In my last installment on building an Accessory Dwelling Unit, I covered the decision-making process and the pros & cons.  At that time, my grand designs were all in my head.  Since then I have hired an architect and have run up against the complexities of the process (more on that later). I wanted to get going on this project and felt the best way to get started was to hire someone.  The first decision I had to make was whether to hire an architect or a design-build firm.  I googled and read up on the differences.  Basically, an architect designs a project then hands it off to a contractor to build it.  The design-build firm will handle the entire process including design and construc…