you 3D images or 3D walk throughs of what their design concepts look like. They will work hand-in-hand with the carpenters, painters, flooring layers, contractors, lighting and furnishing experts and of course the architects to add all the finishing touches to your home and make it ready for you to move in.
So, that’s the entire list of partners who will work with you on making your dream home a reality! Would you like to connect with experts in the world of 3D rendering and animation, and see how they can help you visualise the spaces and understand the vision of your architects and interior designers? The Rayvat team would love to work with you, and create some stunning visuals for your dream project! Give us a buzz at +1-888-863-4445, or drop in an email at engineering@rayvat.com. We’ll get back to you.