Getting ready for your site survey and first concept review
What to have ready before we measure and scan, what the visit is like, and how to review a first concept so the next round is the right one.
Where this applies Every project, wherever it is.
Two moments shape the start of a project: the site survey, when we measure and scan the building as it is, and the first concept review, when you see the design for the first time. A little preparation makes both more useful. Every step from the proposal to the permit is on How we work.
Our survey is not a land survey. We document the building — its rooms, walls, floors, windows and roof — so we can model it accurately. A land survey, which locates the property lines, setbacks and site features, is done by a licensed land surveyor the owner hires when a project needs one, usually a new building or an addition near a property line.
Before the survey
- Book it from your portal. Pick a time on the Schedule page and the team confirms it, usually within a business day. The earliest time is the next day.
- Arrange access. Someone 18 or older should be there to let us in, or choose Using a lockbox? when you book and tell us the code and where the box is.
- Open up every space in the work — every room in the scope, plus the basement, utility areas, and the roof or roof hatch if they are part of it.
- Clear a path to walls and windows where you can, and keep pets in another room.
- Share what you have. Old drawings, surveys and past permits all help. Upload them to your portal or have them handy.
On the day
For most houses the visit takes about 45 minutes; larger buildings take longer. We measure, laser-scan and photograph the spaces in the work. If you are there, tell us what isn’t working in the house today — the dark room, the stair you avoid, the kitchen that is too small. It helps the first concept start in the right place.
On an empty lot there is nothing to scan, so we visit the site instead, and the land surveyor’s plan becomes the base for the design.
While we model
The scan becomes an accurate 3D model and existing-conditions plans, usually within about a week. Nothing is needed from you, but it is a good time to write down the rooms you use most, what you would keep as it is, and the construction budget you have in mind.
Reviewing the first concept
The concept usually arrives about 3 weeks from the survey: floor plans and exterior or 3D views.
- Start with how the rooms connect, before materials and finishes: where you come in, where you cook and eat, where the light comes from.
- Walk through a day in the plan, from the morning to the evening.
- Mark it up where it happens — comment right on the sheets in your portal — or book a Virtual Drafting Session and change it with one of our architects, live.
- Say what you like as well as what you don’t. It tells us what to keep.
- Put everyone’s comments in one round, so the next version answers all of them.
Your proposal sets the number of revision rounds — usually two. Changes are easiest now: bigger changes after the concept is approved may be billed as additional services.
After you approve
Permit drawings usually take about 3 weeks after approval (often 4 for a new building), alongside any engineering. The full sequence, with what we need from you at each step, is on How we work.
These are typical timings. Your signed proposal sets the schedule for your project, and your portal shows the next date we’re working toward.
