A first-week checklist for new joiners in architects and interior design firms

A new draughtsperson opens the office file server on Monday morning and finds forty folders with names like FINAL_v7_revised2. She does not yet know which one is the live set. By Wednesday she has drawn a staircase on an out-of-date plan. Design offices burn their first week like this, and pay for it in rework.

Architecture and interior studios sell judgement and drawing quality. Both depend on house standards that live in a few senior heads: layer names, title block, plot styles, sheet numbering, the way a revision cloud is drawn, how a transmittal goes to the client. A new joiner who learns these in week one produces usable work in week two. One who guesses produces drawings that a senior must redraw.

DAY 1   Seat, workstation, licence for AutoCAD, Revit or SketchUp, and the shared drive with a map of live and archive folders
DAY 1   Walk through two completed projects, from concept drawings to working drawings and the BOQ
DAY 1   Name of the mentor, the project lead and the studio manager
DAY 2   House template file: layers, line weights, title block, plot styles, text sizes
DAY 2   Drawing register and revision log: how a sheet is issued, who signs, how a transmittal is sent
DAY 3   File naming, XREF rules and backup routine, including where markups are stored
DAY 3   Material library or sample room tour, with the vendor catalogue and the sample request form
DAY 4   A small real task: a door schedule, a joinery detail or a lighting layout, reviewed with the lead before everyone leaves
DAY 4   Site etiquette: PPE, who to call, how to take photographs and measurements, what never to promise a contractor
DAY 5   Sit-down with the studio manager: gaps found, standards still unclear, goals for weeks two to four

1. 1

   Assign before the joiner arrives

   The studio manager names a project lead and a mentor one week early. Both reserve a morning hour.

2. 2

   Prepare a sandbox project

   A finished small flat, with drawings, schedules and a sample markup, lets the newcomer practise away from live files.

3. 3

   Keep the first task short

   A door schedule checked the same evening beats a week of manuals. Pick a task that has a clear right answer.

4. 4

   Hold a Friday conversation

   Sit for ten minutes. Ask which folder confused them, which sheet was missing and which standard nobody explained.

5. 5

   Update the checklist

   After each joiner, fix the template or the folder map that caused trouble. The checklist should shrink the gaps over time.

An architecture practice cares about the consultant coordination loop, with structure, services and the municipal drawing set. Day 3 should therefore include how RFIs and clash notes are logged.

An interior design firm lives on material approvals, site measurements and joinery drawings. Add the vendor sample trail and the client sign-off sheet for finishes.

A 3D visualisation studio needs its render farm access, asset library and naming rules for models and textures in week one. Add a lighting and camera reference.

A modular kitchen studio adds the site survey format, the carcass and shutter schedule and the factory order sheet. A landscape designer adds the plant schedule, planting plan and nursery contacts. Structural and MEP consultants add calculation sheets and design basis notes.

• A reflected ceiling plan, with the cornice, cove lights and false ceiling levels.
• An elevation with a plinth, skirting, laminate or veneer finish and the ironmongery schedule.
• A GFC set against the earlier tender set, so the joiner sees what changed and why.
• A snag list from a handover walk, with photographs tagged to room and trade.
• An as-built set, and the note on where it differs from the working drawings.

Pin examples of each to the sandbox folder. Rendering staff add a model reference in V-Ray, Lumion or Enscape with the camera and lighting settings that the house prefers.

Do not load the joiner with every software tutorial. Skip the history of the firm and long policy readings. Give the leave and attendance basics on day one, point to the attendance, shift and leave page of your handbook and move on.

The studio manager owns the sheet, the mentor ticks the daily lines and the joiner signs on Friday. File one copy with the personnel papers. Revisit the template twice a year, or when the office changes its drafting software. For the wider process, see employee onboarding and the architects and interior design hub.