Construction drawings? QS?

[Bournbrook]

Hi there

I actually have 2 questions that are connected, but I’m not sure I’m posting in the right part of the forum!

we are currently going through planning to build a 150sqm 1.5 storey house in our current back garden (to live in and sell main house). 
We chose our current architect as he is knows the LPA and it’s an incredibly tricky site to design for (overlooking, overshadowing, RPAs etc etc). We have been incredibly impressed with him so far and have no doubt we made the right decision on an architect. However, he is incredibly expensive. We haven’t minded paying for up to planning as he is clearly worth the money. 
however, we are now looking beyond planning (possibly prematurely of course) and thinking about actually building it! On the architects fee proposal has construction drawings and BC drawings as next RIBA stage after planning with a cost of 12k +vat. We have spoken to some TF companies who said they can do the BC drawings for 2k ish. My question is do we really need construction drawings? We are planning on using a MC to project manage the whole thing and TF company to supply and erect (possibly MBC to do foundation and windows too).
 

Would construction drawings mean more accurate quotes from builders?

 

could we just use a QS instead in terms of estimating?

 

can we go somewhere cheaper for construction drawings?

 

will the TF company’s BC drawings be sufficient for all BC requirements?

 

I know that’s a lot! Just trying to get my head round it all. 

[Gaf]

Far more knowledgeable folk will be along but just to give our experience.

 

We similarly went through the planning drawings versus construction drawing queries. Also went through timber frame options before settling on block built.

 

We found the TF option difficult because anyone the company put us in touch with sent self-build, whereas we wanted to hire a contractor to manage everything. Once the TF structure was erected it became very unclear who 'took over' with construction drawings and the general advice was just get a bricky in to do the outer leaf block and render. It just got very unclear for us with this and we chose to go solid block then.

 

We've gone through planning drawings, construction drawings, and now tender reviews. The construction drawings and design spec. document the architect developed was very helpful to us as we feel that we had a lot of clarity on (1) what the builder was being asked/required to do, in terms of materials and structure and (2) the assigned certifier also now has clarity when carrying out periodic inspections at set/agreed intervals. I suppose technically you could draw up the materials in each part of the house in a word document or something, but that just seems wrong based on our experiences. Also, the builder we're going with mentioned he wouldn't touch the build without the construction drawings being passed/certified by the architect/structural engineer (particularly where there are steel beams in the house structure); we mentioned possibly making a slight wall change to one wall (moved by 20cm) and he said he'd only do that if we got the architect and/or structural engineer to sign off on even this.

 

 

[Alan Ambrose]

It depends a lot on the design and materials and maybe on your architect. A grand designs house with ambitious details, wacky materials and innovative structural ideas needs everything detailed in drawings before anyone can do anything much. A standard rectangular brick/block cavity or timber frame with brick leaf, tiled sloping roof and no unusual materials can be estimated and built by the builder with little further input - although you’ll want to be certain about insulation & air tightness spec. And there’s stuff in between. Some architects are good on construction detail, others major on look and feel and planning.

[ETC]

8 hours ago, Bournbrook said:

Hi there

I actually have 2 questions that are connected, but I’m not sure I’m posting in the right part of the forum!

we are currently going through planning to build a 150sqm 1.5 storey house in our current back garden (to live in and sell main house). 
We chose our current architect as he is knows the LPA and it’s an incredibly tricky site to design for (overlooking, overshadowing, RPAs etc etc). We have been incredibly impressed with him so far and have no doubt we made the right decision on an architect. However, he is incredibly expensive. We haven’t minded paying for up to planning as he is clearly worth the money. 
however, we are now looking beyond planning (possibly prematurely of course) and thinking about actually building it! On the architects fee proposal has construction drawings and BC drawings as next RIBA stage after planning with a cost of 12k +vat. We have spoken to some TF companies who said they can do the BC drawings for 2k ish. My question is do we really need construction drawings? We are planning on using a MC to project manage the whole thing and TF company to supply and erect (possibly MBC to do foundation and windows too).
 

Would construction drawings mean more accurate quotes from builders? Yes.

 

could we just use a QS instead in terms of estimating? Yes - always a good idea to use a QS.

 

can we go somewhere cheaper for construction drawings? Yes.

 

will the TF company’s BC drawings be sufficient for all BC requirements? No.

 

I know that’s a lot! Just trying to get my head round it all.