For 5–99 person architecture firms working under owner–architect agreements

While you're in there, can we look at one more option?

The most expensive sentence in your practice.

Send Gromby the signed agreement and the owner's email. Get back a second read on whether it is Basic or Additional, the clause behind the read, and a G802 amendment drafted and ready for your signature.

Download the fictional G802 sampleSee the exact draft artifact before sharing a real project.

Nothing connects to your systems. No CRM, no inbox access, no IT. Start with redacted text on this page, or request the approved document route.

First three Second Reads free, on real projects
Nothing is ever sent to your owner — you send it, or you don't
Every scope read cites the clause behind it, so you can check it yourself

Ridgeline Community Health Center · CDSECOND READ · 2 REQUESTS

Great set — the team is happy. Two things before we go to permit. Can you add the covered drop-off we talked about at the last OAC? And can we see the lobby with the reception desk moved to the north wall? Should be quick.Owner email · Tuesday · 8:41 AM

Reads as Basic ServicesLobby reception layout revision

Reads as a design refinement within the approved CD services article. The principal still confirms the final layout before issuing the set.

Article 3 §3.4.1 · Basic Services, Construction Documents

Reads as Additional ServicesCovered drop-off structure

Reads as Additional because the approved DD program does not include a covered drop-off and the request adds structural, consultant, and site/civil work. A human confirms the facts before sending anything.

Tuesday 8:41 AM · Before we go to permit

ESTIMATED UNBUDGETED EFFORT · 26–40 HOURSStructural re-coordination if the canopy requires a footing.

G802 amendment drafted. Nothing sent.

The owner asks for one more option.

Your PM says of course, and means it.

The work starts that afternoon.

The amendment never gets written.

What you actually get back

A complete Second Read, before the work starts

A labelled Ridgeline example. Every citation links to the exact line in the agreement.

SECOND READ

Ridgeline Community Health Center

DEMO / SAMPLE

OWNER MESSAGE · Tuesday · 8:41 AM

“Great set — the team is happy. Two things before we go to permit. Can you add the covered drop-off we talked about at the last OAC? And can we see the lobby with the reception desk moved to the north wall? Should be quick.”

Reads as Basic Services

Lobby reception layout revision

Reads as a design refinement within the approved CD services article. The principal still confirms the final layout before issuing the set.

Reads as Additional Services

Covered drop-off structure

ESTIMATE · HUMAN REVIEW REQUIRED26–40 hours

Current drawing set and approved program are available to the project team. Estimate covers design study, site/civil coordination, and ordinary consultant communication. No permit resubmittal effort is included.

Fictional example for illustration. The agreement excerpts and owner email are not a customer's executed documents.

THE OLD BELIEF

“We just need to be more disciplined about tracking this.”

THE MORE USEFUL BELIEF

“Discipline was never the problem. Your contract already says what to do. What is missing is a contract-aware second pair of eyes that prepares the paperwork while the moment is still fresh.”

Every architect knows the rule. The authorization clause says you notify the owner and wait for written authorization before you start Additional Services.

But the study is due Friday, the owner is a good client, the request sounds small, and writing an amendment for something that should be quick feels like making a thing out of nothing.

What this actually costs a firm

Keep the ordinary request from becoming the expensive conversation.

73%

of surveyed A&E firms name scope creep their number one budget killer.

Monograph 2026 Benchmark Report

96% vs. 100%

the realization gap between firms that catch scope changes and firms that do not — four cents on every billable dollar.

Monograph 2026 Benchmark Report

Fee disputes

are one of the leading precursors to a professional liability claim against an architecture firm.

AIA Trust / Victor & CNA, “Avoiding Fee Disputes,” 2024

The last one is the part most firms do not price in. Unbilled Additional Services can become a difficult end-of-project conversation, and fee disputes are associated with professional-liability claim exposure.

Three steps, about five minutes

Start with the evidence already on your desk.

Send the agreement

Signed agreement, owner form, or pasted text. We pull out the scope, exclusions, phase structure, and authorization language you are working under.

Forward the moment

The owner's email, meeting notes, or a voice memo from the site. No system to connect and nothing to install.

Read it, then decide

Basic or Additional, request by request, with the clause quoted so you can check it in your own PDF. Four fair paths, a sendable message, and a filled amendment draft.

What you're really buying

Become the firm where the amendment gets written before the work starts — without waiting for the principal to reconstruct the thread.

Gromby is not a tougher contract or a time tracker. It is an always-available, language-model-assisted second pair of eyes for the five minutes between an owner's email and your PM's answer. During the pilot, every draft is human-reviewed before it comes back to you within the stated turnaround.

Most firms do not have a scope problem. They have a seniority problem: the only person who can comfortably tell an owner that something is an Additional Service is the principal, and the principal is not on that email thread.

Interactive Second Read

One email. Two requests. Only one reads as Additional.

Fictional scenario · Ridgeline Community Health Center. The agreement excerpts and owner email are illustrative.

Your judgment stays in control. The clause and the uncertainty stay visible.

Amendment to the Professional Services AgreementRidgeline Community Health Center

HUMAN REVIEW REQUIRED

OWNER-READY MESSAGE · RENDERED FIRST

Before we go to permit — covered drop-off authorization

The draft is the first readout. Review it before opening the evidence.

Hi — thanks, the team is happy with the set. The lobby reception move reads as a Basic Services refinement, so we can carry it into the current CD set. The covered drop-off reads as Additional: it is outside the approved DD program and adds site/civil and consultant coordination. Our planning range is 26–40 hours, excluding structural re-coordination if the canopy needs a footing.

If you would like us to proceed with the covered drop-off, please confirm in writing and we will prepare the G802 amendment for your review.

Best,

[Architect name]

Nothing is sent. You make the call.

Demonstration only · nothing is sent or executed, and this is not a customer result or legal advice.

No testimonials. Use your own project.

Make Gromby earn the next step on work you already know.

Pick a project where an owner asked for something and you are not sure how it was handled.

Send the agreement and the email thread through the secure intake route.

Judge the read, the citation, and the draft on work you already know the answer to.

If the Second Read tells you something you already knew and nothing more, do not buy it. That is a fair test.

First proof

Three Second Reads. Free. On real projects.

No annual contract, no migration, no blind AI promise. The first pass is language-model-assisted, human-reviewed during the pilot, and always returned as a draft for your professional judgment.

First three Second Reads · manual reviewSTART HERE

Three real projects. No card.

Agreement and conversation intake
Cited Basic-vs-Additional read
Effort and fee range
Owner-ready message
G802 amendment draft
Document handling agreed before upload

Practice · proposed after pilot

$349 /month

Human-reviewed Second Reads
A firm intake route
Monthly capacity agreed before activation
Cancel any time

Larger firms

Working session

Security and document-handling review
Capacity and turnaround scoped first
No commitment on the call

Start with three real projects at no charge. Continue only if the work is useful enough to justify $349 per month.

Questions a principal should ask

Clear boundaries before the first project.

Does Gromby tell me what is in scope?

No. It gives you a second read and shows the clause it is reading from, quoted, so you can verify it in your own document. The professional judgment is yours and stays yours.

What happens to my documents?

Do not send project documents by ordinary email. Start with non-confidential or redacted text, or request the approved secure route. Before any document upload, the pilot operator provides the applicable handling terms, processors, retention period, and deletion process.

Do I have to connect Deltek, BQE, or Monograph?

No. Nothing connects to anything. You send one agreement and one email thread. An approved additional service can be entered into your existing billing tool later, but it is not how you start.

Is this a construction contract tool?

No. Gromby works on the owner–architect agreement and drafts the professional-services amendment. It does not touch the construction contract.

Will it send anything to my owner?

Never. Gromby drafts. You read it, change what you want, and send it from your own email.

What if we do not use a standard form?

That is supported. Upload or paste the owner's form and Gromby reads the actual scope, exclusions, and authorization language in that document.

The next “while you're in there” is already in someone's inbox.

Write the amendment before the work starts.

Nothing is uploaded from this page until you choose the secure intake route. The pilot operator confirms the turnaround within one business day, usually much sooner.