Architects look for a maker who makes their job easier and safer: technical information they can drop straight into a drawing, quick and precise answers, proof that the product performs, and respect for their design. Most of all they want someone they can rely on when the project gets difficult. Good design gets you noticed. Being reliable gets you specified.
What information do architects need from a maker?
Technical information they can use without chasing you for it. In a Building Boardroom survey of more than 300 architects, 87% said they use manufacturers' technical literature always or most of the time. In the same survey, far fewer said they used marketing literature regularly.
For a bespoke maker, that usually means:
- sizes, limits and what can be made to order
- fire, thermal and acoustic performance, with the test evidence behind it
- finishes, materials and options
- realistic lead times
- details and drawings they can work into their own
If an architect has to email you to find out whether something is possible, you have already made their job harder. If the answer is on your website or one message away, you have made it easier.
How quickly should a maker answer an architect?
The same day, if you can. Architects usually come with a specific question tied to a live project, and they are working to a deadline. Here is a typical one:
"Do you make fire rated doors? ...that's where these systems usually let us down."
Director of Architecture, to a steel door maker, day 12
That is not a request for a brochure. It is a precise technical question with a project behind it. The maker who answers it clearly and quickly is the one who gets the next question, and eventually the specification.
Speed matters because architects are short of time. In an NBS survey with more than 500 responses, six out of 10 specifiers admitted to rushing the specification process. The survey dates from 2017, so treat the exact figure with care, but the pressure it describes is easy to recognise.
What makes an architect trust a maker?
Evidence they can check for themselves. The same Building Boardroom survey found that only 13% of architects have near or full confidence in marketing information, the least trusted source it asked about. A more recent survey of 80 UK architects, commissioned by a manufacturer and reported by NBS, found that 58% do not fully trust manufacturer product information, and that architects estimate they spend an additional 4 hours each week checking claims, certificates and data.
So anything that saves an architect that checking builds trust:
- certificates and test results that are easy to find and clearly match the product
- finished projects with real photos, not renders
- a showroom or workshop they can visit and see the work up close
- other architects who have used you and would say so
Notice that most of these are things an architect can see for themselves. That is the point. Trust comes from evidence they did not have to take your word for.
Why does design intent matter so much?
Because the design is the architect's work, and they have often had to fight for it. Value engineering, contractor substitutions and products that cannot quite do what was drawn all chip away at it. A maker who can deliver what was drawn, without compromise, is worth a lot.
"...hoping this time we have someone who can provide the solution without compromising the design intent."
Director of Architecture, London practice, day 16
The words "this time" say it all. That architect had been let down before. Makers who protect the design become the ones architects come back to.
It also explains why architects get excited when they find someone who can deliver both looks and performance:
"Elegant steal doors are hard to come by."
Senior architect and associate, day 46
Do architects care who the maker is?
Yes, more than many makers expect. A specification is a relationship as much as a product choice. Architects want to know who will pick up the phone when something goes wrong on site, and whether that person understands what they are trying to achieve.
The relationship also reaches beyond the architect. One architect who wrote to our client said:
"I've got a project starting next week where this type of door could be utilised... I'll pass your details to the contractor who's doing the procurement."
Project architect, ARB, day 73
The architect opened the door, then the contractor's procurement team took it from there. A maker architects can rely on is also a maker who is easy for the contractor to work with.
This is why we run LinkedIn in the maker's own name. Architects get to know a person, not a logo, and the relationship stays with that person. How to get specified by architects explains the whole approach.
What is a quick checklist for makers?
Before your next conversation with an architect, check that you can say yes to these:
- Can an architect find your sizes, limits, performance data and lead times without asking?
- Do you have test evidence and certificates ready to send the same day?
- Can you show finished projects, with real photos?
- Can an architect see your work in person, in a showroom, workshop or finished building?
- Do you reply to technical questions the same day?
- Do the architects you want to work with already know your name and your face?
The last one is where most makers fall short. They do everything else well, but architects only find out when a project is already out to tender. See how one maker changed that.
Sources
- Building Boardroom, "Product specification for architects: information sources", Building, 27 April 2022: building.co.uk
- NBS Specification Report 2017 (more than 500 responses), reported by PBC Today: pbctoday.co.uk
- wienerberger UK, "The Cost of Compliance" whitepaper, survey of 80 UK architects commissioned by wienerberger (a manufacturer), reported by NBS, 11 June 2026: thenbs.com