Every building project is complex. Having the right team of people committed to creating and completing your project is extremely important. Rueger Riley, Inc., specializes in creating designs that are customized to fit our clients’ lifestyles and tastes. Design is our specialty and it’s what we can contribute to your building team.

Both building contractors and architects have an understanding of what the other does. However, while a contractor may know how to design something, or an architect know how to build, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they would be at their best while performing those roles.

If the Carolina Panthers’ quarterback Cam Newton were to kick a field goal, we’d all be surprised. And if placekicker Graham Gano threw a long pass for a touchdown or ran the ball into the end zone himself, we’d be equally surprised. Newton and Gano are accustomed to working together to put points on the board and win football games. But thinking of either of them doing the other’s job seems silly because it is.

It would be risky for both men to be in positions that they aren’t as familiar with. It’s a risk to their safety and each player would be more likely to make a mistake. And if the switch up resulted in losses or injuries the team itself would decrease in value. Applying the same logic to your building team, cutting expenses by having one team member work outside of his or her specialty, can lead to unnecessary risks, mistakes and decreased value.

When a client is considering expenses, he or she may feel that paying for both an architect and a contractor is unnecessary. However, the architect is the designer and the contractor is the builder. There is no overlap. They’re only united because of their mutual interest in the completion of the project.

Great contractors and architects will want to work together as teammates — and collaborative partners — in the completion of a structure. Commonly, particularly with residential structures, a client will want only to purchase the architectural plans to pass along to a contractor, thinking that they will save money and that the contractor can work out any issues that arise. However, the architect may have made a design choice for a specific reason, and making a substitution could have an unintended impact somewhere further down the line. Additionally, the client would need to evaluate if the contractor were making the changes with his or her best interests at heart or if the change were being made to simplify things for the contractor. Having both the contractor and architect on site, working collaboratively, ensures that the choices made result in the best possible structure for the client.

Rueger Riley, Inc., has wonderful relationships with several building contractors in the area. We value their input and understand that both the architect and the contractor bring valuable perspective and experience to a project. By working together we create the best possible outcomes for our clients, and seeing our clients happy is a gift for which we are most grateful.