How to read a design practice's references and reviews before you hire

A finished clinic only proves that construction ended. It does not prove that the floor plan survived contact with real patient flow, or that the firm answered the phone after the final invoice. Separate the two questions in your own mind before you dial. You are testing fit: did the firm understand how this practice actually works, and did the process hold up when the surprises arrived? The strongest signal is a client who would repeat the whole experience, not one who is merely satisfied with the paint.

Split your list into three groups. First, clients in your geography, because local codes, contractors and supply routes differ from one side of the region to another. Second, clients with repeat work, since a practice that hired the same firm for a second site or a remodel has already voted twice. The client list published on this site is organized around geography and repeat work for exactly that reason. Third, one client whose project went badly, if the firm will name one, because how a firm behaves in a difficult job tells you more than a smooth one ever will.

A glowing review from a two-chair startup tells you little if you are planning a six-operatory specialty build with a surgical suite. Ask each reference for the size of their project in operatories, the approximate square footage, and whether equipment was part of the firm's scope or handled separately. Then compare. The portfolio at comparable project sizes is a useful way to see whether the firm has delivered work at your scale before you ask anyone about it. If every reference is half your size, say so, and ask the firm for names closer to your range.

Keep the questions concrete and answerable. Ask how many rounds of revisions the plan went through, who made the final call on room layout, and whether the firm talked to the staff who work in the operatories rather than only to the owner. Ask what the client would change about the drawings now that the practice has run in them for a year. Ask whether the firm's drawings matched what the contractor built, and how they know. Vague praise is a dead end; a specific regret is worth ten minutes.

Fewer than half of dental projects finish at the number first quoted, so the interesting question is not the final cost but how the difference was handled. Ask each reference how many change orders they signed, what caused them, and who raised them first. Ask whether the firm flagged a problem before it became a cost, or only after. The guide on change orders and completion explains why this line of questioning matters more than the headline budget. A client who can describe the process calmly, without rancor, is describing a firm that communicates.

Equipment is where schedules quietly break. Chairs, cabinetry, imaging units and sterilization gear arrive on their own timelines, and a design that ignores delivery dates forces the contractor to work around empty rooms. Ask the reference when the equipment was ordered relative to the start of construction, whether anything arrived late, and what the firm did about it. The guide on equipment lead times lays out the sequence a well-run project follows, which gives you something to measure the answers against.

Permits and inspections are the least glamorous part of the work and the most likely to stall a move-in date. Ask each reference how many inspections the project required, whether any failed the first time, and how long the certificate of occupancy took after the last trade finished. Ask whether the firm or the contractor managed that calendar. The guide on the inspection path describes the sequence in this region, so a client's account either matches it or reveals a gap. Treat any answer that cannot name a date or a stage as unfinished information.

Public reviews are useful for one thing and misleading for another. They show whether the firm responds when a client is unhappy, and they show how long the firm has been visible in the market. They do not show project size, budget, schedule or clinical fit, and a five-star note from a small remodel says nothing about a full build. Use reviews to decide whom to call, then let the calls do the judging. If the reviews and the calls disagree sharply, ask the next reference directly about it.

• Would you hire them again for the same project, knowing what you know now?
• Who was your day-to-day contact, and did that person change during the job?
• What did the firm get wrong, and how quickly did they correct it?
• Did the finished clinic match the drawings you approved?
• How long after the last inspection could you see patients?
• What would you write into the contract next time?

Write the answers down in the client's own words and keep them beside the firm's proposal. Patterns appear quickly: three references describing the same delay, the same unanswered email, or the same careful weekly walkthrough tell you more than any single conversation. Read the pattern, not the tone.

One limit is worth naming. A reference call gives you a picture of someone else's project, never a guarantee about yours, and no firm will hand you a client who is still angry. Ask what the firm does when a client is unhappy mid-project, then call that client too, because the answer to a bad job is the only rehearsal you will ever see for your own.

The Operatory editorial team, contact@sjbarrett.com