The Importance of Making All Design Changes Before Construction Starts

You’ve finalized your layout, selected your finishes, and are ready to begin construction. Then… a new idea hits. You want to move a wall, change the ceiling design, or swap the floor tiles.

Sounds simple, right?
In reality, late design changes are one of the most expensive and disruptive mistakes you can make in a renovation project.

At City Contracting, we follow a clear principle: all major design decisions must be locked before construction begins. Here's why — and how it protects your project from spiraling out of control.

1. Design Changes During Execution Are Not “Minor”

Clients often think:

"It’s just a small adjustment — it won’t affect much."

But even a “small” change can trigger a chain reaction that affects:

• Ceiling heights
• Electrical and lighting layouts
• HVAC duct locations
• Furniture fitment
• Tile cuts and plumbing points
• Structural and authority-approved drawings

By the time you realize the consequences, your team is either redoing work or halting progress — both of which cost time and money.

2. How Late Changes Affect Budget

Every adjustment made after work begins adds cost in several ways:

• Demolition and rework
• Material waste
• Labor cost increases
• Delays from needing revised drawings
• Additional approvals from authorities

We’ve seen clients spend thousands of dirhams on last-minute changes that could have been avoided with earlier planning.

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3. How They Affect Your Timeline

A single design change can halt progress for days or even weeks:

• Drawings must be updated
• MEP systems may need recalculations
• Site teams must remobilize
• Material lead times are re-triggered

This is especially critical in gated communities like Emaar, Nakheel, or Meydan, where resubmissions may be required. That means even more delays — and more frustration.

4. How We Avoid This at City Contracting

We’ve built a system to help clients make informed decisions before site work begins:

• ✅ Design freeze protocol — We walk clients through final selections, render reviews, and layout approvals before handover to execution.
• ✅ Material confirmation sheets — We validate availability, sizes, and finishes in coordination with suppliers.
• ✅ Authority-approved drawings — We don’t proceed until every drawing is sealed and submitted.
• ✅ BOQ alignment — All pricing is based on finalized design — not assumptions.

By doing all this upfront, we avoid 95% of the delays and cost surprises caused by design changes.

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5. Need More Time? Pause Before You Build

We always tell our clients: If you’re not 100% confident in the design — wait.

It’s far better to delay construction by a week than to waste time and money redoing work later. Great execution starts with great preparation — and that includes a locked design.

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