Paying for building regs (warrant) work at start

[davidc]

Architect has asked for payment in full for work on compilation of Scottish building warrant (equivalent of English building regs) before starting work it. Am I right to consider this dubiously ?

[the_r_sole]

Have they done any other work for you and how did they charge for that if so?

[Temp]

38 minutes ago, davidc said:

Architect has asked for payment in full for work on compilation of Scottish building warrant (equivalent of English building regs) before starting work it. 

 

What has the Architect been contracted to to?

 

In England it's common to contract the Architect for work up to and including Building Control Approval.  That means after the drawings have been sent to Building Control and Building Control have accepted them so work can start. 

 

In some cases the Architect is also hired to oversee the construction work for a fixed fee, or just provide time at an hourly rate to modify drawings if necessary during construction.

[recoveringbuilder]

1 hour ago, davidc said:

Architect has asked for payment in full for work on compilation of Scottish building warrant (equivalent of English building regs) before starting work it. Am I right to consider this dubiously ?

We had to pay our architect upfront for all the work he did, obtaining detailed planning and building warrant was all paid right at the beginning as soon as we had agreed the design.

[davidc]

They also drew up and submitted the planning, that time charging in arrears.

[the_r_sole]

Strange that they would change their payment terms, we would usually charge a fee upfront, maybe 50% of a stage with the rest once the work is done - the only times we ask for full payment upfront is if it's someone we've worked with before and they were very slow payers - anyone that needed promoted to pay after our normal terms gets asked that!

[davidc]

Well, several months elapsed after the planning work no invoice was forthcoming, I had to ask them to send their bill which I paid the same day as it was received - so I'd hope they wouldn't have be down as a slow payer !

[recoveringbuilder]

We used the same architect on our last build with same terms 

[Jilly]

If they've got a cash flow problem since Covid, that might make them want money up front.

[the_r_sole]

2 hours ago, davidc said:

Well, several months elapsed after the planning work no invoice was forthcoming, I had to ask them to send their bill which I paid the same day as it was received - so I'd hope they wouldn't have be down as a slow payer !

 

Haha, 

Maybe they've realised that they're terrible at invoicing and need to start making money ?

 

[Gus Potter]

DavidC.. "Architect has asked for payment in full for work on compilation of Scottish building warrant (equivalent of English building regs) before starting work it. Am I right to consider this dubiously ? "

 

Sounds reasonable. Essentially you are splitting up the "warrant" design phase from the tender / construction detail / construction phase which are separate packages. Once the warrant submission is made then the majority of the regulatory design phase is complete. Once the warrant application is made it's not uncommon for BC to come back with a few queries. Sometimes the queries you get back are already addressed on the submitted drawings, SE calculations etc. Other times it may be a case of clarification of a few points. Some areas to consider are:

 

1/ BC officers are just like all of us and may not pick up first time on all of the information submitted so will raise a query. Some will be learning / training so it's well worth while bearing this in mind.

2/ The submission may contain input from different designers; the Architect, SE, specialist truss manufacturer, basement designer etc and some of this information may conflict.

3/ An application may be lacking important detail i.e too much cutting and pasting of standard details etc.

 

I would normally expect payment to be made once the warrant application is ready to be submitted on the understanding that the queries will be dealt with in a timely fashion.

 

Jilly - yes good point. A big issue especially given COVID is that if the council take months to process a good solid application then the designer is out of pocket through no fault of their own. If you have a concern then perhaps hold back a 5% retention. However, have a chat with you designer first as this is a matter of professional trust / competence .. so maybe a bit of diplomacy?

 

As an overview a good experienced designer should have sufficient soft skills to be able to lead domestic (inexperienced) clients by the hand without compromising on the creative side so that the points raised above are dealt with before they become an issue. Fee transparency is one vital part of this as it encourages an equitable arrangement and develops trust.

 

At the end of the day this should be an enjoyable and rewarding process for all involved.. it can be done and lead to a saving at the end of the day.