How to draw up a technical assignment for interior design?

The most important document in the process of creating the interior of an apartment or house is the terms of reference for the development of a design project. How and who draws it up, and what should this document look like? We will try to answer these questions in our article.

Who composes and how

At first glance, it may seem that the technical task should be drawn up by the customer. However, in most cases it turns out that the client himself does not know what he wants. As a rule, his wishes are too general and vague – like “make it beautiful”, “awesome” or “awesome”. Or the customer is trying to get away with phrases like: Well, you are a designer, come up with something. ” This approach will not lead to anything good. A designer can create a wonderful project, which, nevertheless, will not suit the customer in some important parameters.

Therefore, when starting to work on a project, the designer invites the customer to go through a survey and fill out a technical assignment form. If the customer wants to get a project that really suits his tastes and needs, he must take seriously the questions that the designer asks him.

The purpose of the survey is to get as complete an idea of ​​the client’s lifestyle as possible, to find out all his tastes, needs and preferences. Therefore, one should not be surprised by the abundance of questions and details that the designer will try to find out. The more detailed the questionnaire is, the easier it is for the designer to design an interior that the customer will like.

Questionnaire questionnaire

With its help, an understanding of what the interior should be from the client’s point of view is formed. Filling out the questionnaire should be a joint affair between the author of the project and the customer. Then the questionnaire will become an important tool in the designer’s work, so that nothing is overlooked, all the nuances are taken into account. The designer talks with the client and, along the way, makes notes in the questionnaire, and then gives them to read what happened and certify them with a signature, if they agree with everything (this is in case of changing moods, desires, tastes, wind outside, weather outside the window).

It is optimal if such a questionnaire contains information:

• about the customer himself (name, age, address, phone numbers), as well as about those who will live with him permanently or temporarily,
• about what pets are and may appear in the near future,
• on the number of desired rooms, depending on their purpose (bedroom, kitchen, living room, dining room, nursery, study, dressing room, bathroom, library, billiard room, etc.), including auxiliary (laundry, ironing room, etc.) ,
• about style preferences,
• about color solutions (which combinations are impressive, which are categorically not accepted) in rooms for different purposes,
• about lighting (where, what, how many light sources, etc.),
• finishing materials for each room (floor, ceiling, walls, decorations – stucco, forging, pilasters, etc.),
• on the equipment of the bathroom (shower or bath or both, whirlpool or ordinary bathtub, and maybe multifunctional, is it necessary to have a sauna, bidet, urinal)
• what furniture and equipment should be in each room (better with a list of options)
• about additional equipment (heated floors, smart home technology, etc.)

additional information

References

References, that is, examples of interiors selected by the customer or interior designer, will be a good reinforcement of the survey. Moreover, the customer can note not only what he likes or is close to. If he also points out negative, in his opinion, moments, this will also help to avoid mistakes when creating a project.

A bit of psychology

What if the client himself does not know what he wants? If flipping through magazines and photographs with other people’s interiors did not give results: either they like everything, or the client did not see absolutely anything interesting. In this case, you need to connect the techniques from the arsenal of a practicing psychologist. In general, knowledge of the basics of psychology is absolutely necessary for an interior designer, since he deals with people. In this particular case, the designer needs to try to determine the psychotype of the client. And then, based on the knowledge gained, tell him about himself and explain what he really likes.

In order to understand the client, you need to ask as many questions as possible about the person himself, his lifestyle, character, habits, hobbies:

• how much time does he spend at home?
• what does he like to do in his free time?
• How often does he have guests and how do they relax?
• Does he or anyone in his family like to cook?
• what movies does he watch?
• Which famous person does he like?
• what are the family traditions?
• how does he imagine rest, relaxation?
• what kind of music does he listen to?

Here, questionnaires developed by professional psychologists for other purposes are quite suitable. Having determined the psychotype of the customer, one can assume which interior style will suit him best. In a very schematic way, it can be explained that the conservative and traditionalist are unlikely to like a high-tech house. And a young, advanced person who spends a lot of time in clubs will not like the atmosphere in the spirit of French Provence or Baroque. Practice will clarify the nuances.

Outcomes

In the end, having analyzed all the data obtained from the questionnaires, direct communication with the client, all references and tests, the designer compiles the basis of the technical task. This document prescribes all the details that should be displayed in the design project: redevelopment details, general design wishes, all data for each room separately.

The prepared documents are accompanied by photographs of the current state of the object and the results of measurements made by the designer.
The customer examines the document and, if necessary, makes changes. Only after agreeing on all points of the terms of reference, the document is signed and accepted for further work.

Legal force

Do not forget that the terms of reference is a legally binding document. But in order for it to be such, it is not enough just to seal it with the signatures of the customer and the designer. To support the legal force of the document, you need:

• so that the reference to the terms of reference appears in the contract between the customer and the designer as an accompanying document.

• in the terms of reference itself there was a reference to the contract.

• the terms of reference was signed by both parties

• the date of signing is indicated

Only if all of the above points are taken into account, the terms of reference has legal force, and in the event of a conflict that has arisen, its parties will be able to defend their rights in court. However, the main purpose of this document is to find out and record in advance all the preferences of the customer and, thereby, prevent all possible conflicts and misunderstandings.