Frequently asked questions · CONIKA for companies
What technical, procurement and legal teams usually ask before signing. If something is missing, write to us and we will add it.
01 · The scope
What exactly does the design package deliver?
The full design: floor plans, sections, elevations and construction details. The BIM model at LOD 300. Six renderings of the finished project for each designed type, with each extra image at USD 100, up to 20 images per type. And the plumbing and electrical layouts drawn as a guide on that same model.
In which formats is it delivered?
The model in IFC and the drawings in DWG and PDF. The plumbing and electrical go as a routing guide on that same model: it shows where the runs go, it does not size them, and we do not certify it as engineering. If your team works in Revit, the native .rvt file can be added separately.
Do you deliver the model in native Revit?
Yes, as an add-on. We work in Archicad, so the package delivers IFC, the open format, which Revit reads. The native .rvt file is added separately and priced by the design's area: USD 250 up to 600 m², USD 700 up to 3,000 m² and USD 1,500 above that. If your BIM team needs it, say so when you book and it goes into the commercial proposal.
What is LOD 300 and why does it come up everywhere?
It is the model's level of development: every element carries its real size, shape, location and orientation. That is why your team can take quantities off the model instead of counting them by hand from a drawing.
Do you deliver the construction quantities?
No, and it is worth separating two things. The drawings are dimensioned and every element in the model carries its real size, shape and location, so your team takes them off the model with whatever tool it uses. What we do not do is compile the quantity schedule or prepare the construction budget.
Is structural engineering included?
No. The package covers the design, the BIM model, renderings and the plumbing and electrical layouts. Structural is not included, in Colombia or anywhere else.
What do you need from our side to start?
The site survey and the program. Geotechnical reports and gas lines are not included: you provide them.
Do you work with construction companies and developers?
Yes. The companies line is built exactly for that: builders and developers repeating the same project type. There is a discount scale for identical units, detailed in the price section.
Do you do commercial projects, like retail or offices?
Yes: retail spaces, offices and commercial spaces. The rate is the same per square meter as for housing.
02 · The images of your project
Does the design package include images?
Yes: six hyperrealistic images for each designed type, within the price of the design. They are not an extra quoted separately, they are part of what is delivered. A development with three types receives eighteen, six of each; if you want more, the extra images are added to the order.
Are the images generated with artificial intelligence?
No. They come from the project's three-dimensional model, not from an image generator: what you see is the designed project, with its measurements. Artificial intelligence comes in at the end, on the finished render, with a single purpose: to improve the resolution and the realism of the textures. It does not generate the image and it decides nothing that appears in it. For a sales center that is what matters: the image comes from the same file as the drawings, so the building you see in the image is the one dimensioned in the drawings.
Do we also receive a walkable model?
Yes, at no extra cost. Beyond the BIM model at LOD 300, which your team measures and coordinates on, we give you the model to walk through. It is for understanding the space: how you move from one room to the next, how high a ceiling is, what you see from a window. It opens only from your portal: it has no public link and cannot be embedded in a website.
Is the walkable model good for the sales center?
Not as it stands, and it is worth being clear about it. It carries generic furniture, does not have the finish of a presentation piece and opens only from your portal: it is there for your team to understand the project, not to put in front of a buyer. For the sales center there are the six images in the package and, quoted separately, the video and the 360 tour.
We need more images for the campaign. How are they charged?
Each image beyond the six included for each type costs USD 100, up to 20 per type. That is less than the standalone per-image price for the same quantity, because the project model already exists: you pay for the new shot, not for modeling the project again. Beyond 20 for a type, or if what you need is campaign material with its own visual direction, it becomes work for the visualization line and is quoted as such.
Can you produce video, a tour or a walkthrough of the project?
Video and a 360 tour, yes: both can be added to any design project, and they are quoted on the call, according to what has to be shown. They come from our visualization line, with no change of supplier or process. The interactive walkthrough is not available to order yet. If you would like us to let you know when it is, write to contact@conika.co.
Do you produce the graphic pieces for the campaign?
No. We produce the images, the video and the tour of the project. Commercial graphic design (the ad, the brochure, the billboard, the social media piece) is not done in any of our lines.
Can we use the images on billboards, in press or on social media?
Yes, with no restriction on medium, once the full price is paid. The images and videos are licensed to you with no time limit, no restriction on project and no further payments, to sell, publish or present, including commercial and advertising use. The copyright stays with us. The only piece that works differently is the 360 tour: its use does not expire either, but it lives on our servers with one year of hosting included from The Delivery, and after that you can host it yourself or keep it with us under a monthly subscription per project.
03 · The files and the BIM model
Which IFC version do you deliver?
IFC4, the version most platforms use for buildings today and the one that best preserves geometry. If your platform still works with IFC2x3, tell us at the start and we deliver that version as well: it is not additional work, it is a different export.
Does the model come with our office's layer structure?
It comes with standard naming, not with your company's internal standard. If your team works with its own classification and needs the model to follow it, mention it before we begin: it can be agreed, but it is best defined at the start rather than once the model is built.
Do you hand over the native file?
The native file from Archicad, the software we work in, is not part of the delivery. We give you the model in IFC and the drawings in DWG and PDF, which your team uses to measure, coordinate and share the project with the other disciplines. If your team works in Revit, the native .rvt file can be added separately.
Can the model be federated with our engineering models?
Yes: the IFC is prepared for your team to combine it with the models of the other disciplines on your own platform. Federation and clash detection are not part of our scope in any case: your BIM coordinator runs them.
Do you provide support if the model does not open properly on our side?
Yes, for thirty calendar days from The Delivery. That support covers the files opening and being complete: an IFC that arrives corrupted, a missing layer, a drawing that does not open. It does not cover training your team in the software, adapting the model to your office's internal standard, or converting it to a format that was not agreed, because that is work rather than a correction. And if a file turns out to be corrupted or incomplete, the three-month statutory warranty from The Delivery covers it as well.
04 · The seal and the code
Who signs the drawings in Colombia?
Sofía Solarte, co-founder and design lead of CONIKA, with a current professional license in Colombia (CPNAA). She leads the design and the model, so she signs what she actually produced. That signature is included in the price.
Who does the plumbing and electrical design?
Sofía draws the guide on the same model: it is the routing and location of the plumbing and electrical runs, not their calculation or their seal. We do not offer the calculation and the seal, in Colombia or elsewhere: the engineer you hire does them, working to code from that guide instead of starting from scratch.
Why is the price for engineering calculation and sign-off not published?
Because we do not offer them. We deliver the routing guide on the model, and you hire a licensed engineer for the calculation and the seal, in Colombia or in the country of the project. It is worth having that cost in your budget from the start.
What if the project is not in Colombia?
We deliver the design, the model and the routing of the plumbing and electrical systems on it. If local law reserves the project to a licensed architect, we work as design consultants to an architect from there, engaged from day one, who holds responsible control of the project, seals it and files it; if the project is exempt, your engineers complete the design drawings for the permit. Either way, the engineering is calculated, signed and sealed by professionals licensed there. Professional licenses are issued locally (in the US, by each state), and you hire those professionals.
Is anything signed by CONIKA outside Colombia?
No: outside Colombia nothing is signed by us, because a professional license is only valid where it was issued (in the US, in each state). The signature and seal come from a professional licensed in the country of the project, whom you hire, and it is worth having that cost in your budget from the start.
Who will we be dealing with?
With Sofía Solarte and Juan José Lima, the two co-founders, directly. Every project passes through our hands in full, and we do not subcontract the design.
05 · The price
How is the price calculated?
A base of USD 1,500 at the full rate covers project kickoff and the first 80 square meters. Above that, each square meter is charged in tiers, from USD 12.50 down to USD 4.50 on the largest projects. Each tier is charged at its own rate, not the whole area at the last one, so the average price per square meter comes down from the very first one: 15.00 at 200 m² and 9.50 at 5,000 m². If the project is in Colombia or the rest of Latin America, those figures carry the regional factor and the base comes to USD 1,425, which is what the calculator on the page shows. The scope you choose is applied to that total. The full rate table is under "Price in detail" on the page.
Why this price and not a lower one?
Because it comes from a published rate and does not depend on who is asking: with the calculator on the page you see your estimate before calling us. That estimate is for a project of standard complexity; if yours is technically complex, a steep site for example, the design goes up 25%, and we tell you in the proposal, before you sign. What backs that price is the BIM model, from which your team takes off the quantities for your build.
Which area is charged?
Covered built area. Uncovered terraces, patios and voids do not count. Parking and basements count at 50%.
What if the project grows midway?
The excess is re-quoted before carrying on, and it is put in writing. It never shows up as a charge at the end: if the scope changes, it is discussed when it changes.
Is it worth it if we are going to repeat the same type?
Yes, considerably. The first unit is at 100%, the next four at 40% each, the following five at 30%, the next ten at 20%, the following thirty at 10% and units 51 to 60 at 7.5%. On units of up to 100 m², sixty identical units cost what ten cost, 16.4% each. On larger units the design does not go below USD 2.70 per square meter of the development, so the savings are somewhat smaller: at 200 m² per unit, sixty cost about what eleven cost. Above 60 units it is quoted individually on the call.
Where does the repetition scale come from?
From Decree 2090 of 1989, Category F, the fee scale for repetitive construction recognized in Colombia, which we take as a methodological reference. It is not a discount invented to close a sale: it is a published rule you can look up. What we add is a cap of 60 units and a floor of USD 2.70 per square meter of the development.
Does remodeling cost more than designing from scratch?
The design costs less: 25% less than a new build, because the structure, the envelope and the siting already exist and do not need to be designed. What is added is bringing the existing building into the model from your drawings: USD 2 per square meter documented, from USD 175, and a third of that if they come in editable DWG or IFC. If far more area has to be documented than remodeled, or the building is very large and its drawings come in PDF, that modeling can outweigh the savings: the calculator on the page shows you both parts separately.
Who surveys the existing building on a remodel?
You provide it. We do not measure on site: what we do is bring your drawings into BIM. If they come in editable DWG or IFC we model over them and it costs a third; if they come in PDF or scanned, the whole building has to be redrawn and it costs the full rate. If you have no drawings, a surveyor in your city produces them and we model on top of that.
We already have an architect and only need the images. Is that possible?
Yes. Each image costs USD 125 if you order 6 to 11, USD 112 for 12 to 19, USD 103 for 20 to 29 and USD 96 from 30. Every image in the order is billed at the rate of the tier the quantity falls into. If you bring your three-dimensional model, a scene setup is added: a flat USD 250. If you only have drawings or a sketch, modeling is added instead, once: from USD 250 by size and type.
Does the price change depending on the country?
It depends on where the project is, not where you are, and it only affects the design. Colombia and the rest of Latin America pay the same, 5% below the full rate for the rest of the world. The image price is the same in any country.
Do the prices include taxes?
The prices on the page are before taxes. CONIKA is not currently registered to charge VAT, so it does not charge it; if it were ever required to collect it, it would be charged separately, with written notice beforehand. Withholding is a different matter. Withholding your company applies in Colombia as an advance on income tax is deducted from the payment. If there is any other withholding, fee or charge and you tell us before we prepare the quote, the price takes it into account. If not, the agreed price is understood to be net to us and you cover the difference.
The prices in this section are for information only and do not constitute an offer. The final price is set in the contract you sign, based on the proposal you accept. Estimate valid for 30 days.
06 · The terms
What is the process once we book?
Four steps. You book a conversation, we talk through your project, we send you the real quote for that project or those projects and, once the contract is signed, access opens to your private portal so you can follow progress.
How long does it take?
Your schedule comes in writing in the proposal, before you sign: the business days for each phase, counted from the Record of Commencement of Performance. We do not publish a generic range because it would not be true: it depends on the area, on how many different designs have to be made and on the complexity of the development. That schedule goes into the contract and only moves for the causes the contract lists, such as information that arrives late, a pending approval, an overdue installment, a pause you request or force majeure. A delay on our side does not move it, and you can hold us to it.
How many revisions are included?
They are not counted in rounds. There are two decision points, The Table I and The Table II, and adjustments within what was agreed are not charged. What we quote separately, with your prior written acceptance, is what the contract lists. One: changing the area, the program, the massing or the concept approved at The Table I. Two: more images, videos, video duration or tour viewpoints than agreed, or adding music and voice-over to a video contracted without them. Three: changing an image or a video after approving its preview, because by then it is a new piece. We never charge to correct our own errors.
What are the payment terms?
Design package: a 50% advance to start, 30% after The Table I, and the remaining 20% before The Delivery. Images, video or a tour ordered on their own are paid in two installments: half to start and half on final delivery. These are the same milestones you see in your portal and the same ones you sign in the contract.
In which currency is it paid?
In Colombian pesos, wherever you are. Prices are expressed in US dollars as a reference. The peso figure is fixed in the contract, at the exchange rate stated there, and it does not change afterwards, even if the rate moves. Each installment is charged in exactly the pesos you signed for. You pay each installment from your portal; if you pay with a card in another currency, the conversion is made by your bank or card network, and those charges are yours.
How is the work coordinated if we are in another country?
Colombia shares working hours with almost all of the Americas: your morning is our morning, and calls are shown to you in your local time. And on our side it is always the same two people, not a help desk.
Who owns the design?
Authorship belongs to the studio's design lead, Sofía Solarte, and the studio keeps the copyright; you receive a license to build it. If it is a single project, the license is for that project; if it is a development, it covers the agreed units on the sites of that development, in the country where it is located, and the contract states the number. It does not expire, and it is granted once the full price is paid. Units, sites or phases added later are added in writing, under the repetition scale plus adapting it to the new lot. The license is non-exclusive and non-transferable: it passes to another company only if the contract is assigned to it in writing between the parties.
Do you sign non-disclosure agreements?
If your company has its own agreement, send it to us and we review it for signature before you hand us any project information. If not, the contract already carries a confidentiality clause, in force until two years after the contract ends. We may show the finished project in our portfolio, always anonymously: never your company's name, the address or any detail that identifies it. You can object before or after, and we remove it from our channels within fifteen business days.
Is the contract in our company's name?
Yes. On your side, the contract is in your company's name and is signed by whoever is authorized to represent it. On ours, the party is Juan José Lima, an individual who runs the studio under the trade name CONIKA, and Sofía Solarte is also named in the contract as the design lead responsible for the design.
What document do we receive to support the payment?
We do not issue Colombian electronic invoices today. For a Colombian client the supporting document is agreed with your accounting team before signing, and we provide the tax ID and whatever details the rules call for. Outside Colombia we issue an invoice, which is what is used to deduct a foreign supplier's expense.
What will our country withhold on what you invoice?
That is set by the law of your country, so your tax team reviews it. Colombia has double taxation treaties with several countries, which usually reduce that withholding, and we provide the documentation your accountant needs in order to apply them. If your company is in Colombia, the withholding at source it must apply as an advance on our income tax is deducted from the payment. If there is any other withholding, fee or charge and you tell us before we prepare the quote, the price accounts for it. If not, the agreed price is understood to be net to us and you cover the difference. In every case we need the certificate of the withholding applied.
What tax form does a US company get from you: a W-9 or a W-8BEN?
A W-8BEN, not a W-9. CONIKA is the trade name under which Juan José Lima, an individual in Colombia, operates, and the W-8BEN is the IRS form a foreign individual uses to certify that status; that is why it is not the W-8BEN-E, which is for entities. We send it signed whenever you ask for it, before payment. We do the work entirely outside the United States, and under IRS rules that income is foreign-source and generally not subject to US withholding, but your tax advisor should confirm it.
07 · The meetings and the team
How many meetings are there, and are they included?
There are two formal meetings within the process, and they are covered by the price: they are not charged separately or deducted from anything. If the project needs more, they are scheduled without issue; developments with several unit types or large teams usually do, and we discuss it.
How do we communicate during the project?
Through the project portal: there you have direct messaging with us, you see the progress of each phase and you approve what needs approving. Email works too, and both channels are equally valid under the contract. If something needs talking through, you ask for a twenty-minute call from the portal: we take them on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, Colombia time, and the portal shows you the slot in your time zone. When you ask, you tell us what you need to resolve, and sometimes it gets resolved in the chat and you skip the call.
Can we add more people from our team?
Yes, and you manage them yourself from the portal: you can add whoever needs to follow the progress and take part. What does not change is who decides: approvals are made by the project holder, so there are never two different instructions about the same thing.
Can our engineer take part in the meetings?
Yes, and it is usually useful. You can bring in your engineer, your builder or whoever is involved in the technical decisions.
We already have an architect. Can you still work with us?
Yes. If you already have a professional in charge of the design and what you need are the images, the video or the 360 tour, that comes through our visualization line, which exists for exactly that and does not alter anyone's design: it depicts it.
What happens if our team changes midway through the project?
Nothing happens to the project. Access is managed from the portal, so you can remove and add people whenever you need, and the full history of decisions stays recorded there: whoever arrives later can read how each agreement was reached.
08 · Terms and continuity
Is there a minimum number of projects to work with you?
There is no minimum. You can start with one project and continue with as many as you want, or bring several from the beginning. We do not ask for committed volume or exclusivity.
Can it be quoted in stages if the development is large?
Yes. If the development advances in stages, it can be quoted and contracted that way, and each stage is worked with its own scope. It is the usual arrangement for projects built in phases.
Can we assign the agreement to another company in our group?
Yes, with a written agreement between the parties. It is a common situation when each development has its own company, and it is resolved with a short document stating that the new company assumes the same terms.
What happens if the project stops and we resume it later?
The project can be frozen and resumed. Your portal, the decision history and the files remain, so returning does not mean starting from scratch. If the pause is long it is worth reviewing the scope before continuing, because site or planning conditions may have changed.
Do you carry professional liability insurance?
Not today, and we say so plainly because it is a box your procurement team will check. In Colombia it is not mandatory: Law 435 of 1998, which governs the practice of architecture, does not require it in any of its articles, and the ten-year structural insurance that has been mandatory since July 2025 falls on the builder or the seller, not on the designer. What there is sits in the contract you sign: in Colombia, the design is backed by our design lead's current Colombian license (CPNAA, the national architecture board), and Clause VIII caps liability at the total value of the contract, a cap that does not apply to willful misconduct or gross negligence, or to damage to life, health or personal integrity. If your contracting policy requires a policy in order to award, say so in the first conversation and we will look at it for your project before you sign anything.
Is there a warranty on what you deliver?
Yes: the statutory warranty, three months from The Delivery. If something delivered has a defect attributable to us, you choose: we correct it at no cost or we refund what you paid for that piece. If the defect could not be seen on receipt, the three months run from when you became aware of it or could have. And before it comes to that, the process advances with your approval: you see the model and the preview of each image before the final version, and you approve each phase before we go on.
What happens if something happens to you? Is there continuity?
Your project is not lost. All project information lives in your portal, backed up and within your reach, not sitting on one person's computer, and The Log records every phase with its date and a cryptographic hash. If the studio could not continue, the contract already says what happens: we settle the work done according to the phases completed, you pay the difference or we refund it, and the license over what was delivered is granted once that settlement is paid. It is a fair question when hiring a small studio, and we would rather have the answer in writing.
09 · What each term means
What is BIM and why does it matter for a development?
BIM means designing with a model that carries information as well as form: each wall knows what it is made of, each door knows its size. The practical consequence is that your team measures quantities on the model rather than on a separate drawing, so when the design changes, so does what is measured. For a development, that means budgeting on data that did not go stale halfway through.
What does LOD 300 mean?
LOD is the level of development of the model, meaning how much detail and information each element carries. LOD 300 means elements are defined with their geometry, location and real dimensions, enough to coordinate and to measure on it with confidence. It does not reach fabrication-level detail, which is a different level and a different scope.
What is IFC and what is it for?
It is the open BIM format: it lets a model built in Archicad open in another program, with its geometry and the information of each element. It exists so your team does not depend on the tool we use. What does not travel between programs is each one's own behavior, such as Revit's editable families; if you need that, the native .rvt file is added separately.
What is a unit type in a development?
It is each distinct design that will be repeated. A development of sixty homes may have three types: three are designed and sixty are built. That is why the price counts two things separately. One, how many types have to be designed: the first in full and each of the following at 60%. The other, how many times each one repeats, on a scale that drops with each repetition because the design work is already done.
What is the repetition scale?
It is how the price drops when the same design is built many times. It is not a volume discount negotiated case by case: it is a written scale you can read before contracting, and it applies on its own up to 60 units; above that, it is quoted individually on the call. The more repetitions of the same type, the less the design costs per unit, down to a floor of USD 2.70 per square meter of the development.
What is the difference between design and engineering?
Design defines the project: how it is organized, how it looks, how it is lived in, with what materials and at what dimensions. Engineering resolves what makes it work and stand up: structure, plumbing, electrical systems. They are separate disciplines, with separate professionals and separate responsibilities, and it is worth being clear about that when comparing proposals.
What is a preliminary (schematic) design, and how does it differ from the detailed design?
The preliminary design defines the big moves: siting, organization, volume, how the program is resolved. The detailed design takes that to construction detail, with the dimensions, the materials and the final drawings. Our scope goes through the second, on the design side. To build, you also need the geotechnical report and the structural, plumbing and electrical designs calculated and sealed, which are outside this scope.
What does it mean for a model to be federated?
Federating means combining the models of the different disciplines into a single view to check how they coexist: whether a duct clashes with a beam, whether a wall blocks an opening. Our model is prepared for your team to federate it on your platform. That federation and clash detection are done by your BIM coordinator, not by us.
10 · Starting to work together
How does a relationship with you begin?
With a conversation, not with a blind quote. You book from the site, tell us about the development you have in mind, and from there comes a proposal with scope and price in writing. Nothing advances until you review that proposal and agree with what it says.
What do you need to know about the project in order to quote?
The approximate area of each type, how many distinct types will be designed, how many times each one repeats, whether it is a new build or a remodel, and which country it will be built in. That is enough for a reliable figure. The rest (the program, the references, the constraints of the lot) is discussed afterwards and refines the scope; if the project turns out to be technically complex, a steep site for example, the design goes up 25%, and you see it in the proposal before you sign.
Do you work with small construction companies or only large developments?
With both. There is no minimum number of projects, and the price is calculated the same way for a three-unit development as for a sixty-unit one: the scale changes, not the rules. There is, however, a minimum price: the base, which covers the first 80 m². A small company starting out gets the same process and the same treatment as a large one.
It is our first time working with an outside studio. How is that handled?
With more accompaniment and everything in writing. The scope is defined before signing, each phase is explicitly approved, and the portal records what was decided and when. If it is your first time, what helps most is that nothing is implicit: everything agreed is written down where both of us can read it.
How do you relate to the construction company during the build?
This line delivers the design and its documentation; construction is carried out by your team, which holds the site and the crews. Our work ends at The Delivery: after that come thirty calendar days of support so the files open and are complete, and the three-month statutory warranty for defects attributable to us. We are neither the construction manager nor the site inspector for that build: those roles are yours to provide.
Are you looking for a long-term relationship or project by project?
We are interested in the former, and we say so plainly: we would rather have a few construction companies we can grow with than many one-off jobs. Once a team knows how we work and we know how they build, the second project comes out better than the first. And the rate drops, not because it costs us less to make, but because a builder who comes back is worth more to a studio than a one-off commission: the second project comes with 10% off and from the third on with 15%. We do not ask for exclusivity or committed volume, and there is nothing to sign.
How does the discount for working together work?
It is called The Alliance and you earn it by building, not by signing. The first project is at full rate. The second carries 10% off and from the third on 15%, and it stops there. It is applied on its own, in your proposal, without having to ask. Every project we have delivered to you counts, design and visualization alike, from USD 1,500 (or its equivalent in pesos); one still in progress does not count yet.
What is not included in The Alliance discount?
Modeling the existing building on a remodel, which means bringing your drawings into the model: it costs the same the first time as the fifth. Everything else is in: the design, the images, the visualization pieces and the native .rvt file. And there is a floor of USD 2.70 per square meter of the development that the discount does not cross: if the math got there, it stops there.
Do we lose The Alliance discount if we stop working together for a while?
Only if twenty-four months pass with no new projects: then the scale starts over. That is two years, to reward an active relationship without penalizing a construction schedule, which can run long.
What if we are not satisfied with the design?
You can end the contract at any time, with a single message and no penalties. We settle the work done according to the phases completed, each worth one seventh of the price, and you pay the difference or we refund it. Before it comes to that there are usually warning signs, because the process advances with your approvals at each phase: if something is off, it surfaces at The Table I and not at the end.
Can we see a proposal before committing?
Yes, and that is how it always works. After the conversation you receive a document with the scope, the phases, the deliverables and the price, for you to read calmly and consult with your team. Signing is a separate step, and you take it when you decide.
11 · Where it can be built
Where do you work from, and how is remote coordination handled?
From Colombia. The work is digital end to end: your team logs in to the project portal, sees the progress of each phase, approves what needs approving, and can ask for a short call from there whenever one is needed. Slots are shown in your team's local time, not ours.
Do you work with developments anywhere in Colombia?
Yes, across the country, and in Colombia the drawings are signed by our design lead, registered with the CPNAA. Bogotá and its surroundings, Medellín and eastern Antioquia, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Bucaramanga, the Coffee Region, Villavicencio, Neiva, Ibagué, Popayán, Cúcuta and Pasto.
Do you work on developments outside Colombia?
It depends on the place, and it is set out place by place at conika.co/en/donde-disenamos. We take design work only where we have researched the law: in some places we do it directly; in others, as design consultants to a local architect who holds responsible control of the project, seals it and files the permit; in the United States, for now, only what state law exempts from licensing. You hire the engineering calculations and stamps there, on our routing guide: we do not offer them in any country.
Do you work with construction companies in Mexico?
Yes. Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Querétaro, Puebla, Mérida, Cancún and the Riviera Maya, Tijuana, León. In Mexico the permit is processed by a Director Responsable de Obra licensed in that municipality, appointed by your company.
Do you work with construction companies in the United States?
Yes, in two ways. Houses and single-family home types, and in Texas also two-story buildings within the limits its law sets, can be designed without a state license: we deliver the design, the model and the design drawings, and your engineers complete them for the permit. Whatever your state reserves to a licensed architect we do as design consultants to an architect licensed in your state, engaged from day one, who holds responsible control of the project, seals it and files it. We are not licensed in the United States and do not present ourselves there as architects. Miami and South Florida, Texas, California, Arizona, Colorado. We work in English, and call times are shown in your local time.
Do you work with construction companies elsewhere in Latin America?
Yes: Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Panama, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Bolivia and Guatemala. In all of them we deliver the project, and a professional licensed in the country of the project signs it, seals it and handles the filing.
Do you know the planning code of our city?
We do not take it as known, and we would rather say so plainly. Local codes change from municipality to municipality and from year to year, so the project is developed on the parameters your team or your local professional provides: ratios, setbacks, heights, clearances. If those parameters arrive complete from the start, the design fits them without surprises.
Who finds the local professional who signs?
You do, and it is usually someone your company already works with. If you do not have one, we tell you in good time so you can find them before the design begins rather than after.
What currency is an international project paid in?
In Colombian pesos, the same as within Colombia. The proposal may express the value in US dollars as a reference, and the peso figure is fixed in the contract, at the exchange rate stated there. You pay from your portal with a Visa, Mastercard or American Express card issued in any country, as long as it is not a virtual card; the conversion is made by your bank or card network, and those charges are yours.
12 · Who we are
Who will work on our project?
Sofía and Juan José. Sofía is the design lead, licensed in Colombia (CPNAA) and not in the United States: she leads the design and signs it in Colombia. Juan José leads creative direction and visualization. Both of them work with you throughout the project: there is no rotating team behind us, the person you speak with is the one working on your project, which means the development does not have to be explained twice.
You are a small studio. Does that suit us?
We are a small studio and we say so openly, because it is a decision rather than a shortcoming. What it gains you is attention: your development is not competing for priority against twenty others, and decisions are made with you rather than in an internal meeting you are not invited to. What we will not offer is absorbing a peak of twenty simultaneous towers: if that is your case, the honest thing is to say so beforehand rather than after.
Is this line for construction companies new?
Yes, and we would rather say so than feign a track record we do not have. The craft is not new: design, modeling and technical documentation are what we do. What is new is the format for developments, with its written price, its repetition scale and its own agreement. What we are after are long-term alliances with companies that want to grow alongside us, not a long list of one-off clients.
Do you have references from other construction companies?
Not yet: the line for construction companies is new, and we are not going to invent references for it. What you can review before deciding is concrete: the written scope, the price calculated with the published rate, the full contract and the proposal you receive after the first conversation. With those you can judge the work by what it says rather than by who said it before.
Where are you based?
In Colombia. The work is digital end to end, so distance does not change it, wherever your project is.
What if we need something you do not do?
We tell you. There are things we do not do and will not improvise: structural design in any form, engineering calculations and seals, construction cost estimates, commercial graphic design and site supervision. If your development needs any of those, it is best you know from the first conversation so you can resolve it with the right party.