In architecture Schematic Design and Design Development are the first two phases of the Architectural Design Process. Schematic Design is a basic design and design Development is a more detailed and worked out design without getting into too much detail.

Most companies will have engineering consultants. But there is a difference on how this is structured. Sometimes the client hires the Structural and MEP engineer separately and sometimes the architect will hire them. At our firm, we usually hire them. You need to know if this is included when getting proposals so you can properly compare them. One architect may have a much lower price but could be including less services.

BIM stands for Building Information Modelling. This is a type of 3D model for architecture that holds more information than typical architectural software does. Not all firms use BIM. All of our projects are done in BIM even the small ones. I honestly do not know why everyone does not use it. I think BIM modelling should be standard architectural services.

Construction Documents is the largest phase of the architectural process. This is bulk of the technical work where an architect takes their design and develops it into a larger full set of drawings for construction. Not all firms have the technical know how about construction, resulting in some firms hiring other architects to do this portion of work. Honestly, many famous architects do not do their own construction documents.

Construction administration is what we refer to an architects role during construction. The architect does not supervise construction but visits the job site periodically to answer questions and deal with issues. The architect will make sure the work is being performed in accordance with the approved plans and with the proper expected level of quality.