Building Regs Drawings - Cost

[freshy]

Hi,

 

I've been quoted £4k for building regulation drawings (excluding structural engineer calculations).

 

This is for a new build approx 4000 sqft, price seems excessive. What have others paid for their building regs drawings?

 

[Moonshine]

That's a big house, it doesn't seem too far fetched.

[Bitpipe]

Similar sized house, architect quoted £15k for BR drawings & discharge of planning conditions, this was in 2015.

 

I did it myself, using the timber frame company's drawings plus other easily found details to satisfy BR - this worked for me as the frame design inc. SE calcs was all part of their package. 

 

If you're going for a traditional build route then does not sound crazy but as ever, get 3 quotes to see if it's comparable.

 

What will the SE package cost? 

[the_r_sole]

very cheap for that size of house

[Phaedrus]

Timber frame company quoted £2500 for216m2 house.  Architectural technician is doing it for <£1800

[Bitpipe]

21 minutes ago, Phaedrus said:

Timber frame company quoted £2500 for216m2 house.  Architectural technician is doing it for <£1800

 

Given the TF company need to produce a set of calcs and drawings to build their frame, why would they charge you £2500 for the same?

 

Was this in advance of committing to the frame purchase?

 

MBC did my detailed design after deposit was paid, so once the final tweaks etc were done, I had a full set of drawings and calc package to share with BCO. They also fielded follow up questions and took a few recommendations on board during the build to keep BCO happy.

 

 

[nod]

Our Architecht charged £1800 for 188m2

Five years ago 

and has just quoted £2200 for 210m2 

[Phaedrus]

3 minutes ago, Bitpipe said:

Given the TF company need to produce a set of calcs and drawings to build their frame, why would they charge you £2500 for the same?

It was the quote I got from a timber frame company.  It was for a comprehensive set of building regs drawings and notes covering all aspects of the build (e.g. drainage, electrics, heating etc) not just the timber frame.  I did not accept the quote and our architectural technician is providing the same service for the lower amount.

[Bitpipe]

3 minutes ago, Phaedrus said:

It was the quote I got from a timber frame company.  It was for a comprehensive set of building regs drawings and notes covering all aspects of the build (e.g. drainage, electrics, heating etc) not just the timber frame.  I did not accept the quote and our architectural technician is providing the same service for the lower amount.

 

Interesting. Our BCO did not want to see electrical or heating layouts, just the structural frame details + calcs.

 

I left the electrical & plumbing plan to the respective trades, BCO just wanted to see the completion certificates where applicable.

 

 

[freshy]

Appreciate the responses, this is not a Timber Frame build.

 

I'm ditching my architect so looking for someone else to do the BR drawings.

 

I will get a couple more quotes, any recommendations? I'm Berkshire.

[Mr Punter]

41 minutes ago, freshy said:

I'm Berkshire

 

It makes little difference where you are if you are in England the building regs are the same.

 

Maybe get quotes from people based somewhere less affluent, although I am not sure where that would be.  Mansfield, County Durham?

[Wagas]

I found someone on 'people per hour' to do mine for £800 ish if I remember correctly. He's RIBA and is in Northern Ireland so cheaper than where I am in Cambridgeshire.

[ETC]

4 hours ago, freshy said:

Hi,

 

I've been quoted £4k for building regulation drawings (excluding structural engineer calculations).

 

This is for a new build approx 4000 sqft, price seems excessive. What have others paid for their building regs drawings?

 

Very, very cheap......you’ll probably pay more for a new tv for the new house......

[DevilDamo]

5 hours ago, freshy said:

price seems excessive

Compared to what? What are the other quotes you’ve had?

[the_r_sole]

13 hours ago, freshy said:

Appreciate the responses, this is not a Timber Frame build.

 

I'm ditching my architect so looking for someone else to do the BR drawings.

 

I will get a couple more quotes, any recommendations? I'm Berkshire.

 

Why are you ditching your architect?

The detailed technical design portion is critical in translating the design into a building!

[freshy]

14 hours ago, DevilDamo said:

Compared to what? What are the other quotes you’ve had?

 

£2k from my original architect, who I'm ditching.

 

3 hours ago, the_r_sole said:

 

Why are you ditching your architect?

The detailed technical design portion is critical in translating the design into a building!

 

My architect outsources everything, so it's difficult to get him to commit. I'd rather him be honest and upfront than hear excuses.

[Thorfun]

7 minutes ago, freshy said:

 

£2k from my original architect, who I'm ditching.

 

 

My architect outsources everything, so it's difficult to get him to commit. I'd rather him be honest and upfront than hear excuses.

so the original architect quoted you £2k and someone else quoted £4k. I'd say the original architect is a bargain. probably as he already has the drawings so there's less work to do?

 

Our architect didn't do the building regulations drawing but got the office architectural technician to do them. that's pretty much the same as outsourcing but just keeping it in house. ?

 

unless there's a personality clash or you're not happy with the original architect's work I'd be going back to him to do the work. £2k is a lot of money to save!

[freshy]

7 minutes ago, Thorfun said:

so the original architect quoted you £2k and someone else quoted £4k. I'd say the original architect is a bargain. probably as he already has the drawings so there's less work to do?

 

Our architect didn't do the building regulations drawing but got the office architectural technician to do them. that's pretty much the same as outsourcing but just keeping it in house. ?

 

unless there's a personality clash or you're not happy with the original architect's work I'd be going back to him to do the work. £2k is a lot of money to save!

Unfortunately, We have lost faith in him, hence I'm posting on this topic.

[Thorfun]

1 minute ago, freshy said:

Unfortunately, We have lost faith in him, hence I'm posting on this topic.

fair enough then

[DevilDamo]

On 29/06/2021 at 10:48, freshy said:

 

£2k from my original architect, who I'm ditching.

Oh right. The increased price may take into account using somebody else’s Planning drawings to interpret and produce the BR drawings from. Tbh, I do the same where clients have secured Planning via a third party. Too many ‘Planning architects’ for my liking.

[Gus Potter]

On 29/06/2021 at 07:30, the_r_sole said:

 

Why are you ditching your architect?

The detailed technical design portion is critical in translating the design into a building!

Good point here from the_r_sole.

 

It's hard to compare designers prices. You can get a set of BR regs set of drawings and calcs cheeply, but that is all you will get. Just enough to get your approval. You can get them really cheep if you are happy with saying say.. ,x ,y and z will comply with clause x, y and z in the regs.. very few drawings or supporting info required. You'll have your approval but the info you have will be very limited..trouble ahead if you don't have significant experience of building and dealing with individual contractors.

 

It will then be up to you to develop and communicate the detailed design information to the contractors ect who are pricing unless you are really doing it all yourself. The less info you give them generally the more heavy they will be with the pricing pencil or build in caveats to allow them to charge you for "extra work".  It will also fall to you to take on the liability / responsibility if you get it wrong, BC come to inspect and say. NO!

 

Put it this way. A good skilled trades person who will also keep you right on a DIY build (maybe by saying.. are you sure you want to do this?) may cost £250 - 300 / day as an average UK price. £31.5 - 37.50 / hour. Now chuck in some plant / van tool  costs and so on. Just say 40 quid per hour = £ 1600 per week. That is just for one person. For two.. £ 3200 per week.

 

Now an experienced Architect or designer can easily save you this and more. Go cheep and you risk getting bogged down trying to resolve buildability issues that crop up because you are just relying on the drawings you have use for regs approval, trying to source different materials that will still comply with say the U value requirements and so on.

 

The test when comparing fees is to ask this of the designers.

 

1/ Your fee is this. It is higher than the others so can you convince me that this extra fee will result in an overall saving..mitigate the fee? Tell me how you are going to do this. Explain to me how say you have thought through the buildability aspects so it's easy for local trades persons to build and thus they will be less heavy with the pricing. Are you sure that the materials can be easily sourced and on time to avoid delay on site? Where is the risk in this project to me, can you tell me where the risk lies so I can make an informed descision?

 

A good designer will think about all these things but that "thinking time" and experience comes at an upfront cost.

 

2/ Your fee is this. It is the lowest! Can you convince me that I'm still going to get the same service and effort of design thought on my build/ project? Can you assure me that you are giving me enough information so that a contractor is not going to get free access to my bank account while at the same time my job is not going to go off progamme, I'm not going to get into trouble by inadvertantly by doing something that may breach the regs.. go for the completion certificate and get knocked back.. ?

 

If your designers don't like these types of questions then.. keep looking.

 

As a last thought.. a washing machine repair "Engineer" may cost £ 60 per hour.. this is your home. While the professional fees may seem a bit steep initially, once you look at this in the round and if you don't have significant experience then a responsive and supportive  designer can be a good route to follow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jilly]

I wish I'd had Gus's advice above 3 years ago! My build would have cost a lot more, but be finished by now, if I had stayed with my original architect. She was expensive, but invested in my build, and I didn't realise, through inexperience, what she was bringing to the table. 

 

I lost faith because I didn't understand the process, and it felt scary when she told me I needed to spend a lot more than I intended. There was nothing wrong with what she was doing but she wouldn't/couldn't work to my budget, so I felt we should part. I had loads more problems by changing, so although I've saved money, the extra stress and time it has taken probably wasn't worth it. 

Edited July 2, 2021 by Jilly

[Gus Potter]

49 minutes ago, Jilly said:

I wish I'd had Gus's advice above 3 years ago! My build would have cost a lot more, but be finished by now, if I had stayed with my original architect. She was expensive, but invested in my build, and I didn't realise, through inexperience, what she was bringing to the table. 

 

I lost faith because I didn't understand the process, and it felt scary when she told me I needed to spend a lot more than I intended. There was nothing wrong with what she was doing but she wouldn't/couldn't work to my budget, so I felt we should part. I had loads more problems by changing, so although I've saved money, the extra stress and time it has taken probably wasn't worth it. 

Jilly, thanks for the kind words. much appreciated. The main thing is that it seems like you are marching on now and hey, you probably got a load of stuff done before the material prices went daft due to covid.. so extra bonus to offset the stress. If you look at the cost of doing it now in this climate.. well you may well be in profit already!

 

Jilly makes a good point here for all. If your designer turns round and says this is going to break the budget ask them why. You need to cut them a bit of slack but they should be able to explain to some extent and identify what parts of the job are causing the budget problem. If you just want a house too big for your budget then they should just tell you.. take the rose tinted glasses off folks and here is why..

 

On refurbs / conversions it's a different ball game and this is where a good designer should be able to identify the areas that are contributing to breaking the budget. Once you know this you can then look at finding a solution. Sometimes it's just not possible to convert say with the money you have, but at least you know why and be in a position to judge if the compromises you need to make may outweigh the benefits.

 

 

 

 

[Jilly]

On 28/06/2021 at 14:51, freshy said:

Hi,

 

I've been quoted £4k for building regulation drawings (excluding structural engineer calculations).

 

This is for a new build approx 4000 sqft, price seems excessive. What have others paid for their building regs drawings?

 

Just for perspective, as Gus discussed, the architect's technician I took on who seemed cheaper ended up cost a lot more than it would have been through the architect through it not being in house, and he made a big oversight in one area, which was expensive, but essentially my fault for not picking it up. The second higher price may be because they have to get up to speed with an awful lot of detail they can't discuss across the table. Architect 1 may refuse to release the CAD drawings...

[freshy]

On 02/07/2021 at 22:33, Gus Potter said:

The test when comparing fees is to ask this of the designers.

 

1/ Your fee is this. It is higher than the others so can you convince me that this extra fee will result in an overall saving..mitigate the fee? Tell me how you are going to do this. Explain to me how say you have thought through the buildability aspects so it's easy for local trades persons to build and thus they will be less heavy with the pricing. Are you sure that the materials can be easily sourced and on time to avoid delay on site? Where is the risk in this project to me, can you tell me where the risk lies so I can make an informed descision?

 

A good designer will think about all these things but that "thinking time" and experience comes at an upfront cost.

 

2/ Your fee is this. It is the lowest! Can you convince me that I'm still going to get the same service and effort of design thought on my build/ project? Can you assure me that you are giving me enough information so that a contractor is not going to get free access to my bank account while at the same time my job is not going to go off progamme, I'm not going to get into trouble by inadvertantly by doing something that may breach the regs.. go for the completion certificate and get knocked back.. ?

 

If your designers don't like these types of questions then.. keep looking.

This is great! thank you.