Make existing, removed and proposed work readable
Prepare three distinct readings for a renovation: what remains, what would be removed and what would be added. The recipient should be able to follow a change between drawings. Photographs alone do not always explain a moved doorway or its effect on circulation.
Fictional example: moving a kitchen and opening a partition affects more than cabinet drawings. Identify openings, affected systems and structural questions to investigate without assuming the wall can be removed. Other disciplines’ drawings and opinions depend on the actual intervention; a visual visit cannot establish every concealed condition.
| Reading | Identify | Question to communicate |
|---|---|---|
| Existing | Rooms, openings, access and dated records. | Does the drawing match current conditions? |
| Proposed removal | Affected partitions, doors or equipment. | Which technical dependencies need review? |
| Proposed design | New room uses and circulation. | Is the goal met without losing a needed route? |
| Implementation | Occupied areas and contemplated sequence. | What information is needed to organize work? |
What changes when you renovate
A renovation often mixes two categories: desired improvements and work made necessary by the condition of the building. A wanted opening may run into a structural question, and one element to replace can shift priorities.
Separating them from the start helps compare options and set an order, instead of discovering a constraint in the middle of the work.
- Reorganize rooms without changing the volume
- Create an opening or modify a facade
- Replace ageing installations
- Renovate to live differently instead of moving
Options to compare before drawing
Depending on the goal, the renovation can stay interior, affect openings and daylight, or join an extension. Each option carries different implications for the rooms, the facade and the municipal processes.
When the potential is uncertain, an initial study comes before full design: it supports deciding whether to proceed, adjust or drop an option, before committing to every drawing.
Preparing what already exists
Available records do not have to be complete: flag versions, dates and gaps. A photo alone does not replace a survey when reliable dimensions are required; the mandate states what must be measured.
- Photos and drawings of the rooms involved, even partial ones
- List of requested changes and elements to keep
- Address, indicative budget and planned occupancy during the work
- Correspondence or requests already received from the municipality
Deliverables, coordination and exclusions
Design, permit documents and coordination with other professionals are services to specify one by one. The quote says which are retained, which revisions are included and what stays outside the mandate.
Around the project: you for decisions and information about the house, Archidep for design and coordination, engineering for structural matters, the municipality or borough for the permit application, contractors for the build.
- Delivered: the brief, the renovation drawings and, when the mandate includes them, the permit documents
- Coordinated: the required professionals and exchanges useful to the file
- Generally separate: the work, the engineering drawings and municipal fees
Three schedules: mandate, municipality, construction
The design mandate has its own schedule: decisions, drawing production, documents to submit. It depends on how complete the information is and is defined when the mandate is accepted.
The municipality reviews the application on its own timeline, and construction starts only once required authorizations are obtained. Share real deadlines — a sale, a move — at the first conversation.
Questions and answers
How should I prepare renovation photographs?
Take an overall view of each affected room followed by details, using names that locate them on the drawing. Explain the problem and what should remain. Photos help communicate the need; they do not replace a survey or required technical checks.
Can an old drawing replace a survey?
It is a starting point to compare with the premises. Date, source, dimensions and later alterations determine what needs verification. Identify known differences, even small ones: a changed access, wall or opening can affect the design.