The Engagement Process
How an Engagement Works
Most projects start before anything is purchased. A team has a concept, a material direction, or a problem — and needs clarity on feasibility, sourcing reality, and risk before committing. Here is how the process works from first conversation through finished installation.
The best time to bring in a stone advisor depends on where your project is. Earlier means more options and lower risk. Later means we’re working within tighter constraints — but we regularly help teams at every phase.
Best entry point
Schematic Design (SD)
Maximum flexibility. Material direction, feasibility, and budget reality can all be established before specifications lock. We help teams evaluate what’s possible, flag availability risks early, and shape the stone scope around what actually exists in the market.
Strong entry point
Design Development (DD)
Specifications are forming but not final. There’s still room to adjust material selections based on sourcing reality, refine cost estimates with real pricing, and build substitution protection into the spec. This is the last phase where changes are easy.
Workable, but constrained
Construction Documents (CD)
Specifications are largely set. We can still vet the stone scope for procurement risk, identify availability gaps, and recommend specification language that protects design intent. But changing material direction at this stage means rework — it’s possible, just more expensive.
Reactive, but common
Construction / Procurement
The project has committed to a stone scope and something has gone wrong — material shortfall, quality mismatch, fabricator conflict, or timeline pressure. We can step in, assess the situation, and help the team course-correct. Options are narrower, but this is where independent oversight often adds the most immediate value.
01
Initial Conversation
Free — 15 minutes
Share the concept, reference images, drawings, or stone direction. We assess fit, identify obvious risks, and recommend whether a deeper engagement makes sense. No commitment, no sales pressure — just a clear read on whether the project needs advisory support.
02
Stone Scope Review
5–7 business days
A written feasibility assessment covering material availability, cost ranges, lead times, procurement risk, and a recommended path forward. This is the foundation most engagements are built on — it tells you what’s realistic before any money moves toward material.
03
Stone Strategy
2–4 weeks
Specific sourcing plans, allocation strategy, fabricator vetting, and a risk memo mapping every procurement risk and its mitigation. This takes planning-grade ranges from the scope review and turns them into actionable specifics the team can execute against.
04
Procurement
Variable — project dependent
We purchase stone on your behalf, manage chain of custody from supplier to fabricator, and deliver with complete documentation. Your team never manages a supplier relationship. The fabricator receives pre-qualified material with design intent guidance — vein direction, continuity notes, and project priorities.
05
Fabrication Oversight
Through fabrication phase
Shop drawing review, slab layout optimization, pre-fabrication meetings at the fab shop. We ensure the fabricator understands the design intent behind every cut — optimizing for beauty, not remnant resale. This is where design intent is most often compromised on high-stakes projects.
06
Installation Review
At install stage
Quality verification during installation — confirming material placement matches the approved layout, vein continuity is maintained, and the finished result delivers on the original design concept. The last checkpoint before stone becomes permanent.
Not Every Project Needs Every Step
Some teams need a focused scope review and nothing more — the written assessment gives them enough clarity to proceed on their own. Others need strategy and sourcing but handle procurement internally. And some need advisory from the first conversation through the last piece of installed stone.
The engagement scales to what the project actually requires. We never push deeper involvement than what’s warranted. If a scope review is enough, that’s a good outcome — it means the project is on solid ground.
Common Engagement Patterns
The first conversation is always free. Start there and we’ll figure out the right level of involvement together.
Show me the project.
Start with a free 15-minute sanity check. If the project needs deeper work, we can decide that together.