Ready to renovate: Completing the design

There has been an enormous amount of residential renovations going on lately, as people seem to be staying where they are and expanding and upgrading. Some families are renovating townhouses, while others are combining two or more apartments. Still others are working on traditional renovations of kitchens and bathrooms. Here are a couple of the things I advise clients when they come in to discuss their plans and contracts. I will discuss other issues in future articles. There must be signed contracts with the architect, interior designer and the contractor. No one should ever say that they worked out all the details and never got around to signing it. A signed contract shows there is a "meeting of the minds." There are so many issues that need to be discussed that I will not attempt to go into all of that here, but will say that one crucial issue is to have the design complete before the construction work begins. That may sound obvious, but it isn't. Some people get the design "pretty much done" and start working. It is always problematic and costly when "bigger" design decisions are made in the field during construction, not to mention the fact that building department and co-op board approval may also be needed. On one project, the owner was saving money by not having an architect observing the construction work. The contractor suggested that it would be great if he could knock down a non-load-bearing wall to open up the space. It seemed like a good idea to the owner at the time. However, by knocking that down without thinking it through with an architect or designer, the old, hard to replace molding was damaged, the old solid wood floor was damaged and other related aspects which will cost a lot to repair. C. Jaye Berger, Esq., is the principal of Law Offices C. Jaye Berger, New York, N.Y.