Full commercial architecture is the complete design service for a commercial building: programming, schematic design, design development, construction documents, permitting, bidding and construction administration, with the structural, MEP and civil engineering coordinated inside the same scope. At Temelar it runs under one agreement, so you hold one contract and we hold the coordination risk.
It is the service most owners mean when they say "we need an architect." It is also the one most often bought in pieces, leaving the owner as the project coordinator.
Below: what each phase produces, how early decisions set the budget, and how commercial permitting works across Greater Houston and Texas.
Key takeaways
- Full architecture runs in seven stages, from programming through construction administration, and each stage ends with a defined deliverable the owner approves before the next begins.
- A commercial permit set combines architectural, structural, MEP, civil, life safety and energy compliance documents, and under our agreement Temelar coordinates all of them.
- Most of a building's cost is decided before construction documents, through occupancy classification, construction type, sprinkler strategy, envelope and MEP system choices.
- In Texas, projects in covered buildings with an estimated construction cost of $50,000 or more must be registered with TDLR and reviewed and inspected by a Registered Accessibility Specialist.
- Temelar provides no construction services; we work alongside your contractor under design-bid-build, CM at risk or negotiated delivery and review the work on your behalf.
- Contracts you hold
- 1
- Design stages
- 7
- Design to permit
- 6–13 mo
- TDLR review from
- $50,000+
What does full commercial architecture include?
Full architecture is a sequence, not a pile of drawings. Each phase narrows the decisions left open and ends with something you can review, price and sign off on.
Programming
Programming defines what the building has to do before anyone draws it. We document the spaces, their sizes and adjacencies, occupant loads, equipment, parking, growth and the budget and schedule the project has to live within. The deliverable is a written program with a preliminary code and site review. If the site itself is still in question, this work overlaps with a feasibility study.
Schematic design
Schematic design, usually called SD, turns the program into a building. You get a site plan, floor plans, massing, preliminary elevations, an outline of the structural and MEP systems, and a code analysis covering occupancy, construction type and the egress concept. SD ends with an approved direction and a first cost check against the budget.
Design development
Design development, or DD, is where systems get sized and assemblies get chosen. The structural grid and framing system are set, the mechanical system type is selected, electrical service is sized, and wall and roof assemblies are detailed in section. The deliverable is a developed set with outline specifications, good enough for a meaningful cost estimate. On smaller projects, DD is folded into the documents phase rather than billed as its own stage.
Construction documents
Construction documents, or CDs, are the drawings and project manual a contractor prices and builds from and a building department reviews. The set includes plans, sections, details, schedules and specifications for every discipline, plus code, life safety and accessibility sheets and energy compliance documentation. Most of the design effort, and most of the fee, lives here.
Permitting, bidding and negotiation
We submit the permit set, track it through review and answer comment letters in one coordinated resubmittal. In parallel, we issue the bid set, answer contractor questions through addenda, level the bids so you compare like against like, and recommend. If you are negotiating with one builder instead, we support that pricing the same way. The construction contract is always between you and the contractor.
Construction administration
Construction administration, or CA, runs from groundbreaking to closeout. It gets its own section below, because it is the phase where independence matters most.
- 012–4 weeks
Programming
Program, site constraints and preliminary code review.
- 024–8 weeks
Schematic design
Plans, massing, systems outline, first cost check.
- 034–8 weeks
Design development
Systems sized, assemblies chosen, updated estimate.
- 048–14 weeks
Construction documents
The coordinated permit and bid set.
- 056–16 weeks
Permitting
Plan review, comment letters, resubmittal.
- 063–6 weeks
Bidding & negotiation
Bid set, addenda, leveling, recommendation.
Planning ranges, not a project quote. Timing varies with owner decisions, project complexity, and jurisdiction workload.
Those ranges assume decisions get made on time, which is the real variable. Phases overlap more than the chart suggests: bidding often starts while the permit is in review. Construction administration is not on the chart because it tracks the construction schedule, not the design one.
Who designs what, and who coordinates it?
A commercial building needs several licensed disciplines no matter how the contracts are written. The question worth asking is who makes their work agree.
Architectural
Plans, envelope, code compliance, accessibility and finishes, and the set every other discipline hangs from.
Structural
Foundations, framing, lateral system and roof loads, including every rooftop unit that sits on it.
MEP
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, sized to the program and fitted into the ceiling space.
Civil
Grading, drainage, stormwater detention, utilities, paving and site access.
Life safety
Egress, fire separations, sprinkler and alarm coordination, and the plan the fire marshal reviews.
Energy compliance
Envelope, lighting and mechanical efficiency documented against the adopted energy code.
Single agreement vs. separate consultant contracts
Under separate contracts, the owner hires the architect, the structural engineer, the MEP engineer and the civil engineer individually. Each consultant has a clean scope, and nobody is contractually responsible for where those scopes meet. Under one agreement, Temelar delivers architecture, structural and MEP engineering together, and conflicts between disciplines become ours to resolve before the set leaves the office.
On the left, the owner sits in the middle of four separate lines, and every seam between consultants is a question mark nobody owns. On the right, one line runs from the owner to Temelar, and the structural, MEP and civil engineers sit inside a single boundary where coordination is our job. We wrote about the trade-off at length in one contract, not four.
| Question | Separate contractsYou coordinate | One agreementTemelar coordinates |
|---|---|---|
| Agreements you sign | Three or four, each with its own terms. | One, covering every design discipline. |
| When a duct hits a beam | Each consultant points at the other. | Our problem, fixed before permit. |
| Schedule | Four schedules you have to align. | One schedule, managed by the architect. |
| RFIs during construction | Routed through you to the right consultant. | Answered by the team that drew the detail. |
| Your role | Owner and project coordinator. | Owner, with one point of contact. |
Coordination and clash detection
Most of our coordination happens in a shared 3D model. BIM, short for building information modeling, means the building is built digitally as real objects (walls, beams, ducts, pipes) rather than drawn as lines. We overlay the engineers' models on ours and run clash detection at the DD and CD milestones, which flags every spot where two systems try to occupy the same space.
Software catches hard clashes well. Service clearance at an electrical panel, access to a valve above a ceiling and head height under a duct run are judgment calls, so we pair the model review with coordination meetings where each discipline walks the problem areas together.
How do design decisions drive construction cost?
A building's cost is not set by the contractor's bid. It is set by the design decisions the bid is pricing, and most of them are made early.
The chart runs across the phases from programming to construction. One line, the ability to influence cost, starts high and falls as the design firms up. The other, the cost of making a change, starts low and climbs steeply once documents are issued and work is in the ground. The principle is widely known as the MacLeamy curve, and it is the practical case for spending more thinking time up front.
Occupancy classification
The building code sorts every space by use: business, mercantile, assembly, storage, factory, institutional and others. Occupancy classification drives egress widths, plumbing fixture counts, fire separations and sprinkler requirements. A training room that tips a floor into assembly use, or a stockroom large enough to count as storage, can change the whole code picture.
Construction type
Construction type describes how fire resistant the structure is, from noncombustible concrete and steel to wood frame. It sets how large and how tall the building is allowed to be. Choosing the least expensive type that still permits the building you want is one of the most valuable calls made in schematic design.
Sprinklers and fire protection
A sprinkler system costs money, but in many cases it buys larger allowable areas, longer travel distances and fewer rated walls. On larger buildings it is often required anyway. Where high-pile storage is involved, the storage height and commodity drive the sprinkler design and, with it, water supply and sometimes a fire pump.
Building envelope
Walls, roof and glazing carry a large share of the budget and most of the energy performance. In the Houston climate, heat gain and moisture control matter more than almost anything else. Glass area, shading and wall assembly choices ripple straight into the size of the mechanical system.
MEP systems
MEP systems are big line items and the ones most often underestimated. Medical and restaurant spaces are the usual examples, with heavy exhaust, dedicated circuits and plumbing in unexpected places. Our breakdown of medical office build-out cost drivers shows how quickly this adds up.
“A drawing change costs an afternoon.
The same change in the field costs a change order.”
How commercial permitting works in Greater Houston
Commercial permitting in the Houston area is not one process. It depends on which jurisdiction the site sits in, what the building is and how much work is involved. We confirm the review path before design starts, because it shapes the schedule more than any drawing does.
City of Houston
Houston has no conventional zoning, but that does not mean anything goes. Chapter 42 of the city code governs lot and setback rules, parking requirements apply by use, and stormwater detention is required for most new development. Private deed restrictions are enforceable and can be stricter than any city rule.
Surrounding cities and counties
Sugar Land, Katy, Pearland and other surrounding cities run their own review paths, and many of them do have zoning. The Woodlands area, Montgomery County, Fort Bend County and unincorporated Harris County each have their own requirements and fire marshal review. The same scope can move through review at a very different pace depending on the address.
Accessibility: TDLR and the Texas Accessibility Standards
In Texas, accessibility is regulated by the state through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). Projects in covered buildings with an estimated construction cost of $50,000 or more must be registered with TDLR, and their drawings reviewed and the finished work inspected by a Registered Accessibility Specialist (RAS) under the Texas Accessibility Standards (TAS). This runs alongside the local permit, not through it. Our guide to TDLR accessibility review covers the steps.
Energy code and fire review
Energy code compliance is part of the permit set. The envelope, lighting and mechanical systems are documented against the code the jurisdiction has adopted. Fire marshal review covers sprinklers, fire alarms, access and high-pile storage, and it often runs on its own track with its own submittals.
Review times, submittal rules and fees differ by jurisdiction and change over time. The ranges on this page are planning numbers, not promises, and we confirm the current path for each site before design begins.
What is construction administration, and why does independence matter?
Construction administration is the architect's role while the contractor builds. It does not mean supervising the crew or managing the schedule; that is the contractor's job. It means checking that what gets built matches what was designed, and answering questions from the field.
- 01
Pre-construction meeting
roles, submittal schedule and RFI process agreed
- 02
Submittal review
shop drawings and product data checked against the design
- 03
Requests for information
answered by the team that drew the set
- 04
Site visits
observation reports on progress and conformance
- 05
Pay application review
work in place checked before you pay
- 06
Punch list
deficiencies listed at substantial completion and tracked to close
- 07
Closeout
record documents, warranties and support for the certificate of occupancy
A request for information, or RFI, is the contractor's formal question about the drawings. A submittal is the contractor's proof of what they intend to install. Slow answers to either are a common cause of field delays. The certificate of occupancy itself is issued by the building official once inspections pass; our job is to make sure the paperwork and the building are both ready for that.
Why independence from the contractor matters
Temelar is never the builder. The general contractor is, and stays, yours. That separation is deliberate, because construction administration only works when the person reviewing the work has nothing to gain from approving it.
An architect who also builds is checking their own work. Independence from the contractor is what makes a pay application review or a punch list worth having.
If the design is already done by someone else, or the project is design-build, the same independent review is available on its own as owner's representation.
Which delivery methods and fee structures fit?
A delivery method is the contract structure between owner, designer and builder. Full architecture works with each of the common ones. What changes is when the contractor joins and how the price gets set.
Design-bid-build
Design finished first
Several contractors bid one set
Price set by competition
CM at risk
Builder joins during design
Preconstruction input on cost
Guaranteed maximum price
Negotiated
One contractor chosen early
Price built with the owner
Speed over competition
Design-bid-build gives the clearest price comparison, but contractor input on cost arrives late. Under construction manager at risk, the builder prices the work as the design develops and commits to a guaranteed maximum price; we work closely with them during design and stay independent during construction. Negotiated delivery can save time, but without competition the drawings and an independent review of the pricing carry more weight.
How architecture fees are structured
Commercial architecture fees are usually set one of a few ways, and many agreements combine them:
- Percentage of construction cost, common on ground-up work, with the fee adjusting if the budget moves.
- Fixed fee by phase, where each phase has its own number and is billed as it is completed.
- Hourly or not-to-exceed, typical for construction administration or additional services whose scope depends on the contractor.
- Reimbursable expenses, such as printing, permit fees and specialist consultants, listed separately.
Under our single agreement, engineering fees are included in the proposal instead of being negotiated separately by you. The totals are broadly comparable either way. What differs is who absorbs the cost of a coordination miss.
How to prepare, and how to choose a commercial architect
You do not need a finished brief to start. But a first meeting goes much further when a few basics are on the table.
- Site address, survey and title commitment if available
- Intended use and rough square footage
- Budget range for construction and total project
- Target opening or occupancy date
- Deed restrictions, owner's association or landlord criteria
- Existing drawings, if the building already exists
- Who makes decisions and who signs off
- Lender, investor or tenant requirements
How to choose a commercial architect
Portfolio images tell you little. These questions tell you how the team will actually work:
- Is the firm led by an architect licensed in Texas by the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners?
- Who holds the engineering contracts, and who is responsible when disciplines conflict?
- Who will actually answer RFIs during construction, and how fast?
- Has the team worked in your building's jurisdiction and occupancy type?
- Does the firm have any stake in construction, or is it independent of the builder?
- How are fees structured, and what counts as an additional service?
How the service changes by building type
The phases stay the same across sectors. The emphasis does not. Office and retail work runs on leasing clocks and landlord criteria, and much of it is tenant improvement rather than ground-up. Industrial buildings turn on construction type, high-pile storage and fire protection. Medical projects carry the heaviest MEP and the most specialized rooms. Hospitality work, including hotels, restaurants and conference space, is dominated by assembly occupancy and kitchen systems. The full list is on our sectors page.
Frequently asked questions
Full architectural services include programming, schematic design, design development, construction documents, permitting, bidding or negotiation, and construction administration. At Temelar, structural, MEP and civil engineering are engaged and coordinated under the same agreement.
For a ground-up commercial building, design and permitting typically take six to thirteen months from the first meeting to construction start. The range depends on project size, how quickly owner decisions get made and which jurisdiction reviews the permit. Tenant improvements are usually much shorter.
No. Under a full-architecture agreement with Temelar, we engage, pay and coordinate the structural, MEP and civil engineers. You hold one contract, and conflicts between disciplines are ours to resolve before the set goes to permit.
Most likely, if it is a commercial project in a covered building with an estimated construction cost of $50,000 or more. Those projects must be registered with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, reviewed and inspected by a Registered Accessibility Specialist under the Texas Accessibility Standards. We handle registration and coordinate the review as part of the permit work.
No. Temelar is an architecture firm and provides no construction services. We work with the contractor you hire under design-bid-build, construction manager at risk or negotiated delivery, and we stay independent of them so our review during construction is on your side.
Commercial architecture fees are usually a percentage of construction cost, a fixed fee for each phase, or a combination, with construction administration sometimes billed hourly. We put the structure and the full scope in writing before any work starts.
Tell us about the building
The fastest useful start is a short conversation about the site, the use and the rough size. Send those through the contact page and you will get a straight answer on scope, schedule and fit. If the site is not yet under contract, begin with feasibility; it is the cheapest way to learn whether the building fits.
