Concept Design to Building Consent

Your project usually starts when you contact ArchSolutioNZ, use a project tool, or send a message through the contact form. At this stage, you do not need to know the correct consent pathway.

• Send your idea, address, photos, drawings, council notes or project description.
• We review the information and give initial guidance on the likely pathway.
• We explain the overall process from concept design to building consent so you know what happens next.
• If the project is not ready for concept design, we point you toward feasibility, council support, CoA or another pathway.

Before we price or start the work properly, we need enough information to understand the existing property and the design problem.

• Send your property file, Record of Title, existing council drawings, surveys, photos and previous reports if you have them.
• If plans already exist, we review whether they are accurate enough to become the base for design.
• If the plans are incomplete, old or unreliable, we explain what extra information is needed before design starts.
• We also ask about your preferred budget range, must-have items and what problem you want the project to solve.

Before design becomes expensive, we carry out an initial feasibility review to identify the big risks and avoid designing something that is unlikely to work.

• Planning and site checks, including zoning, overlays, flood hazards, wind zone, resource consent risk and Schedule 1 possibilities.
• Design and cost checks, including structural implications, existing wall, roof and foundation constraints, likely consultants and practical material or layout options.
• Early pathway advice so the project can be redirected before time is spent on the wrong design direction.

Once the project direction is clear enough, we prepare a scope of work and place it into a contract for services.

• We define what is included in the concept design stage.
• We identify what is excluded or may require extra fees, such as 3D scanning or specialist reports.
• You receive the contract for services and the first invoice.
• Once the contract is signed and the first invoice is paid, the project officially starts.

The concept design needs a reliable base. If existing plans are available and accurate enough, we convert them into clean 2D and 3D information so design can begin.

• If usable plans exist, we prepare the base drawings and 3D model from the available information.
• If the house is old, altered or missing council records, we may need to measure and 3D scan the property.
• 3D scanning collects accurate existing-condition data so the plans and model are not based on guesswork.
• The scanning fee is treated as an additional service when required.

We confirm the brief before producing concept options. This helps avoid wasting design time on layouts that do not match your real priorities.

• You complete or discuss a brief covering goals, functional preferences, family needs and budget range.
• We clarify what is essential, what is optional and what can be simplified if cost becomes an issue.
• We discuss cheaper, medium and more expensive design or material directions where useful.
• We review whether the brief creates structural, planning, consent or cost implications.

We prepare concept planning options so you can compare possible layouts and design directions before committing to building consent documentation.

• Depending on the project, we may present one to three layout concepts or design variants.
• Options may include plans, sketches, diagrams and 3D views to help you understand the design.
• We try to minimise structural impact where possible to help manage construction cost and consent complexity.
• If a design direction appears to require major structural work, we explain the likely impact and where engineer input may be needed.

You choose the preferred concept and we refine it with you. The goal is to reach a design direction that you are comfortable taking into the building consent stage.

• Two free revision rounds are included in the concept stage.
• Revisions refine the chosen concept and are not a complete redesign from zero.
• Most clients are satisfied after the first or second revision.
• If more changes are needed after the included revisions, we agree on a revision fee before continuing.

Once you review the final revision and confirm that no further changes are required, the concept design stage is complete.

• The approved concept becomes the base information for the building consent stage.
• We prepare a transparent quote for building consent documentation and identify likely consultant requirements.
• If you proceed with ArchSolutioNZ for the building consent stage, the concept work can reduce duplicated effort.
• The building consent stage then becomes a separate fixed-fee service with its own scope, contract and documentation process.