293. Why Interior Designers Undercharge for Construction Management — And How to Fix It

If you've ever finished a construction project feeling exhausted, overextended, and quietly underpaid, I want you to hear me when I say this: the problem is probably not your efficiency. It's your pricing.

In this episode, I'm breaking down one of the biggest mistakes I see interior designers make over and over again — folding construction management into their design fee instead of treating it like the completely separate professional service it actually is.

We're talking about what construction management truly includes: site visits, contractor coordination, change orders, real-time problem solving, client communication, project documentation, and the constant availability these projects require from you. Because when you actually sit down and calculate the hours honestly, the undercharging becomes impossible to ignore.

I'm also walking you through where this conversation should begin — and spoiler alert, it's not the proposal. It starts on your website, continues through your discovery call, and gets reinforced all the way through your scope of work before you ever present a fee.

If construction projects constantly leave you feeling like the math isn't mathing, this episode will help you understand why and how to fix it.

You'll learn:

• Why construction management should always be priced separately from design
• What designers consistently forget to account for in their fees
• How to introduce construction management pricing before the proposal stage

Mentioned in this episode:

• Join The Designer's Edge waitlist here: https://www.reneedevignierdesign.com/construction-management-interior-designers

• Grab Your Free Script Guide here: https://www.reneedevignierdesign.com/push-back-script-handout

• Access the full video interview with Elana Steele of Steele Appliance here: https://www.reneedevignierdesign.com/appliance
  
  

Find the full shownotes at: https://devignierdesign.com/construction-management-fee-interior-design