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There are so many different ways that this can go just based on the three parties involved. The biggest thing is whether the designer is working for you or the property owner. There is a huge difference. The designer better act like he is working for the party who hired him and the party who did not hire him needs to understand that he is working for the party who did hire him.
One thing that often happens is that the contractor will bring in a designer just like TD is doing. Then they have the designer contract with the client instead of through the contractor. Well, guess what? The designer is obligated to work in the best interest of his client whether or not that is in your best interest. The client will often start to speculate about whether to price shop or bring in a different contractor and will look for the designer to assist in that. The contractor is expecting that the designer will be looking out for the contractor since the contractor brought him in. A smart designer will do that as best as he can, but they can't do that at the detriment of the party they have the contract with. You have to have a great deal of trust that this person is not going to take the project in a direction that you do not want to go or start spec'ing things that are really difficult to get. They are working closely with the client and the client bonds with them. Sometimes it makes it look like you are the bad guy if you don't embrace everything the designer is telling the client.
Another thing that can happen is that the contractor hires the designer directly, but the designer is oblivious to the fact that he is working for the contractor. This can be because they are not used to the idea that they are not always working for the property owner or because they are a bit egotistical. It can't be tolerated for any reason if they are working for you. You really have to make that point prior to signing a contract with the designer to make sure that they understand it and can handle it.
Then there is the whole thing about where the designer usually gets his money from. If it is through project management it is clearly a conflict with what you are trying to do and where you are trying to get your money from. You own the job and want to bring in a designer as a sub which makes you the project manager. Clearly there is only one money source, so you can't both tap it at once and you don't want to lose control over your job. The PM designer is going to have a hard time acting as a sub most of the time.
There are tons of people who want to be landscape designers. A majority of them are not professionally trained and tend to be garden designers rather than landscape designers. It is difficult to know if they know enough about the big picture of landscape design and if they know how to build your clients confidence and stear the job in the direction you need it to go.
Those are some of the negatives you have to watch out for. But, there are people out there who know which side of the bread the butter is on and can switch gears. You just have to know who they are so you can trust them.
I have a full time job besides my own landscape architecture. I simply don't have enough time to project manage, so I can't do it even if I wanted to. I am sometimes brought into a job by property owners and sometimes by contractors. Sometimes the contractor has me contract with them and sometimes they have me contract with the client.
The latter is the hardest because the clients often start looking for me to buy the plants to or something else to avoid the contractors mark up or they start asking if I know someone that could do better work or work for less. I tactfully let them know that I won't get in between them and the contractor and my contract is very clear on what I am doing for them which does not indicate that I will do that.
You could get together with the designer and discuss what to put into the contract if you choose to have them get directly paid by the owner.
In any case, I really think you need to get together with the designer before hand and talk about expectations on the business side of things. Remind them that you may be a long term source for steady work.
Never undeestimate the power that goes with being the first person contacted by a property owner. Leads are the most difficult part of a designers business. Without a source for work, they are screwed. When they are the source of the work it empowers them to be project managers. Without it, they have no claim to that position and need to work as a sub and be paid as one.
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