Questions to ask a designer at the first meeting

What questions should I ask a designer at the first meeting?

Twelve questions about working method: who runs the project, how samples are approved, what happens with delays and substitutions, how remote communication works, how payment and drawing ownership are arranged. They are not about hunting for a catch but about how the studio is organised inside. Below they are grouped into six topics.

Ask for specifics. A good answer contains a name, an example or a document. "We handle it individually" tells you nothing, and it is worth asking them to spell it out.

Who will actually run my project and how many projects does the studio run?

First question: "Who exactly will run my project and who produces the drawings?" Second: "How many projects does the studio run at once?" They show who you will deal with every day and whether that person will have time.

In some studios the principal comes to the meeting and a junior runs the project. That is fine if you are given the name in advance and introduced. What matters is who signs off decisions and who you reach by phone when you need an urgent answer.

The number of projects shows the load. One or two new commissions a month and several on site is one thing, ten simultaneous sites quite another. Ask what happens when the lead designer is ill or away: who covers and how context is handed over.

Which documents will I get, and how are materials shown and recorded?

Third question: "Which documents do I receive at each stage?" Fourth: "How do you show materials and record approved samples?" They test whether ideas become documents and whether there is proof of what was agreed.

The first should be answered with a list: concept, layout, views, working documentation with dimensions and details, specifications with references. The second with an example: samples are brought to the meeting or couriered, each gets a number, approved ones are photographed and entered in a table, and the contractor receives the same table. That order avoids the "we never chose this marble" story.

Without approved samples, the colour and texture of stone will drift from expectations and the dispute will be settled from a phone photo. Ask how many samples you will see in person and how many on screen.

How does the studio check a project can be built, and what happens to the budget?

Fifth question: "Who checks the project is buildable, and when?" Sixth: "What happens if the estimate exceeds the budget?" They go to the most common cause of conflict: the beautiful solution that cannot be done or costs too much.

A good method: the project goes to a contractor to be priced before approval and the studio amends it on their comments. Ask whether the studio brings in a contractor at the design stage and at what point. If the studio prices only after approval, the overrun is discovered late.

On the budget question, expect a description of procedure: which items can be swapped without losing the idea, who proposes options, how the choice is recorded. "We will find something cheaper" with no explanation of how does not answer.

How does the studio handle delays and material substitutions?

Seventh question: "What do you do if a material is delayed or discontinued?" Eighth: "How are substitutions formalised?" These are the most common problems on a real site, and the procedure decides schedule and result.

A good answer describes an order: the studio checks lead times in advance and builds in a buffer, and for a delay offers two or three alternatives with a photo and price. The substitution is formalised in writing, the specification and drawings change and the contractor receives the updated version. More in the article on material substitution.

Ask about responsibility: who pays the price difference and the rework if the substitute required changing a detail. The answer shows how well the studio is protected from its own errors and how honest it is.

How fast do they respond, and how do they work with a client abroad?

Ninth question: "How fast do you reply on messaging and when are there video calls?" Tenth: "How do you work with clients who live in another country?" For an owner outside Spain they decide whether you will feel in control of the project.

Clarify the main channel, the hours the studio is available and how quickly it handles urgent matters. Find out whether there is a regular report: a weekly photo report, a scheduled call, a shared folder with drawings and a table of decisions. Ask how documents are signed and how handover works if you cannot travel.

Time zones count too: agree the window in which you reply yourself, or approvals drag on for days. A studio's behaviour in the first two weeks of acquaintance usually predicts the rest.

How are payment and drawing ownership arranged?

Eleventh question: "How do payment, revisions and design supervision work?" Twelfth: "Whose drawings are they after payment and can I pass them to another contractor?" These close off money and documents.

On payment, expect stages tied to results, a revision limit and the price of extras, and the terms of design supervision, as in the article on how studios charge. On drawings: which files you receive, whether you may pass the documents to another designer or contractor if the collaboration stops, whether the studio may publish your project. The legal basis is in the article on the design contract.

If you have got this far, write up a list of the answers after the meeting and send it to the studio to confirm. That way you will not have to return to the conversation from memory. We run renovation and interior design and at a first meeting answer each of these points in Spanish or Russian. We give the exact price after the visit and measurements, and payments follow stages under the contract.