Design-Build vs. General Contractor vs. Kitchen Designer

Every kitchen remodel needs two things done well: someone has to design the room, and someone has to build it. The three common ways to hire differ in whether those jobs sit with one company or two, and that single difference drives most of what homeowners notice later, including when the price becomes firm and who pays when a drawing turns out not to fit the house.

The three models side by side

Design-build

In design-build, the company that draws your kitchen is the company that builds it. Design and construction happen under one roof and, by the time work starts, under one contract.

What it does well

• The design is priced as it develops. The people drawing the kitchen know what their own crews and suppliers charge, so a design that drifts past the budget is caught on paper.
• One party is responsible. If the cabinet plan leaves no room for a duct, or the island lands on a floor joist that cannot take a drain, the firm cannot point at someone else.
• Handoffs are short. The designer can walk into the room during framing and answer a question that day.

Where to be careful

• You are not getting competing bids on a finished set of plans, so you need another way to judge the price. Ask for an itemized estimate and compare it against a second firm's number for the same scope.
• Design quality varies. Ask to see drawings from a past job, not only photos of the result.
• Find out what happens to the drawings and any design fee if you stop after the design stage.

Design-build suits remodels where the layout changes, walls or plumbing move, or permits and engineering are involved, because those are the jobs where design decisions and construction realities collide most often. Our overview of kitchen remodel levels helps you place your project on that scale.

General contractor with a separate designer

Here you hire an independent kitchen designer, interior designer or architect to produce plans, then take those plans to one or more general contractors for pricing. The contractor builds what is drawn.

What it does well

• Competitive pricing on a fixed design. Every contractor prices the same drawings, which makes bids far easier to compare.
• An independent designer. The designer works only for you and has no stake in which contractor wins or which products are used.
• Freedom to pair specialists. You can choose a designer for their eye and a builder for their craft.

Where to be careful

• A design can be finished before anyone has priced it. If bids come in over budget, redesign costs time and often a further design fee.
• When something on the drawings cannot be built as shown, the contractor issues a change order and the designer may or may not agree it was a drawing error. You are the one standing between them.
• You carry more of the schedule. The contractor cannot order cabinets until the designer's selections are final.

This model suits homeowners who already have a designer they trust, projects led by an architect as part of larger work, and people who want the reassurance of sealed bids. If you go this way, read how to compare kitchen remodel estimates so the bids really are like for like.

Kitchen designer or cabinet showroom

A kitchen designer, whether independent or working at a cabinet showroom, plans the layout and specifies the cabinetry. Many sell the cabinets and countertops too. Installation is then handled by an installer the showroom arranges or by a contractor you hire.

What it does well

• Deep product knowledge. A designer who works with a cabinet line every day knows its sizes, modifications and storage options in detail.
• A good fit for replacement jobs. If cabinets and counters are being swapped in the same layout, with no walls, wiring or plumbing moving, there is less to coordinate.

Where to be careful

• The design is usually built around the lines that showroom sells.
• Electrical, plumbing, drywall, flooring and permits are outside a cabinet order. Someone has to manage them, and if nobody is named, it is you.
• Responsibility is split. If cabinets arrive that do not fit, the question is whether the measurements, the design or the installation was wrong.

How to choose between them

Three questions settle it for most people.

• How much is changing? Same layout, new cabinets and counters: any of the three can work. Sink, range or walls moving: you want the designer and builder tightly linked, either in one firm or with a designer who stays involved through construction.
• How firm is your budget? If there is a hard ceiling, you want cost feedback during design, not after it.
• How much coordinating do you want to do? Be honest about the time you have. Acting as the link between a designer, a cabinet supplier and several trades is a part-time job for the length of the project.

Whichever model you pick, the same checks apply to every company involved. Our guide on how to choose a kitchen remodeler gives the order to run them in, and the page on contracts, deposits and change orders explains what each agreement should say about who pays for design errors and changes.

Where JDI fits

JDI Construction is a design-build contractor: design and construction are handled by one team, and we take care of permits and project management for the homeowner. That is the model we think suits kitchens where the layout changes. It is not the only sound choice, and a simple cabinet replacement can be done well through a showroom and a good installer. If you want to see how the stages run with us, our process page lays them out, and our Vancouver kitchen remodeling page describes the service. To see what the first meeting involves under any model, read what to expect at a kitchen remodel consultation.