Interior Design and Furniture Acquisition
Supplemental Topic
Interior Design and Furniture Acquisition
Contents
Introduction
Background......
Overview: The Interior Design and Furniture Acquisition Process...
Assembling the Team
The Interior Designer......
Developing the Schedule
Programming Interior Design and Furniture
Guidelines and Standards
Selecting a Product Line......
Preparing a Schematic Floor Plan
Preparing Design Development Documents
Refining Furniture Selections
Obtaining Firm Pricing (Bids or IUC Quotes)
Furniture Budgets $100,000 and Under......
Furniture Budgets Over $100,000......
Finalizing Furniture Selections
Monitoring the Construction Phase
Charts
1Process Flow for Interior Design and Furniture Acquisition
Introduction
This document explains how the University manages interior design work and purchases furniture for new construction, renovations, or space improvements.
Furniture purchases are part of the “Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment” (FF&E) portion of a project’s budget. This document addresses only furniture. Fixtures and equipment have separate acquisition processes that will be addressed in a future document.
Background
The interior design and furniture acquisition process has been developed to ensure that:
- interior design and furniture acquisition activities are reflected in each project’s schedule early in the design;
- UC’s new construction, renovation, and space-improvement projects meet the functional and aesthetic goals established by all involved user groups, while also remaining within established furniture budgets; and
- the University’s buying power delivers the best possible discounts and value from furniture manufacturers and vendors.
Overview: The Interior Design and
Furniture Acquisition Process
Successful interior design and furniture acquisition requires involvement and cooperation among all departments within the University Architect Division. In addition, each project’s University client must be represented by an individual who has decision-making authority for the client group.
The interior design and furniture acquisition process works as follows:
- The Project Administrator assembles the project team, including the consulting or staff Interior Designer.
- The Project Administrator establishes the project schedule, showing all interior design activities.
- The Interior Designer meets with the client team to develop a preliminary assessment of the project’s space and furniture needs. The Office of the University Architect (OUA) provides guidance on interior design guidelines and standards along with product decisions and product manufacturers from which to select furnishings.
- During the Schematic Design (SD) phase, the Interior Designer prepares floor plans showing spatial design elements and the proposed furniture layout. These are included in the project’s SD package with a preliminary budget to be reviewed and approved.
- During the Design Development (DD) phase, the Interior Designer coordinates the SD package with the architectural and MEP disciplines. The Interior Designer also selects materials, finishes, and products, and then prepares color boards with outline specifications. The OUA must approve these deliverables(with budget included) before the DD package is reviewed throughout the University.
- In the Construction Documents (CD) phase, the Interior Designer and the client meet to add details to the interior design. The Interior Designer revises layouts and specifications to show the updated choices with product lead times.
- During the bid phase, University Purchasing manages bidding and procurement, and may authorize the Project Administrator to obtain quotes under certain parameters.OUA reviews the quote documentation provided by Purchasing and/or the Project Administrator and submits its award recommendation to Purchasing. Once OUA and Purchasing concur with the recommendation, Purchasing issues a Purchase Order.
- The Design Team meets to finalize all furniture selections, including quantities of each item. The OUA reviews and approves the final list of furnishings, and the Interior Designer finalizes the interior design specifications to include installation requirements. The user group approves these final lists and specifications (signoff), and the vendor prepares a furniture plan (shop drawing) based on its product line. After OUA reviews the shop drawing, the selected vendor places furniture orders to the manufacturers and suppliers.
- At the tenant fit-up stage of the Construction phase, furniture is delivered and installed. The Interior Designer supervises the installation at the site and develops a punch list, which is forwarded to the Project Administrator. The Interior Designer works with the furniture vendor to resolve punch-list issues.
The chart on the following page shows the process flow for interior design and furniture acquisition.
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Interior Design and Furniture Acquisition
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Interior Design and Furniture Acquisition
Assembling the Team
If a project will require interior design services, the Project Administrator must identify and involve the Interior Designer before design work begins, as the rest of the project team is being assembled.
The Interior Designer
The University’s staff Interior Designer (a member of the Campus Planning and Design Department) works with the Construction Management and Renovations departments to support each project’s interior design needs.
If a project requiring interior design services will use an outside Architect/Engineer (A/E, also called an Associate), the selected A/E firm must provide an Interior Designer as part of its project team. This Interior Designer can be either a staff member of the Associate firm or a subcontractor.
Interior Designers who work for or contract with outside A/E firms on UC projects are called Consulting Interior Designers. The University’s Interior Designer provides guidance to the Consulting Interior Designer throughout the project. This interaction ensures that Consulting Interior Designers understand and apply UC’s standards when developing layouts and planning furniture purchases.
The University’s Interior Designer works with the Department of Renovations on small projects designed internally.
Developing the Schedule
When developing the project schedule, the Project Administrator must include all design, bidding, and construction activities related to interior design and furniture acquisition. The schedule must identify the responsible parties and completion dates associated with these activities.
The Project Administrator works with the University’s Interior Designer and/or the Consulting Interior Designer to assign appropriate dates and responsibilities for interior design aspects of the project schedule.
Programming Interior Design and Furniture
Once the project team and schedule have been established, the University and/or Consulting Interior Designer meet with the client organization to identify the project’s space and design needs as well as basic furniture requirements.
Guidelines and Standards
The OUA will provide approved guidelines and standards documents to assist in space planning, layout, and selection of materials, color, and furniture.
Selecting a Product Line
Furniture manufacturers offer product lines that range from standard to superior in quality. The required quality level for a project’s furnishings is identified when the budget is established. The facility’s intended purpose, in part, determines which quality level is appropriate for its furnishings.
The OUA participates in the programming meeting to provide guidance on product selection.
Preparing a Schematic Floor Plan
Once schematic design is under way, the Interior Designer prepares a preliminary floor plan that shows interior spatial design features and furnishings as they will be placed in the facility. The layout is included with the project’s other schematic design drawings and specifications during the regular approval process for SD deliverables.
Preparing Design Development Documents
During the Design Development phase, the Interior Designer refines the layout developed in the SD phase and coordinates this effort with the architectural and MEP disciplines, including lighting, mechanical, electrical, audiovisual and telecommunication systems. The Interior Designer selects materials and finishes, prepares a color board, and develops outline specifications for furniture requirements. Specifications should reflect the selected product line as the standard, but should also allow competitors to submit bids or quotes on approved equals.
The color boards and specifications for interior design must be submitted to OUA and approved before being included in the DD approval package. The Interior Designer submits the color boards and outline specifications along with preliminary costs to the Project Administrator, who forwards them to OUA. Once OUA has given approval, the regular DD approval process can proceed with the interior design documents included (revised if necessary to address OUA comments).
Refining Furniture Selections
During the Construction Documents phase, the Interior Designer and client meet to refine spatial design, materials, finishes, and furniture selections made in the DD phase. If preliminary costs exceed the budget, value engineering may be necessary. The goal is that the Interior Designer develop specifications for the interior design that are sufficient to obtain bids or quotes from furniture vendors. The layout and specifications developed at this stage are included in the regular CD approval process.
Obtaining Firm Pricing (Bids or IUC Quotes)
A project’s budget determines the correct procedure for obtaining furniture prices from vendors.
Furniture Budgets $100,000 and Under
For smaller projects (roughly, furniture budgets of $100,000 or less), standard contracts in place through the Inter-University Council (IUC) will usually provide the most competitive pricing for furniture. IUC vendors offer fixed discounts on their products.
University Purchasing can provide the names of IUC vendors. The Project Administrator can contact these vendors directly for price quotes. After evaluating quotes, the Project Administrator recommends the best and lowest-priced vendor. After concurrence by OUA and University Purchasing, a Purchase Order is issued.
Furniture Budgets Over $100,000
On larger projects, the Project Administrator can use either IUC prices or competitive bidding, which usually results in deeper discounts. Using the bid process,Purchasing prepares a bid package based on specifications from the Interior Designer, and vendors submit bids. After evaluating all bids, the Project Administrator recommends a vendor. Once OUA and Purchasing concur with the recommendation, a Purchase Order is issued.
Finalizing Furniture Selections
Once a vendor has been selected, the Design Team meets to finalize all furniture selections, including quantities of each item. The OUA reviews and approves the final list of furnishings, and the Interior Designer finalizes the interior design specifications to include the vendor’s precise installation requirements. The user group approves these final lists and specifications (signoff) and the vendor prepares a furniture plan (shop drawing) based on its product line. After the shop drawings are reviewed for accuracy by OUA, the furniture order is placed with the selected vendor.
Monitoring the Construction Phase
At the tenant fit-up stage of the Construction phase, the selected vendor delivers and installs the furniture. The Interior Designer (University or Consulting, depending on the project structure) and vendor are responsible for supervising delivery and installation at the site.
The Interior Designer and vendor must ensure that materials, finishes, and furniture are installed according to specifications. As part of this responsibility, the Interior Designer develops a punch list for the installation and forwards it to the Project Administrator. Throughout the Construction and Acceptance phases, the Interior Designer works directly with the furniture vendor and Project Administrator to ensure that all punch-list issues are resolved.
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