The Design Office
Project stage tracking, driven by submissions
Design progress measured by what has been submitted, reviewed and accepted — not by what someone reported at the Monday meeting.
- Principal
- Project architect
- Client-facing lead
In a practice. "Schematic is 80% done" is the most expensive sentence in an architecture office. It is usually true of the drawings the team enjoys and false of the ones a consultant owes. Tying the stage to accepted deliverables makes the shortfall visible while it is still cheap to fix — and makes the stage-completion fee invoice defensible.
What it holds
A deliverable requirement catalogue per stage
What the appointment says is due at concept, schematic, design development, tender and construction support — sheet by sheet, report by report, per discipline. Reusable across projects as your practice standard.
Version-bound review decisions
An approval names the exact version inspected. If a later version arrives, the approval does not travel with it. The decision is written to an immutable event log with the reviewer, the date and the comments attached.
Stage gate with an evidence list
Each stage advance lists the accepted deliverables that justify it. The gate will not close while a required deliverable is outstanding, and the client sees the same list you do.
Ordered sign-off chain
Practice review, then client, then operator or authority where the appointment requires it — in order, each recorded, none skippable by convenience.
What it produces
- Stage completion certificate — the evidence list, dated and signed, that supports the stage fee invoice.
- Outstanding-deliverable schedule — by consultant, by discipline, with days overdue.
- Decision log — every acceptance and rejection with the version it applied to.
What it will not allow
- A percentage typed in by hand
- Advancing a stage with required deliverables open
- An approval that does not name a version
Stage strip (example project)
Concept
12 of 12 accepted
Schematic
28 of 28 accepted
Design development
31 of 46 accepted · 4 overdue
Tender / GFC
Not started
Construction support
Not started