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Hi @Temp, @Marvin and @Alan Ambrose, thank you for your time to respond and your valuable suggestions. This is good knowledge to have in the back of our minds when speaking to the architect next. We have already started looking and asking around in the local area but have not yet found a builder who's been recommended wholeheartedly. However, the process has thrown up plenty of suggestions for good individual trades people so that might be the way to go and maybe downscale on some of the more complex parts of the project until we can find the right builder to tackle them. I'll definitely also start looking whether a project manager / QS / SE might be the right person to support and keep the builder in check. Good to know that it wouldn't be unusual to have someone other than the architect handle to project management from this stage. Finger's crossed we'll get some more clarity over the coming weeks!

Hi everyone, My partner and I are working with an architect on a larger house retrofit and update project that also involves a couple of small extensions (to a 1980s timberframe house). We started all of this towards the end of 2021 and were due to start the building work in April 2023. A couple of months prior to that, our architect informed us that the builder he had intended to use, and whom he had worked with successfully on numerous previous projects, was running late on their current project due to supply chain issues. Back then, we were told that the work would be pushed out to June or likely July. During this time, the work with the architect continued, e.g. to get detailed drawings ready for submitting the building warrant. A few weeks ago I checked in with our architect about the likely start date of the work as we're planning to move out during this period. He then informed me that he had irreconcilable differences with the builder and that he would make his priority to look for someone new. So far so good - I'd rather not use a builder who's caused major issues on a previous project. However, this has left us with a potentially further lengthy delay to our project which is not only annoying but also starting to get rather expensive at the current level of inflation 💸 Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of the bad news. Whilst our architect initially reassured us that he'd make it a priority to find a new builder, three weeks on we mostly have had lukewarm excuses (along the lines of: still waiting to hear back from builders, will ask more people, will come back to you at the end of the week and then not hear anything). We are also struggling to speak to him properly: most communication has been reverted back to emails and we only get short responses when we chase, rather than proactive reassurance and updates. At the same time, the lack of communication is also making it hard for us to talk to contractors on our end. There are several local builders we could reach out to but without knowing whom he is talking to and when makes this difficult. To add to this issue, we found out that the building warrant which should have been submitted at least a couple of weeks ago wasn't actually submitted until earlier this week (after we had specifically enquired about it). Whilst we're trying to be understanding of the pressures that he might be under as this isn't his only project, the whole situation has rapidly eroded our trust, and has left us wondering how he'd deal with difficult situations that could arise during the build. Comparing what we are going through to our own professional experience, we don't think that this level of service is really acceptable from a professional. After a recent meeting was yet again pushed out to the end of this week, we want to seek clarity from him whether this project is still a priority or whether circumstances (workload, health or personal interest) are preventing him from supporting us in this moment of uncertainty. I'm wondering whether this experience is common or uncommon, and what steps we could take if the relationship deteriorated further. For example: Would it be feasible to find a new architect at this stage to take the project forward, or would it even be possible just to work with a builder if they can do the project management? What are the architect's professional obligations in this context (looking at the RIBA guidance, these seem pretty vague)? From your experience, how long could it take to find a new builder? Maybe our expectations are simply mismatched with what's normal. However, at this stage we are simply trying to get a gauge of which builders would be available from when, rather than detailed costings. If we were to ditch this architect and decide to get some of the work done independently, who could we turn to to help us plan the project, if not another architect? Any suggestions or sharing of experience is greatly appreciated - we're feeling pretty stuck and powerless at the moment but just hanging in there and waiting for things to get better also doesn't feel like the right answer!