How We Work

No two industrial projects run the same way, so we don’t start with a fixed schedule or price. We start by understanding your project, your organisation and how you make decisions. Then we give you a timeline and fee that reflect your situation, not an average.

What stays constant is the path. Every project moves through the same phases, and at each one you make a clear set of decisions. This page explains those phases, what affects how long they take, and how we work with you along the way.

For the thinking behind our designs, see Services.

The phases of a project

You can engage us for the whole journey or for selected phases. Either way, each phase ends with decisions you approve before the next begins.

1. First conversation. You tell us about your products, production process, staff, site and goals. We outline the likely phases and what we need to know next.

   You decide: whether to proceed, and with which phases.

2. Land due diligence (if you haven’t bought a site yet). We check zoning, density, access, setbacks, codes, utility connection points, ground conditions, earthquake and fault-line risk, and budget, and test whether your programme fits. This study is currently offered for sites in Taiwan. We strongly recommend this study before you buy: industrial land holds many hidden traps for inexperienced buyers, and there is nothing worse than owning a site that cannot build what you need.

   You decide: whether to buy, and which site.

3. Masterplan and site planning. We organise production, logistics, offices, staff spaces and future expansion across the site.

   You decide: the overall layout and any phasing of construction.

4. Concept and schematic design. We develop the building’s form, spaces, daylight, materials and character.

   You decide: the design direction and budget.

5. Detailed design and coordination. We work with structural, MEP and process engineers and your equipment suppliers to resolve every system.

   You decide: materials, equipment interfaces and final specifications.

6. Permits and approvals. We prepare submissions and work through the approval process in Taiwan or mainland China.

7. Tendering and contractor selection. We coordinate qualified contractors to prepare their tender documents, compare the bids and help you appoint the right one.

   You decide: which contractor to appoint.

8. Construction supervision. We are on site to check that what is built matches the design, and we resolve issues as they come up.

9. Interiors and furniture. For offices, showrooms, canteens and staff areas, we design the interiors, and can coordinate or custom design the furniture. This can run alongside construction.

10. Handover. We support completion, inspection and moving in.

What shapes your timeline

Two factories of the same size can take very different times to complete. In our experience, these are the factors that make the biggest difference:

• Project complexity. A warehouse is simpler than a laboratory, a food-processing plant or a multi-storey production building with special equipment.
• Whether you already own the land. If a site still needs to be found and checked, that adds a phase before design begins. It is time well spent: checking a site before purchase costs far less than discovering its limits afterwards.
• Your experience in building new plants. Clients who have built before often know their requirements in detail. First-time builders usually need more time to define them, and we help with that.
• Whether you have a project team. A dedicated in-house team that can answer questions and coordinate suppliers keeps things moving, especially if its members have experience of similar projects.
• How decisions are made. Who approves the design, and how many people are involved? Projects where the owner is directly involved tend to decide faster than those that pass through several layers of management.
• How quickly decisions are made. Each phase waits on your approvals. Fast, clear decisions are the single biggest factor in keeping to schedule.
• Changes during design. Repeated changes to the design criteria, or to the production line, machine brands or products to be made, mean redesign. The earlier these are settled, the better the schedule holds.
• The approvals route. The type of land, and whether extra permits or assessments apply, affect how long approvals take.

This is why we prefer to understand your project and organisation before proposing a timeline. Once we do, we can give you one you can plan around.

How fees work

We give you a written fee proposal once we understand the scope, usually after a first conversation or a due-diligence study. Fees are set by phase, so you know what each one includes.

In practice:

• Fees for design phases are based on the scope and complexity of the building.
• Due-diligence studies are quoted as a fixed fee per site.
• Construction supervision is priced according to the length of the construction period and how often we are on site.

Licensing and approvals

Permit drawings must be signed by a locally licensed party: a licensed architect in Taiwan, and a qualified design institute in mainland China. We take care of this so you have one point of contact throughout.

How this works with us:

• Taiwan: Permit drawings are signed by our long-standing licensed architect partner, who has worked as part of our project team for many years. Design and permitting run as one process.
• Mainland China: We work with qualified design institutes, choosing the one best suited to each project’s specifics, such as its location, building type and complexity, and our experience of working together. They sign and submit the construction drawings while we lead the design.

Either way, WZWX remains responsible for the design and coordinates the whole team for you.